Star Wars: The Force Awakens [** SPOILERS FROM POST 4472 ONWARD **]

david75

I know he's a fan favourite but I'm not sure this Ida good idea

Kasdan writing a stand alone Boba Fett movie?

In all the furore surrounding Star Wars Episode VII, it's possible you may have forgottenthat in between the numbered sequels, Disney is also planning a series of standalone Star Wars films based around single characters from the mythology. It's been a while since we've heard any rumours about those, but here comes no less a source than Metalocalypse director and self-described "sweaty movie nerd" Jon Schnepp. He's claiming that he knows "for a fact" that one of those spin-offs will belong to Boba Fett, and that the screenplay is being written by Lawrence Kasdan.

"I know they haven't announced it," he told the host of AMC's Philippines disaster relief charity talk marathon, "but one of those one-shots is Boba Fett. I know. I know for a fact. I will never reveal my source, but it is the one written by Lawrence Kasdan."

This has been a rumour for some time prior to this story, and, to be frank, remains one in its wake, since there's no indication of why Schnepp would be particularly privy to this top secret information.

But it's certainly not an outlandish idea. Last spring the announcement came that Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are developing these spin-off films, with the later reveal that we're talking about origin stories. Kasdan's involvement with the series is established, and a one-shot film for fan favourite Fett would seem like a no-brainer.

There are caveats however: not least that since the announcement of the spin-offs, Kasdan has jumped tracks and become far more involved with Episode VII itself (as well, possibly, as VIII and IX). Could he still be working on a one-shot as well as the main game? Did he write a draft screenplay or treatment for an origin story and then set it aside when called to assist JJ Abrams? Will Disney's plan for a new Star Wars film every year starting in 2015 even pan out?

As usual there are many questions and no answers. But if Boba Fett (or Yoda, or IG88, or whatever) is due in 2016, expect to hear something official about it in the next twelve months.

pixelburp

Well according to reports (Hollywood Reporter), Michael Arndt left over creative differences about who would be the lead characters in Episode VII; Arndt felt it should be the children of Luke, Han & Leia to take centre stage, with the original cast only side characters & cameos, but Abrams & co. wanted the original cast to be the focus instead - I guess as a better bridge for audiences. Supposedly the ages of these children has also changed, with other characters being changed or dropped completely.

Also, the latest casting rumours namedrop Michael Fassbender and Hugo Weaving, the latter apparently in line to play an Imperial commander of some sort.

Goldstein

pixelburp wrote: »

Well according to reports (Hollywood Reporter), Michael Arndt left over creative differences about who would be the lead characters in Episode VII; Arndt felt it should be the children of Luke, Han & Leia to take centre stage, with the original cast only side characters & cameos, but Abrams & co. wanted the original cast to be the focus instead - I guess as a better bridge for audiences. Supposedly the ages of these children has also changed, with other characters being changed or dropped completely.

Also, the latest casting rumours namedrop Michael Fassbender and Hugo Weaving, the latter apparently in line to play an Imperial commander of some sort.

Surprise surprise. Him and his talentless Lost cronies always build everything on the scaffolding of other people's accomplishments and characters instead of having some balls and creating his own saga. Having been gifted such a diverse and rich universe as Star Wars it demonstrates an unforgivable lack of imagination and creative guile to just re-hash the same characters again. He's a pretender, always has been imo.

pixelburp

Goldstein wrote: »

Surprise surprise. Him and his talentless Lost cronies always build everything on the scaffolding of other people's accomplishments and characters instead of having some balls and creating his own saga. Having been gifted such a diverse and rich universe as Star Wars it demonstrates an unforgivable lack of imagination and creative guile to just re-hash the same characters again. He's a pretender, always has been imo.

In fairness, the children of the Skywalkers was hardly a particularly creative approach either, if anything it's a path well trodden by sequels that have run out of ideas, and that seems to have been Arndt's approach. Given the critical drubbing the prequels got, I guess the thinking is familiar faces will rebuild goodwill among fans and a new trilogy starring kids wasn't going to cut it...

