Hey folks, Harry here... Geoff Boucher has apparently gotten ahold of spies close to the new STAR WARS projects and they claim that Harrison Ford is open to the concept of playing Han Solo again in this new Star Wars series... And why the hell not.
Sorry I haven't chimed in on Disney's acquisition of LUCASFILM. Every Halloween I throw an enormous (for me) House Party and I was out of the house supervising and helping to art direct the crazy thing. When Moises called me about it and Nordling - I had seen the news hit on Twitter, but wasn't feeling a rush to write about it. That was coming. The whole of the internet has chimed in. I had a great Halloween, a BNAT list filled weekend, Dentist, Rehab, Hitchcock Screening invites... and now I am ready to write about this.
How do I feel?
I have wanted this to happen ever since RETURN OF THE JEDI.
For first generation STAR WARS fans like me, the late Eighties & Nineties were a very long dry spell. We read everything. Hell, I remember when I read in the Letter's column of some issue of Spawn where MacFarlane talked about seeing a CG X-Wing fighter at ILM and I just about popped! This was the pre-Internet days. You read every interview in every magazine. You looked at old newspapers on microfilm. If you were a geek, and you had to know - it was hard. Then in the late nineties things exploded with message boards. Newsgroups were a fountain of information if you had entire days into the scouring. By the time I started AICN, there weren't that many of us that were tracking Lucas, but the one thing we learned in covering gorgeous George was that this was kinda always his long game.
From the moment STAR TOURS happened, you had to start to wonder about their relationship. Not to mention CAPTAIN EO. But more than that. Disney has been incrementally buying George Lucas' legacy for years. They bought PIXAR. They bought Lucas' creative partner JIM HENSON. Now they have his INDUSTRIAL LIGHTS & MAGIC & SKYWALKER SOUND along with Lucasfilm. Actually, DISNEY is exactly in the correct position to start making STAR WARS films... They have all the right pieces.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear Disney buying Tippett Studios too. Actually I would. But these days, you never can tell.
There's been a lot of talk behind the scenes regarding the future of STAR WARS movies. I have heard of several meetings with Lucasfilm regarding the concept of financing additional STAR WARS films in co-productions. How do I feel about George selling it all? I hope Disney keeps all the pieces kicking ass for filmmakers across Hollywood. I hope Disney continues to let those companies innovate and push the industry higher and higher.
But most of all, I am really excited about STAR WARS 7,8, 9. I've been talking about what these films could be since Ewok fireworks went off. This means at some point we will have Grand Admiral Thrawn. And that is just fucking blissful! I love the idea of great filmmakers getting a shot at the Universe. To me, it's the wet dream for an entire generation of filmmakers. I've had those conversations with folks that openly talk about dreaming of making their own STAR WARS universe film.
A full on STAR WARS series of theme parks. I want. Hell, I wanted the Vegas ENTERPRISE and still demand that that happen.
But most of all, I love the excitement of the dreaming of who will direct Episode 7 - and who is writing it? Our ol pal Frosty floated Matthew Vaughn today, I did reach out to Matthew today, but as of yet haven't heard back. The few times I reached out to him in the past, I heard back pretty quick, so that makes me wonder.
What would a Matthew Vaughn EPISODE 7 look like?
I don't know, but that excites me. I know Vaughn is a huge fan of practical and digital. We know he's a playful filmmaker. He doesn't quite wink at the audience, but you can tell he's thinking about it. Most of all, I know the feeling would be there. I know Vaughn could make the universe live a bit more. Feel a bit more real. Would he amplify Jedi powers? Whatever the overriding theme that George intended will be justly handled by him. I have faith in Vaughn...
