This thread has potential to last the life of TWW.

Rumor has it the new Luke will be black. (Omar Epps)

11/3/2012 10:09:20 AM

http://www.vulture.com/2012/11/star-wars-episode-vii-may-have-found-its-writer.html

Quote :

"Informed sources tell Vulture that Star Wars: Episode VII has found a leading candidate to write the film’s screenplay: Michael Arndt, the Pixar favorite who was nominated for an Oscar for Toy Story 3, won an Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine, and wrote The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which is currently shooting. Insiders confirm that Arndt has written a 40- to 50-page treatment for the film and is likely to be at least one of the writers when the Disney/Lucasfilm project begins shooting in 2014. The merger between George Lucas’s brainchild and Disney, announced October 30, caught the town by surprise. And talent agents were similarly astonished to learn that Arndt had been at work on the treatment long before the deal was announced, catching them flat-footed and cutting off any chance they’d have to proffer their own many eager candidates for the coveted job. Sources also tell Vulture that the studio’s brass want to bring back the three central characters of the original Star Wars: a much older Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo. No deals are in place with any of the original actors, though our source did say it had high ambitions to sign up Mark Hamill, and EW recently reported that Harrison Ford was open to the idea of returning. We're told that Arndt's 40-something page treatment will soon be crossing the desks of top directors, including Brad Bird, Steven Spielberg (the former producing partner of Lucasfilm co-chair Kathleen Kennedy), and J.J. Abrams. Whether they’d be interested is unknown (Star Wars is a lot of baggage for an established director), but Disney wants to make sure they’ve at least tried the biggest names. A representative for Arndt declined to comment, referring all calls to Kennedy, who did not return a call seeking comment at deadline. A Lucasfilm spokeswoman declined to comment, saying, "We have no news to report at this time." The choice of Arndt to pen a treatment makes perfect sense, given both his prestige as a screenwriter and his close relationship with Disney’s equally secretive Pixar — he’s the screenwriter of the cheekily titled Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside the Mind for Up director Pete Docter, currently in preproduction — but there’s one more reason still that Arndt would be so appealing to Disney and Lucasfilm: He’s a Star Wars expert. Since winning the Oscar for Sunshine, Arndt has lectured extensively on the art of storytelling at numerous writers’ retreats, like the Hawaii Writers Conference in Maui and the Austin Film Festival, always featuring a lengthy and detailed explanation of why the original Star Wars’ ending is so creatively satisfying. At these talks, Arndt always tells attendees that Star Wars’ enduring appeal has to do with resolving its protagonists goals’ nearly simultaneously, at the climax of the movie. In the comments section of a discussion about a Star Wars talk Arndt gave at the Austin Film Festival in 2010, one attendee of the seminar notes, "Arndt stated that if a writer could resolve the story's arcs (internal, external, philosophical) immediately after the Moment of Despair at the climax, he or she would deliver the Insanely Great Ending and put the audience in a euphoric state. The faster it could happen, the better. By [Arndt’s] reckoning, George Lucas hit those three marks at the climax of Star Wars within a space of 22 seconds." Indeed, in the third act of Star Wars, as Arndt explained to his young screenwriting Padawans at the 2009 Hawaii Writers Conference, its central characters' main goals all are met on pages 89 through 91 of the original Lucas script: At the crescendo of Star Wars, a spectral Obi Wan urges, “Use the Force, Luke,” and he does, thus reaching his inner goal (fighting self-doubt to become a hero). Han Solo reappears (meeting the philosophical goal of overcoming selfishness with altruism) to shoot down Darth Vader, which allows Luke to use the Force to mentally guide his shot and blow up the Death Star (outer goal and inner goals simultaneously met). So while it remains to be seen whether Arndt will forge ahead with an entire script for Episode VII, clearly, as Vader might say, “The Force is strong with this one.” "

11/8/2012 5:16:53 PM

interesting

11/8/2012 5:26:31 PM

^^
Cool

11/8/2012 8:15:10 PM

Actually he is already on the hook for VII, but has written a basic treatment for the whole trilogy already and was brought on well before the sale to Disney.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/11/next-star-wars-films-get-treatment-by-hunger-games-sequel-scribe-michael-arndt/

[Edited on November 8, 2012 at 10:12 PM. Reason : ]

11/8/2012 10:11:54 PM

Abrams directing VII

1/24/2013 6:18:58 PM

Getting my nerds confused.

[Edited on January 24, 2013 at 7:46 PM. Reason : a]

1/24/2013 7:43:58 PM

1/24/2013 7:51:47 PM

Hurley as Jabba the Hut
Mr Eko as Lando

1/25/2013 12:54:10 AM

Isn't being the guy in charge of Star Trek and also being the guy in charge of Star Wars a conflict of interest somehow?????

1/25/2013 5:49:07 AM

fanmade... but still pumps me up that this is happening.

2/4/2013 3:19:35 PM

Is that supposed to be anyone specific?

2/5/2013 6:06:41 PM

Most likely Luke, fan going from the dark horse comics where
Luke spent some time as the apprentice to a cloned palpatine. In essence becoming a second vader

2/5/2013 6:23:15 PM

http://starwars.com/news/new-spinoff-films-set-to-expand-the-star-wars-galaxy.html

Two spinoff films to debut after VII. Looks like Disney may be going the way Marvel is with a much broader movie tapestry to fill the SW Universe. Could be absolutely epic.

Thoughts on who though? Obviously most rumor and speculation points straight to Yoda, which could be quite awesome. But for the second one, maybe go a little deeper with Wedge Antilles, or dig into Solo's past before he met up with Luke? If its Wedge (which I doubt), I would love to see Rogue Squadron maybe spun into a movie.

