Disney to acquire Lucasfilm, Star Wars franchise

[Macaluso]

I'm still mulling over my reaction to this. Not a bad choice, necessarily, but also a little too obvious in a sense. The guy who rebooted Star Trek gets to do Star Wars? Doesn't show a lot of imagination, does it?

About the only thing Star Trek and Star Wars has in common is that they are both set in space.

[Dacey]

JJ was my second choice after ONLY Brad Bird. The man's made three fantastic movies, and the Trek sequel is looking promising, so I'm feeling the force here.

[Randall]

I'm still mulling over my reaction to this. Not a bad choice, necessarily, but also a little too obvious in a sense. The guy who rebooted Star Trek gets to do Star Wars? Doesn't show a lot of imagination, does it?

About the only thing Star Trek and Star Wars has in common is that they are both set in space.

That's exactly wrong, and exactly the point. The two franchises have superficial similarities--- most non-fans don't even know the difference. Ask your non-geek friends and family. People mix the two up all the time. So, to the unitiated, Abrams would have seemed the perfect choice.

On the other hand, you're right--- the two franchises have a lot to distinguish them. But now we're at risk for the two to start feeling awfully similar, which is a shame. Abrams has basically said in the past that he wanted to bring a little SW into ST, and now he's got both in his hands.

[Ben]

My choice would have been Joe Johnston.

[gaastra]

Looks like the main hero for the next movie will be a girl! Lukes daughter maybe?

http://screenrant.com/star-wars-episode ... 2016-cast/

[EricJ]

Looks like the main hero for the next movie will be a girl! Lukes daughter maybe?

It's going to be Ahsoka Tano!

(Sorry, just wanted to really scare everyone.)

[Dan]

In addition to writing Episodes VIII and XI, Kasdan and Kinberg will also be developing stand-alone spin-off films.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/s ... nce-418421

[Randall]

I really think that the "spin-offs" are the way to go. It's a big universe to explore. These have so much potential.

[GeorgeC]

Oh boy, how little the children know or read...

I have no confidence left.

Some of you are far too easily swayed by lens flares and pretty little explosions.
The geek-gasming I'm seeing online is sickening... That just shows I grew up and my taste along with it. Nothing short of Empire-level excellence would impress me and frankly we're not going to get that from this group of people or the veteran writers who haven't produced anything great in at least 20 years!!!

STAR WARS is DEAD... accept it.
From the moment the word "midichlorians" was uttered and the introduction of the inane Jar Jar Binks commenced capped by stereotypical aliens, the series was doomed... as if the Special Editions weren't an indication that for all the profit of this series there is diminishing returns in entertainment value where the movies and future TV series are concerned. The mythos, mysticism, and magic was plucked in favor of rambling politics, stilted dialogue, wooden acting, and improbable romances.

The Emperor (Lucas) has no clothes and surrendered to the Empire (Disney -- the soulless hulk left after the Eisner years).

$$$$$ is always the motive to continue series like this or do remakes. Art is a byproduct if TV shows and movies are actually competently written, directed, and produced. (Lord how I wish more decisions were based on SOUND art inclinations but that's the case in 1/100th of 1/millionth of a percent!) IF the characters don't connect with the audience, you're totally screwed, period. That's one of the few things Star Trek and Star Wars really do have in common. The pictures that had redeemable characters in them are the ones still remembered and treasured. The rest has fallen away or will in the near future.

This is an easy paycheck for all the parties involved.
This will finally kill the goose (Wars) -- not that it should have gone on after the last theatrical movie let alone the Clone Wars series...

Prediction: great trailers will be produced but the final product will, once again, fail to be what it could have been.

The Wars fans fall for this stuff all too easily... Their children have proven to be even more gullible than the parents used to be.

Disney will shutter SW for a decade or so, and start up production on remakes within the next twenty years unless someone actually gets a clue and figures out how to make a good film out of this mess like Kirshner and Kurtz do over 30 years ago...

The only company that produces good Star Wars product that's faithful AND fun is LEGO now.
LFL and Disney don't know what the hell SW is anymore...

[Randall]

Um, crusty much?

For my money, Clone Wars feels much more like Star Wars than the prequels. That alone makes me confident that good films can come from this.

But maybe I feel this way because I no longer consider the original trilogy particularly great on the whole anyhow. Oh, I love them still, but times have changed a lot since 1977-1984, and those old films just don't have the same shine anymore.

There's no reason why some great Star Wars films couldn't yet be made by a new generation building off the ideas of the old. Clone Wars is proof of that.

[Vernadyn]

Speaking of Irvin Kershner (RIP), what did happen to him after Empire Strikes Back? We got the the execrable Never Say Never Again and the even more odious RoboCop 2 (which was still marginally better than RoboCop 3), and not much else.

[Dan]

Two spin-off films have been identified. We'll be getting a Boba Fett film and chronicle the "Young Adventures of Han Solo".

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/02/06/s ... boba-fett/

[Ben]

Maybe he could meet Young Indiana Jones?

Seriously, SW is much better off when Lucas isn't in charge (and, consultant or not, he's not in charge), so what we're going to get will be much better than the prequels, especially given the writer behind EMPIRE and RAIDERS is involved.

My worry is that the new director is maybe a little "big" for the franchise, but he's also a fan of our generation...he gets it. SW may be "dead", but there's nothing to say it can't come back to life, even as a blue-rimmed ghost.

[Dacey]

Clone Wars, unfortunately, only had two truly great seasons in it. The third season was okay overall, the fourth season had some really strong storylines spread across a a few duds, but the fifth season? Apart from any episode including Darth Maul, it's been a snooze. We had an entire episode of droids just rolling lost around the dessert trying to figure out where they were (Am I kidding? No, I am not). The four part season finale looks promising, although kinda heavy for its Saturday morning timeslot, but I'm hoping the sixth season will have a better balance overall.

As for the prequels...in some ways, they are almost more "Star Wars" to me than the original trilogy, as they were the films that opened when I was growing up and I remember being very aware of even though the only one I saw in theaters was Sith. I know they tend to get a lot of hate (well, on the internet anyway), but I'm as fond of them as I am of the original trilogy, soap opera scenes in Attack of the Clones and all!

[Randall]

I've only seen the first two seasons of Clone Wars so far, and thought those were (as you said) very good. I'll be starting Season 3 shortly.