DominicCobb

^My thoughts exactly.

From star wars.com:

Finally watched this and your two others. They're amazing! Thanks so much Harmy for these! 

Trailer made it look good actually. So, okay, the animation style isn't as cool as Clone Wars. But that doesn't mean it'll be bad. I think I'll watch.

My picks:

1. Steven Spielberg (not going to happen though)

2. Brad Bird (probably won't happen either, Disney would rather have him for Incredibles 2)

3. Edgar Wright

4. Matthew Vaughn

5. Rian Johnson

And, well maybe that's it.

Christopher Nolan, Neill Blomkamp, Guillermo Del Toro, or Alfonso Cuaron would all do a fine, dare I say great job, but I doubt any of them would do it. 

And there's a chance that Andrew Stanton, Joe Johnston, David Koepp, Jon Favreau, Rupert Wyatt, Duncan Jones, the Russo Brothers, Alan Taylor, or Joe Cornish could work well.

The idea of Leia as a villain is just too silly for me to take seriously. So I'll say no to that one.

I'm hoping the villain isn't a Sith. I posted my thoughts on this a long time ago, though I don't think it was in this thread. Assuming there's a Jedi Academy, I'd like the villain to be a rogue Jedi of sorts who teams up with some other bad dude and they do only vaguely bad things. Let's have some shades of gray (not fifty though).

What a shitty article. I was expecting to read it and then come here to discuss why I disagree with his argument. But he doesn't even have an argument.

This thread got weird too soon.

SilverWook said:

Every party needs a pooper.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/02/opinion/beale-star-wars/index.html?hpt=hp_c3

What a maroon!

 If only he understood that Star Wars isn't sic-fi.

Avengers 2 is near guaranteed a SWVII trailer. The question is whether or not they will release a teaser before then? 

Anyone remember how early the PT teasers landed?

A VHS projected on to an Omnimax screen. Well that will certainly be interesting. 

doubleKO said:

...

P.S. Dominic, please stop putting a "c" in Fisher :p

 Oh shit. I've just smacked my head harder than I've ever done before.

RicOlie_2 said:

DominicCobb said:

Yeah, there'll be backlash - from people who will still see the movie anyway. At the end of the day, making these movies fit the EU would be catering to a niche audience. The majority of people have not read the books and could care less about them. All they want is a good movie. If LFL decided the movie would be better if they weren't forced to adhere to the EU, then I think they had every reason to say that the EU will be ignored.

 Couldn't care less. ;)

 Exactly how I feel about my typo.

Kamina said:

imperialscum said: I must say it is refreshing to see some criticism in contrast.

 Well, I was trying to be optimistic up till now, but if you wanna here some thoughts from an industry insider (I work in LA)...

Some of these actors are not proven commodities and may suck and/or not be able to carry a movie.  Harrison Ford hasn't done any good acting work in years --his Ender's Game performance was so bad it hurt.  Hopefully JJ can pull what is needed out of these thespians, but it is by no means a sure thing and/or even that likely.  

I'd say it's pretty likely. Were Hamill, Ford, or Fischer proven commodities in 76?

What about the cast of JJ's Star Trek? Pine, Quinto, Saldana, Yelchin, etc. were less proven than Isaac, Driver, Boyega, and Gleeson. Urban is analogous to Serkis, and I think Serkis is better. Yeah, ST09 also had Pegg, Ryder, and Greenwood, but this has Max von Sydow. 

As for the returning cast members - I'm not too worried. We'll see.

Yeah, there'll be backlash - from people who will still see the movie anyway. At the end of the day, making these movies fit the EU would be catering to a niche audience. The majority of people have not read the books and could care less about them. All they want is a good movie. If LFL decided the movie would be better if they weren't forced to adhere to the EU, then I think they had every reason to say that the EU will be ignored.

m_s0 said:

...

DominicCobb said:

And Max von Sydow and Andy Serkis are legends.

I like Andy Serkis, but calling him a legend alongside Max von Sydow is just bizarre.

 Certainly a different type of legend. But still a legend, I would argue.

We love you Neg.

Yep, looks like it's Daniels, not Sydow in the pic. Has that caption been on the site the whole time? Didn't notice it before.

