George Lucas the creator of the series has done fans a great
favor by selling the Lucasfilm companies to Disney. Lucas has always admired
the Disney brand and modeled his own company after the Disney standard of high
quality family entertainment, so the Lucasfilm sale to Disney seemed a natural
fit.
Lucas has stated that he will continue as creative
consultant on any future films and he has passed on his story treatments for
possible future story ideas in the Star
Wars universe to his successor Kathleen Kennedy, who he hired to head
Lucasfilm when he retired back in May. Kennedy is a longtime associate of
Steven Spielberg, who is a good friend of Lucas, and will continue as President
of Lucasfilm under Disney.
As Disney writers are already in the process of writing
possible story ideas for the next Star Wars films, there is now much speculation about who will direct the next episode in the Saga. Some names that have come up are obvious choices who are well
known fans of the series such as J.J. Abrams, Star Trek (2009) Super 8
(2011), and Jon Favreau, Iron Man
(2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Cowboys & Aliens (2011). Jon has
also been involved as a voice actor in the Star
Wars: Clone Wars animated series. Both would be great choices to direct the
next films.
Gore Verbinsky is another great director who is associated
with both Disney, as director of the Pirates
of the Caribbean trilogy, and Lucasfilm, as director of ILM’s Rango (2011). I think he would be a
natural choice to continue the Star Wars
series as he has the sense of humor and experience with Disney and Lucasfilm
properties. The incredible Brad Bird is another great choice, having come out
of the Disney animation school and directing some of Pixar’s best films.
As far as the plot goes, it’s well known to all Star Wars fans that Lucas has taken
great pains to honor the integrity of the Star
Wars timeline, making sure that there are no lapses in continuity. All of
the existing expanded universe material must fit somewhere into the Star Wars continuity and cannot
contradict anything that has already been created elsewhere. Any future Star Wars projects, especially movies,
will respect and be able to draw from any existing adventures created in the
books and comics.
Episode VII will most likely continue sometime after Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) as
this was always the plan. The question now becomes where in the timeline will
the new films likely take place? The good news is that since all the original
principal cast members are still alive, they can all be used to recreate their
original characters if they weren’t killed off in Episode VI. The bad news is
that favorite characters like Yoda, Darth Vader, The Emperor, Jabba the Hutt,
and Boba Fett all died in the last film and Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher,
Harrison Ford and Billy Dee Williams are in their 60s and 70s now, so for them
to reprise their roles, the new movie would have to take place at least 40
years after the events of Episode IV to match their real ages. This would place
the new films in the Legacy of the Force era of the timeline, which deals with the children
of Han, Leia, Luke and Lando.
The stories that have already been written in this era of
the Star Wars timeline are recounted
in the Legacy of the Force novels
written by Aaron Allston, Karen Traviss and Troy Denning. They tell of the
adventures of Jaina and Jacen Solo, and their cousin Ben Skywalker who become
embroiled in a family blood feud when Jacen Solo is consumed by the dark side, forcing
his own family to turn against him. It’s also revealed that Lando Calrissian
has a child nicknamed Chance. These new characters will carry on the legacy of
the of the Star Wars universe.
I for one am excited about the possibilities that can be
explored in future Star Wars movies
and the immense expanding universe that has been created by George Lucas and
passed on to Kathleen Kennedy. May the
Force be with her.
JP
6 comments:
Minor geek note: Boba Fett is actually alive and plays a big role in the battle against Darth Cadus (Jacen Solo).
Good catch. Boba Fett did somehow managed to crawl out of the Sarlac pit and continue his adventures in the expanded universe.
The Star Wars films have been amazing. Each one linked to the others with a thread. it will be interesting to see how that continues.
The writers are probably having some great discussions. Wouldn't it be great to be a fly on the wall?
I remember after the major success of the original Star Wars films someone told me had Walt Disney been alive he would have produced Star Wars. Not sure if that's true, but now we'll see what they can do with the Lucasfilm deal finalized.
Really looking forward to this. I am actually looking forward to a new director.
It will be interesting to see the collaboration between Disney and Lucasfilm. I am sure the movies will be action packed and stunning.
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