georgec

Mike O said:

Listen, I'm certainly bitter about Lucas' treatment of the OOT (and THX 1138, which is also never coming out again), but the fact of the matter is, that's fiction. Giving that much money to charity is a very real thing, and he deserves full congratulations for giving to a good cause and those in need. I give him full credit for, and my hat is off.

He hasn't given the money away just yet.

Someone's getting a lot of website hits for posting that info from a "source".

Their claim of credibility is that they predicted 3D conversions of the saga and financing of a new movie trilogy 3 years ago. I've thought the same things for years, that eventually Lucas would finance a new set of movies but hand off the writing and directing primarily to other people.

It could all very well be true, but at this point it's just unconfirmed rumors.

Nathan Fillion as Han would make sense.

Off-Topic is that-away, man!

I'm all about George giving money to charity, and I'll be the first in line to sing his praises for doing so, but I'll wait until it actually happens. Not that I doubt it will, and this opinion is independent of how I feel about George as writer/director/former owner of SW.

bkev, how do you feel about the Lucasfilm sale to Disney?

Are you cautiously optimistic or reasonably pessimistic?

My name is Jack Sparrow, and I want to be a pirate!

SilverWook said:

Stay on target...

Fixed!

bkev said:

I'll give you half of what you want.

I see you twatted.

AMA verified. Commence.

It's just the midichlorians. ;)

I personally hope it happens. I would love a Lindelof Star Wars trainwreck.

Has this been posted yet?

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/59411

I don't put much weight on this, but the thought of Damon Lindelof writing Star Wars is hilarious. The guy is a terrible writer, but I can see him being a pushover for George's wishes.

SilverWook said:

Not to mention George probably relished seeing the look on their faces when he told them. :)

Has Carrie said anything publicly yet?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151296956962442

I want to watch this movie.

40 year old Luke.

Hmmm...

How about Shia Lebeouf in makeup?

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=96580

As details continue to flood in regarding the just-announced Star Wars: Episode VII, EW managed to catch up with Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, who reveals that he was made aware of plans for a third trilogy last August.

"[George Lucas] asked Carrie [Fisher] and I to have lunch with him and we did," Hamill says, "I thought he was going to talk about either his retirement or the 'Star Wars' TV series that I’ve heard about — which I don’t think we were going to be involved in anyway, because that takes place between the prequels and the ones we were in and, if Luke were in them, he’d be anywhere from a toddler to a teenager so they’d get an age-appropriate actor — or the 3-D releases. So when he said, 'We decided we’re going to do Episodes VII, VIII, and IX,” I was just gobsmacked. “What? Are you nuts?!” [Laughs]"

Although Hamill learned of the plans for more films, he was as surprised as anyone at the announcement of Lucasfilm being bought by Disney when he read about it online yesterday. He also doesn't know what involvement - if any - he'll have in future Star Wars films, but he remains optimistic as a fan.

"I can see both sides of it," he says. "Because in a way, there was a beginning, a middle, and an end and we all lived happily ever after and that’s the way it should be — and it’s great that people have fond memories, if they do have fond memories. But on the other hand, there’s this ravenous desire on the part of the true believers to have more and more and more material. It’s one of those things: people either just don’t care for it or are passionate about it. I guess that defines what cult movies are all about."

Hamill reiterates that Kathleen Kennedy will be handling a lot of the work on the new films, leaving Lucas to his newfound retirement and plans for a charitable educational foundation funded by the multi-billion dollar sale.

1990osu said:

"7 - 8 - 9 was written in 1975. Story is very dense."

- Rick McCallum.

Fixed it for you.

I agree with an above comment about RLM. Probably the only thing I care about here is that I get many more years of RLM reviews.

nightstalkerpoet said:

New interview with Lucas biographer:

http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/star-wars-7-8-and-9-are-most-exciting-says-george-lucas-biographer-exclusive-63006

While researching his book, Dale Pollock, author of the unauthorized Lucas biography, “Skywalking: The Life And Films Of George Lucas,” was allowed to read the outlines to the 12 stories written by the filmmaker but was required to sign a confidentiality agreement.

 

“The three most exciting stories were 7, 8 and 9. They had propulsive action, really interesting new worlds, new characters. I remember thinking, ‘I want to see these 3 movies.’”

 

The next in the series, he said, involve Luke Skywalker in his 30s and 40s, but Lucas was unlikely to turn to Mark Hamill, who played Luke in the original but whose performance left the director dissatisfied.

Well, this nullifies my previous post.

Also, LOL @ the dig at Hamill. I think his performance in the OT is solid, and his character evolves in the films with the help of Hamill's work.

I haven't followed EU since the late 90s. I barely followed it, then. Just a few books, some comics, and a couple games. So, I can't add much to this debate.

However, I'm guessing that the new trilogy will be a springboard for a sort of revamped, or rebooted, EU. Maybe some PT/OT characters show up in cameos or get brief mentions, but this seems like it's going to be relaunching an entire new slate of characters for the saga. A new universe within the universe.

I think Lucas wants to ensure that, while he's handing off the creative steering wheel to others, all the new content fits in with what he'd envision. The past EU stuff doesn't get thrown out, but I think it's going to be like the Star Trek film reboot. I'm not saying it's going to be an alternate universe. I just think that there won't be too much crossover, if any, between EU stuff before ~2015, and EU stuff after ~2015.

Not sure if it makes sense what I'm trying to convey.

bkev, can you write "Hi OT.com!" on a piece of paper along with today's date, take a picture of yourself holding it, and post here for verification?

We'll also need you to tweet the picture and post that link here, too.

I'm waiting for Episode LXVII

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).