Radiosonde

The old cast as the main characters is a terrible idea. They're too old, Hamill was never much of an actor to begin with, and Ford only phones in performances these days.

Goldstein

pixelburp wrote: »

In fairness, the children of the Skywalkers was hardly a particularly creative approach either, if anything it's a path well trodden by sequels that have run out of ideas, and that seems to have been Arndt's approach. Given the critical drubbing the prequels got, I guess the thinking is familiar faces will rebuild goodwill among fans and a new trilogy starring kids wasn't going to cut it...

Absolutely on the children of Skywalker thing although it's a far better focus than what Abrams wants. But with literally 100s of great stories already written and crying out to be adapted, with 10s of them suitable for a trilogy - Revan/Malak, Thrawn, Belth Allusis, Bane, Malgus etc. It's such an open goal it's frustrating to see those entrusted with the franchise being afraid to move onto more fertile grounds and settling for focusing on the adventures of OAP Solo & friends because they need the crutch of namedropping what went before. It's just such a shame.

Agent Coulson

Radiosonde wrote: »

Hamill was never much of an actor to begin with.

He is one of the best voice actors in the world!

He is The Joker

I really don't want to watch a bunch of out of shape geriatrics parading around the screen and reliving past glories.

Hamill is an amazing voice actor and I enjoyed his performance in Sushi Girl but he looks like an over the hill drag queen and Fisher, well she looks like she should be six feet under. Ford has retained his looks to a degree but its been years since he delivered a performance that wasn't phoned in.

Tony EH

He's been phoning it in since 'Return of the Jedi'.

krudler

Deleted User wrote: »

I really don't want to watch a bunch of out of shape geriatrics parading around the screen and reliving past glories.

Hamill is an amazing voice actor and I enjoyed his performance in Sushi Girl but he looks like an over the hill drag queen and Fisher, well she looks like she should be six feet under. Ford has retained his looks to a degree but its been years since he delivered a performance that wasn't phoned in.

Agree, I genuinely like Mark Hamill, he's a great voiceover artist and a likeable, funny guy. I wouldnt mind seeing the original cast in supporting roles, give Hamill a beard and make him a Jedi master who is somewhat involved in a mentor role, fine. But having the original cast members as the front players is a recipe for disaster. I didn't like seeing an OAP Indy and I don't want to see an old Han Solo either.

Radiosonde

Agent Coulson wrote: »

He is one of the best voice actors in the world!

He is The Joker

Unfortunately he'll be acting with more than just his voice! He can do that bite your lip and turn your head a bit thing if something tragic happens.

In fairness, it would be nice seeing him reprise the role if he was a supporting character rather than carrying the movie.

Radiosonde

krudler wrote: »

I didn't like seeing an OAP Indy and I don't want to see an old Han Solo either.

Just wait til you see Carrie Fisher squeezing back into the gold bikini.

Sad Professor

A lot of ageism in this thread. There’s plenty of blockbusters staring hot young people you guys can go see instead. Personally, seeing Luke, Han and Leia reunited is the main selling point of these films for me. And if Abrams wants to give them a central role, more power to him. I seriously doubt they will be the main characters for the whole trilogy. This is Disney we’re talking about. They just set up a committee to decide on Star Wars canon. They have demographics to pander to and happy meals to sell and stockholders to keep happy.

Agent Coulson

Radiosonde wrote: »

Unfortunately he'll be acting with more than just his voice! He can do that bite your lip and turn your head a bit thing if something tragic happens.

In fairness, it would be nice seeing him reprise the role if he was a supporting character rather than carrying the movie.

He can always wear the Jedi cloak with the hood up the whole time so all we hear is his voice

But to be honest I think he and the rest of the orginal cast will just have supporting roles handing over the franchise to a younger group to take the franchise on. Then they may make cameo appearances at the movies go along.