I kinda hope Frosty's right and in the next few days we discover that Jane Goldman is writing Episode VII with Matthew Vaughn. Then I'd just die if they said they were shooting at Leavesden. But I'm also making room in my brain for other possibilities. I could see Joe Johnston getting his Boba Fett movie eventually. I mean, he's already said it. I'd love to see Edgar Wright play in that universe. Quentin Tarantino. David Fincher. And a ton of others. I say let's get all spaghetti Western with this backlot that just opened up. Tell little noir tales and enormous epics. Tell a horror story in Star Wars. After 7,8,9, I hope the gloves come off and they get exciting. Don't get me wrong, Journal of the Whills gets me hard. Those early expanded universe novel series... yes. Please. Old Republic stuff. Yes.
That was never going to happen under Lucas. The films had to be the one true canon. And there will be Lucas fans that adhere to the Original Six. And I know those that think there are only three. And I've even heard from the one true Star Wars.
Then there's the cynical old fart in me that knows that the first tough cycle Disney hits those other Lucas companies have a chance of dying off... and that'd be a damn shame. I'm not talking soon. But down the line. It always happens.
Most of all, I really do wish George Lucas a fond farewell. Wanting to know what he was up to was what made me me. I have always been a maniac STAR WARS geek and I'm excited to know that through Disney - there's a very real hope that they seize the opportunity to create a whole other American Innovator identity, like Walt Disney himself. George Lucas deserves nothing less. His vision to build ILM has made the modern visual effects age possible. And I don't know about you, but I kinda love that.
And from my stand point on AICN - we get a whole universe of cool shit to talk about - till your ears & eyes bleed. STAR WARS is in play again. It could be the most amazing thing ever & it could suck balls. But we're all gonna be eating up every last bit of it. There's been a group of fans that have had to watch Harry Potter and LORD OF THE RINGS take the light. Then came the Superheroes. And Transformers. Well, STAR WARS is going to be a roaring behemoth, unless Disney just really screws the pooch. Honestly, knowing the folks at Disney that I do. I kinda see this as an ideal marriage.
I've had countless conversations about an open STAR WARS universe. Imagine the David Lynch REVENGE OF THE JEDI. I have. It could have happened. What I prey we don't get is a boring precious Star Wars universe. Directors boxed in. I want to see Scorsese's STAR WARS movie. I'm serious. Let DePalma shoot an R-rated tale of obsession gone wrong in some low level of Coruscant. You see, I think STAR WARS is that kind of universe. It's even more pliable than James Bond. We could see Star Wars fashion become more pervasive in society. Could the merchandizing grow? Possibly. I've see R2D2 mail boxes... did Lucas have some form of tech built in that Disney now controls? I don't know. But I want to. The idea of Imagineers having free reign with Lucas' worlds... and I hope they relaunch Willow's world. And HOWARD THE DUCK!
I just wonder if Disney will be nearly as insane aggressive as I'd like them to be. Somehow I think 1 film every two years is a good way to get the machine greased before hitting a new world record.
I'm curious to see how Disney embraces the various fan communities that have grown quite close to Lucasfilm. Lucasfilm had begun to open up quite a bit after many years where to make a fan film was to be punk rock, it suddenly became something, everyone tries a couple of times.
After all the paperwork dries, after the first film hits, will begin to have a real good idea of what this deal is going to mean. Anybody know of any large Disney land purchases recently? I really am most excited about the notion of a fully conceived Star Wars dedicated themepark that you had to go to in costume. But that's just me.
I can't wait to nerd out with any number of friends - and I guarantee you that every moment that somebody isn't trying to get me to say something about a furry footed film, it'll be about STAR WARS.
With Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Marvel - Disney has just exploded to a different level altogether in my mind. They're just scratching at the door of possibilities with Marvel... but a Skrull-Empire Aliance versus the Kree-Rebellion? DROOOOOOOOOOOL. It could have happened in those badass Bail Organa years, you don't know!
So yeah, I'm into this. Let's just see how quickly they want their investment back. They're gonna need to spend a lot more to get it going, but if they do it, it's going to be absolutely amazing. Let's hope they embrace the potential to it's maximum potential.
Aren't you mildly curious to see what happens now that the Genie is out of the bottle?
I am.
