At first I was annoyed. George Lucas had gone and done yet another giant whopper and let his greed influence his decision. I didn't, and still don't, think there needs to be another film. Lucas has realised that Star Wars was becoming stagnated and decided to give it to someone else to see if they could bring some new vigour to the universe, and this kind of sums up for me what the fans think of Lucas nowadays: a greedy man who is creatively stuck, hence his revisiting and touch ups of the original Star Wars films.
But then I thought about it some more and read other people's views. Disney now own the franchise and that could actually be a very good thing for it. Disney bought Pixar, who have made some excellent films, which have become more Disney than even Disney's own films in the last ten years. And Disney also bought Marvel recently. Look at Avengers Assemble, that turned out to be a great (Hulk) smash-hit. And when A New Hope first came out, reviewers stated that it was the sort of film Disney might and ought to be making. So as long as Disney get hold of a good Director (Josh Whedon is good but I don't think that he is right for Star Wars, plus he's too busy with Avengers 2. The same applies to Christopher Nolan, my favourite director, he is a brilliant director and the idea of a Star Wars film directed by him makes me salviate, but I don't think he is right for the series.) then Episode VII may well me a good film and return to form for the series.
Now what we all want to know is, what happens in Episode VII and the other two in the trilogy? Will it stay true to or incorporate the events of the Expanded Universe? I'm specifically looking at the Thrawn Trilogy, where Leia and Han marry and have children and Luke's future wife is introduced. Will these films stay true to this? Some of the events in The Clone Wars TV series show that the guys at Lucasfilm are willing to overwrite existing EU and have every right to. But the Thrawn books are loved by a lot of fans and all books that take place after it include changes from the series. Make different stories and a whole line of books become irrelevant, not to mention a possible backlash from the fans.
And then there is the matter of the 'Big Three', Luke, Leia and Han. They will no doubt be included, but who will play them? The actors are all far too old now to be doing any heavily physical roles and couldn't get away with being made to look in their thirties or around that age. But you can't just replace them! Even if you find people who look like them they might not be able to act out their character traits. Harrison Ford as Han Solo for example, is a unique role, with the right amount of cockiness and charm, that cannot be replicated. The only other possibility I can think of is having CGI versions of them with the original actors providing voices. This in my eyes however, is not really a possibility. For starters, CGI is not yet good enough to create character faces that look realistic enough to interact in a real environment. An animation like Tintin, sure, but real life? No. The best example I can think of is a younger Jeff Bridges in Tron: Legacy. Whilst it wasn't bad it was pretty obviously CGI and only worked better because it was in a mostly CGI created world. When next to the real Jeff Bridges it didn't stand up though.
So although the thought of three new Star Wars films in seemingly capable hands is something to get excited about, I wouldn't like to be in charge of overseeing it. Get a good director on board, a good story and sort out the problem of what to do with the 'Big Three' and the fans will lap it up. But if you get it wrong? The fans will hate you. I would insert a joke here about how it could never be as bad as the prequel trilogy, but I actually don't mind them (near on blasphemous I know!), though a return to the original trilogy style would be welcome. Good luck, Kathleen Kennedy.
Oh, and don't forget another series that Lucasfilm own: Indiana Jones. Who knows what will happen here, Harrison Ford could very well return for another. I don't think a remake is really possible either, though that idea can never be ruled out when Hollywood is involved.
With that, there is only one thing to say: Goodbye George Lucas. Though you may have stepped wrong a few times, you have still created an amazing universe that I have lived and breathed for many years. I just hope you made the right move.
Now what we all want to know is, what happens in Episode VII and the other two in the trilogy? Will it stay true to or incorporate the events of the Expanded Universe? I'm specifically looking at the Thrawn Trilogy, where Leia and Han marry and have children and Luke's future wife is introduced. Will these films stay true to this? Some of the events in The Clone Wars TV series show that the guys at Lucasfilm are willing to overwrite existing EU and have every right to. But the Thrawn books are loved by a lot of fans and all books that take place after it include changes from the series. Make different stories and a whole line of books become irrelevant, not to mention a possible backlash from the fans.
And then there is the matter of the 'Big Three', Luke, Leia and Han. They will no doubt be included, but who will play them? The actors are all far too old now to be doing any heavily physical roles and couldn't get away with being made to look in their thirties or around that age. But you can't just replace them! Even if you find people who look like them they might not be able to act out their character traits. Harrison Ford as Han Solo for example, is a unique role, with the right amount of cockiness and charm, that cannot be replicated. The only other possibility I can think of is having CGI versions of them with the original actors providing voices. This in my eyes however, is not really a possibility. For starters, CGI is not yet good enough to create character faces that look realistic enough to interact in a real environment. An animation like Tintin, sure, but real life? No. The best example I can think of is a younger Jeff Bridges in Tron: Legacy. Whilst it wasn't bad it was pretty obviously CGI and only worked better because it was in a mostly CGI created world. When next to the real Jeff Bridges it didn't stand up though.
So although the thought of three new Star Wars films in seemingly capable hands is something to get excited about, I wouldn't like to be in charge of overseeing it. Get a good director on board, a good story and sort out the problem of what to do with the 'Big Three' and the fans will lap it up. But if you get it wrong? The fans will hate you. I would insert a joke here about how it could never be as bad as the prequel trilogy, but I actually don't mind them (near on blasphemous I know!), though a return to the original trilogy style would be welcome. Good luck, Kathleen Kennedy.
Oh, and don't forget another series that Lucasfilm own: Indiana Jones. Who knows what will happen here, Harrison Ford could very well return for another. I don't think a remake is really possible either, though that idea can never be ruled out when Hollywood is involved.
With that, there is only one thing to say: Goodbye George Lucas. Though you may have stepped wrong a few times, you have still created an amazing universe that I have lived and breathed for many years. I just hope you made the right move.
