zombie84 said:
The thing about this is that it's incredibly abrupt. It's not surprising, it's just unexpected that it happened today, without any rumblings. A sucker-punch.
But in terms of is it good or bad or will it make the OOT get released? I don't think it changes much.
If you loved the prequels, you could cry foul because "it's George Lucas' baby." But then you would be naive. He didn't solely write ESB, ROTJ, AOTC, and unofficially ROTS, and he didn't direct ESB and ROTJ either. He also didn't have anything to do with 99% of the EU, and he's been pretty hands off with the biggest two SW projects of the last seven years, which is Force Unleashed series and Clone Wars series. But yeah, he had a bit of input, and he's continuing in that capacity as a creative consultant, and based off his treatment ideas. So he's still in the same capacity to a large degree.
If you hated the prequels then this is great news. The prequels were good ideas for movies that were crippled by George Lucas inability to write or direct. This could be the best thing to happen to the series since 1980, and to be honest the acting, writing and directing of stuff like CW and Force Unleashed is pretty well done. So, hey, this could be the prequels you wanted in the first place.
And in terms of the OOT, it would be jumping the gun to make any predictions. My own feeling is that this could be the best thing, because Disney has always been kind to its classics, has always marketed itself based on its legacy, and with Lucas out of the way--he's a creative consultant on the sequels, not on the companies business dealings--there's really nothing holding them back. But then, with 7, 8 and 9 coming REALLY FUCKING SOON, maybe the OOT will take a back burner because they will be concentrating on these new films right away. Or: maybe not. We were always going to get the OOT, it was just a matter of time. Does this move that timeframe up or push it back? 50/50. But I would say it moves it up.
As for the end of fan films this is jumping the gun. Disney is harsher than Lucasfilm in the legal department, yes, but LFL will still retain a level of autonomy, and their fan relations are to a large degree built upon a mutual relationship, whether it's the 501st or whatever. That seems unlikely to go away. Things may change a bit, but I think it's foolish to say this is the end of all that. At the very least, it's up in the air, but more likely it will just undergo a bit of modification when the new management takes over. But from a business perspective they have a great thing going and it doesn't need to change, unless they start losing money, but they won't, and with the new films and business plan they have nothing to worry about.
But the point is this isn't really surpring, this whole move seems downright predictable, but the abruptness of it has thrown us all. But when you really break it down, there is as much pros as cons, and things ought to more or less remain the same, because it's too early to say otherwise in any case.
My two cents.
I agree with you for the most part. I'm not too high or low on this news. Not surprised at all. Always expected Lucas to hand off the series to someone else for more movies.
But about Disney, during much of the 2000s didn't they have various moratoriums on their 90s classics? I think Beauty and the Beast was one that was unavailable for some time. Yes, I think they've released most of these films and done them justice (I feel like one of their releases might have had controversy or something). However, I recall a lot of waiting and waiting for them to release their movies on DVD and blu-ray. Obviously these releases/remasters/upgrades take time, but it always seemed like they shuffled their feet a bit.
I know what you mean about Disney being good to their classics, but at the same time I could see them just holding onto the UOT like bait on the fishing line. Gain the trust of the disenfranchised fans, sell them some products, keep them hopeful for the UOT, sell more products, rinse and repeat. The release could happen eventually, but we all know Disney will milk that as much as, if not more, than Lucas would have (or has done).