Sad Professor

Sad Professor wrote: »

A lot of ageism in this thread. There’s plenty of blockbusters staring hot young people you guys can go see instead. Personally, seeing Luke, Han and Leia reunited is the main selling point of these films for me. And if Abrams wants to give them a central role, more power to him. I seriously doubt they will be the main characters for the whole trilogy. This is Disney we’re talking about. They just set up a committee to decide on Star Wars canon. They have demographics to pander to and happy meals to sell and stockholders to keep happy.

I can't wait to see Luke, Han, Chewie, etc but making them the main focus of a new film or trilogy just seems like they're trying to pander to the fans. By all means have the characters were know and love but at the same time try and introduce something new of interest. I envisioned Luke in the Obi Wan role, mentoring the next line of Jedi. I think that for many the universe has been expanded on so much over the past decades that focusing mainly on the old characters would be a missed opportunity.

krudler

Deleted User wrote: »

I can't wait to see Luke, Han, Chewie, etc but making them the main focus of a new film or trilogy just seems like they're trying to pander to the fans. By all means have the characters were know and love but at the same time try and introduce something new of interest. I envisioned Luke in the Obi Wan role, mentoring the next line of Jedi. I think that for many the universe has been expanded on so much over the past decades that focusing mainly on the old characters would be a missed opportunity.

There was too much pandering in the prequel trilogy as is, trying to shoehorn stuff in to tie it into the original movies instead of letting it be it's own entity. I wouldnt mind old characters cropping up in minor roles but seeing Han and Luke in their 60's jetting around getting into adventures would just be detracting from anything new they could come up with.

johnny_ultimate

Deleted User wrote: »

I think that for many the universe has been expanded on so much over the past decades that focusing mainly on the old characters would be a missed opportunity.

The universe has expanded for those who wish to follow it, but the films have always been exclusively about the Skywalker saga, and to me it would even be something of an odd decision to not continue along those lines. Most great sequels - Godfather 2, Toy Story, Saraband etc... - are great because of how they build on character and narrative foundations. There's an opportunity to do that here, and honestly I feel choosing a bunch of unconnected new protagonists would alienate many audience members - fans and more casual viewers alike, which isn't something that's realistically going to happen under Disney. That's the sort of angle, IMO, where there's a lot of potential in the standalone or spin-off films, which can expand the scope without being hamstrung by the demands of a grander narrative.

The prequels, incidentally, were always going to be hamstrung by what came before / after (depending on what way you look at it): it was about fitting existing pieces together, rigidly obeying existing canon. That the films were horse**** didn't help, but I think the very idea of a prequel is a creatively limiting one - I'd say we could count the amount of worthwhile prequels on a single hand.

Sequels are more intriguing by their very nature - you can take familiar characters in new and exciting directions, offer new experiences and build on and deviate from an existing narrative in imaginative ways (as long as the film is good, of course). There's no doubt there'll be no small degree of fan pandering here, but I also think it'll be interesting to see what Abrams and co. do with the beloved existing characters and their younger offspring. The grand themes and scope of the Star Wars films, even ignoring the **** ones, have always been tied to one family over multiple generations: I for one am curious what the next chapter in that cinematic saga is.

Anyway, isn't this all jumping to major conclusions about the creative decisions in a film we effectively know nothing about, based solely on some general trade publication speculation? None of us will be able to judge the effectiveness of the new Star Wars film(s) until the credits roll on the thing late next year. Even then, the fact that there's two core films to follow means even with that in mind Episode 8 and 9 could take different focuses than 7. I started cynical about the return of Star Wars, but honestly I'm now very curious where this is all going to go (that I'm an Abrams fan, seemingly one of the few, helps).

As for acting capability of Hamill et al? When the heck have believable performances ever been an integral part of a Star Wars film? :pac:

Roar

My money's on Han dying in the first film. Ford and Kasdan were all for that in Jedi.

Beefy78

Sad Professor wrote: »

A lot of ageism in this thread. There’s plenty of blockbusters staring hot young people you guys can go see instead. Personally, seeing Luke, Han and Leia reunited is the main selling point of these films for me. And if Abrams wants to give them a central role, more power to him. I seriously doubt they will be the main characters for the whole trilogy. This is Disney we’re talking about. They just set up a committee to decide on Star Wars canon. They have demographics to pander to and happy meals to sell and stockholders to keep happy.