And I can totally see Lando and/or Wedge showing up in future installments. Having eight cast members return all at once seems a little much though, so, again, it makes sense to me that they're not in this.

Also, I am fully expecting them to surprise all of us and announce that Serkis will not be in a mo-cap role.

Mavericks said:

DominicCobb said:

 As for Billy Dee, I'm kind of glad, honestly that he's not in it. That would turn this movie into a reunion show. Those six are really all we need.

  Why if there're six original cast members there can't be a place for seven? If one says "A", then it would look logical to have him saying "B", wouldn't it?

Well, Daniels and Baker are the most obvious musts, being in all of them. Then it would make sense to bring back the original three (Hamill, Ford, Fischer), to keep continuity, and it would be weird to only have one as they're all related. Then, if you have Ford, you can't not have Mayhew.

But Williams? I don't see how he's necessary. Don't get me wrong, I love him. But bringing him back, to me, would seem like bringing him back for the sake of bringing him back. Lando's probably off on his own now. Same with Wedge. Why aren't people mad that Denis Lawson isn't on the cast list?

Fang Zei said:

doubleofive said:

So we can keep the other thread on directing.

Also, is everyone on that list even there in that picture??? It's so low-res I had to zoom in before realizing the guy with the ponytail was Mayhew. Is that Tony talking to Mark? Is that Oscar Isaac sitting next to Boyega? Is the guy sitting between Driver and JJ von Sydow, because if it is I barely recognize him at this angle/resolution. There are a couple other dudes, I'm assuming one of them is Gleeson, but whoever the other guy is he's not on the list. Is that Kathy Kennedy sitting between them? What about Kenny?

Looks like Daniels and Baker are the only ones missing. Sydow is talking to Mark. Yep, that's Isaac next to Boyega. Between Driver and JJ looks like Lawrence Kasdan. I'm assuming the people in the front, from left to right, are Gleeson, Kennedy, and Bryan Burk.

Also, has anyone else speculated who these people might be playing? Ridley in between Ford and Fischer makes me think she's a Solo. The fact that Hamill's so far away makes me think there's some distance between Skywalker and Solo. Does Luke have a kid? My guess is no. But I'm suspecting Isaac, Boyega, and maybe even Serkis and Driver play some of his Jedi disciples. Then what about Sydow and Gleeson? Well if they're sitting next to each other, I bet they're a pair of some sort. I'd wager they're political leaders.

I don't know, just some fun speculation.

Extremely happy about this cast.

Oscar Isaac was amazing in Inside Llewyn Davis. So was Adam Driver (in his few scenes), and I've heard he's great in other stuff too. John Boyega was fantastic in Attack the Block. Domhnall Gleeson was pretty good in that one Harry Potter movie, plus he's Brendan Gleeson's son and I've heard he's good in other stuff. And Daisy Ridley's new, and I'm sure they must see a potential for greatness in her. 

And Max von Sydow and Andy Serkis are legends.

And we've got Hamill, Ford, Fischer, Daniels, Baker, and Mayhew! I mean, we knew, but it's great to see confirmation. As for Billy Dee, I'm kind of glad, honestly that he's not in it. That would turn this movie into a reunion show. Those six are really all we need. Plus, Williams isn't looking too great these days, honestly. 

Anyway, happy all around.

And what a fantastic cast it is.

JUST SO YOU GUYS KNOW HERE'S THE OFFICIAL CAST LIST:

http://starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-7-cast-announced.html

Isaac, Driver, and Boyega are all solid actors so if that's true I'm happy. And if they went with a newcomer, I'm sure she must be great too, to beat out established actresses.

The question, I suppose, is who would they be playing? None seem like they'd be great choices for the offspring of any established characters. Isaac, I think would make for a fantastic protagonist/Skywalker, even if he doesn't quite look the part. Driver is apparently the villain, that should be interesting. Boyega, who knows. Richardson-Sellars is probably the role that rumors say is a descendant of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Honestly that seems random enough to be either true or incredibly inaccurate. But if it's true, there must be a good reason for it. We'll wait and see.  

But shouldn't there be more members in the cast? Perhaps smaller roles have not been cast yet.

Interesting read if you want to know how the fuck Wookieepedia is reacting to all this: 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:SH:The_Great_EU_Purge_(New_Canon;Legends_discussion)?t=20140428034101