Same here. My interest in these movies is strictly tied to having Han, Leah and Luke front and centre.

snausages

I'd prefer Star Wars with geriatrics than pristine models tbh. Pretty people make me insecure

Radiosonde

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

As for acting capability of Hamill et al? When the heck have believable performances ever been an integral part of a Star Wars film? :pac:

Alec Guinness' Obi-Wan, Ian McDiarmid's Emperor, James Earl Jones' Vader, Anthony Daniel's C3P0, Harrison Ford's Han Solo (e.g. improvising "I know" in response to Leia's "I love you" is one of the most memorable bits of Empire). Now it's not some Shakespearean ensemble full of powerhouse performances, it's all a bit campy and OTT, but that's all part of the fun. Is there any character there you didn't "believe" in?

Ford, like basically everyone else involved, thought it was a dreadful script, but he still made the effort and gave a performance. Will he do that today? I imagine he'll just read whatever lines he's given in a droning monotone and stand about looking serious. The young Ford created some of my most beloved boyhood screen icons, but if it's a choice between him today wielding a blaster or giving it to someone like Fassbender I know which I want.

pixelburp

Deleted User wrote: »

I really don't want to watch a bunch of out of shape geriatrics parading around the screen and reliving past glories.

Having recently watched a 77-year old Robert Redford get thrown around on a sailboat for 100 minutes in All Is Lost, I reject the idea that the original cast can't be got into shape for Episode VII. If there's one thing Hollywood have in abundance, it's fitness gurus for buffing / training their actors.

In any case, I got the impression that while the rewrites are about pushing the old cast to the forefront at the expense of their children, the intention is still to pass the baton on. It's quite possible Episode VII will be written as a last hoorah for Luke & co. with the younger ones taking over for parts VIII and IX. If that's the case, I like that idea as it would kinda make thematic sense. I also believe the rewrite has resulted in the respective ages of the children to be increased, so I'm equally happy to hear this won't be a film infested with tweens - and nobody was going to enjoy that.

Radiosonde

pixelburp wrote: »

I also believe the rewrite has resulted in the respective ages of the children to be increased, so I'm equally happy to hear this won't be a film infested with tweens - and nobody was going to enjoy that.

Well if that's true it's good news.

pixelburp

Radiosonde wrote: »

Well if that's true it's good news.

So the stories go, but I guess I should really stick public health warnings on posts as at this early stage of production, who knows what's fact and what's tattle.

FlashD

Looking forward to seeing the ORIGINAL & BEST Star Wars cast in a new movie, .......as it should be! Credit where credit is due to this old crew and fans who built this franchise, they deserve it most!

Despite the additional years, I bet they'll still put the triple prequel yawn fest to shame.

Thrill

Script is done according to JJ.

J.J. Abrams: 'Star Wars' script done, Plemons meeting confirmed


The script is done: “We’re working really hard and we’ve got our script and we’re in deep prep. Full steam ahead.”

What’s the length? Abrams wouldn’t go there. “I promise you it will be movie length.”

What about rumors of him meeting with Breaking Bad‘s Jesse Plemons? It’s true, but Abrams is meeting with many actors, and insiders will tell you that having your name in the press isn’t the best way to get a part on an Abrams film, given the director’s penchant for secrecy.

“He is one of the actors that we’ve talked to,”

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/01/19/j-j-abrams-star-wars-script/

Rubber_Soul

Fisher has confirmed that herself, Hamill and Ford are officially on board with shooting to start in March.

david75

Cool
http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/01/23/star-wars-rebels-interview/
Inside TV 'Star Wars Rebels' interview: New series goes to dark places, embraces 1977 film's spirit

*snip*

Agent Coulson

Zac Efron confirms he is in talks.. with Disney about a role.

http://www.totalfilm.com/news/zac-efron-confirms-star-wars-episode-vii-meeting

JP Liz V1

Jack Reynor latest name linked