[Edited on February 5, 2013 at 8:27 PM. Reason : ]

2/5/2013 8:22:30 PM

Luke's 2nd lightsaber is green yo.

2/5/2013 8:23:55 PM

Quote :

"But it was so artfully done..."

-- Grand Admiral Thrawn

[Edited on February 5, 2013 at 8:59 PM. Reason : .]

2/5/2013 8:59:14 PM

I think we'll get a Yoda movie and a Boba Fett movie


And if they hurry before Neeson gets too old, perhaps a Qui gon Jinn movie.


I don't think they'll do Darth Maul, but it's possible I guess.

2/5/2013 9:04:15 PM

^Seriously doubt it. Maul has been really fleshed out and covered in Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoons. He is still alive and very active in the current storyline, though he had a tragic run in with Darth Sidious last week.

[Edited on February 5, 2013 at 9:58 PM. Reason : ]

2/5/2013 9:45:50 PM

i'm totally unfamiliar with those cartoons... is that considered canon, or is it just "here, it's star wars for kids."

2/5/2013 10:10:58 PM

Canon at least as much as the books. Lucas' name is in the credits.

The shows are actually good (not the movie that introduced the show, that was garbage) and get better with every successive season.

I'd say its better than the prequels overall for sure. Especially anikin's character. It's much more violent than almost any other kids show. No gore of course but plenty of deaths and even extremely clean and cauterized dismemberment and decapitation.

[Edited on February 5, 2013 at 11:27 PM. Reason : ]

2/5/2013 11:25:18 PM

^Yea I am totally comfortable with the kids watching it, and they love it. Its honestly a really good way to get kids into the SW universe. Obviously Episode I is super kiddy, but III is so strong with the "death" of Anakin that I have not let our kids watch it yet. But we have watched the whole Clone Wars series and really liked it. They have also fleshed out several planets and some of their backstory that have really been ignored in the movies. For example much of the show has happened around Mandalore and shown the Mandalorian civilization. That has been very cool.

As for canon status, it is actually above the Expanded Universe, which is C-canon. It is considered T-canon (Television) which sits above EU, but below G-canon (aka George Canon or Movie Canon). So technically the TV shows supersede the books.

2/6/2013 7:57:55 AM

Saw this cool fan made poster on FB earlier today.

2/6/2013 8:50:40 AM

so we're getting a Han Solo movie.

2/6/2013 3:23:56 PM

My buddy who works for Pixar told me the rumored first script is Ewok heavy.

2/6/2013 4:52:37 PM

2/6/2013 4:56:03 PM

Ewoks really.... ....


III

2/6/2013 7:14:33 PM

I'll consider Ewoks when someone other than hey now says it

2/6/2013 7:18:39 PM

Quote :

"Thoughts on who though? "

Three words.

Jar.

Jar.

Binks.

2/6/2013 7:34:52 PM

I guess I truly am the only one that doesn't care to hear anything else about Skywalker, Han, Chewbacca, etc. I'd much rather they come up with a new, separate story in the SW universe with absolutely no existing characters from the movies.

The prequels tried to shoehorn in so much crap from existing movies that it's made me hate most of the characters. They've lost ALL of their mythos.

2/7/2013 6:57:41 AM

^I really wish they would do Dash Rendar and Shadows of the Empire. That baby is pre-written and ready to go. Its even set in between Episode ESB & ANH, so it would be in a familiar time period. I don't know who wouldn't like it. Only issue being that it includes Luke & Leia, and I don't think they have enough make up and CGI to make Carrie Fisher look like she did right before the slave girl outfit.

2/7/2013 7:43:12 AM

Ewoks? So they are remaking caravan of courage and battle for endor? Will they still have wilford brimley with the diabeetus?

2/7/2013 9:14:27 AM

I remember the game Shadows of the Empire and I had forgotten about it for the longest time. I just read the book and was disappointed by it... but I did read it immediately after the Thrawn Trilogy.

SotE just really didn't interest me that much. A crime lord (many repeated attempts by the author to prove he was bad-A were painful to read) who is trying to compete with Vader for the affection of the Emperor? Vader is a Sith, so how is some rich crime boss going to supplant Vader when the crime boss isn't even force sensitive?

And that whole trying to bed Leia thing was also painful to read. Crime boss of the baddest gang in the universe hung up on bedding some chick. Makes me wonder how he became a crime boss or how he got anything done when he'd put life on hold for that.

Also, the book didn't do the best job of convincing me why Leia doing business with the Black Sun was even remotely a good idea. Someone tried to kill Luke, so what? I imagine half the galaxy would be after that but suddenly it's ultra important to find out exactly who is trying to kill Luke... it' just felt like a heavy handed push to ensure Leia got up with Xizor.

Again, I'm probably unique in this. I'm not interested in established characters, I'd rather them come up with new, original material. I didn't like Shadows of the Empire (novel). I guess other SW books must be really, really bad for SotE to hold such a vaulted position.

What are the better SW books? I've read the Thrawn Trilogy, a few books in the prequel timeline, and SotE.

2/7/2013 10:05:32 AM

Eh, I liked it, but it was really my first experience with the EU. It has been years since I read it. I guess it was more interesting to me since it had all the accompanying media via the games, comics, etc.

The Thrawn Trilogy was still my favorite though, probably followed by the Black Fleet Crisis, Rogue Squadron, and Wraith Squadron.

2/7/2013 10:21:26 AM

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll have to read those.

2/7/2013 11:00:20 AM

Quote :

" Its even set in between Episode ESB & ANH"

Not to nitpick but it's between episode 5 and 6

2/7/2013 1:58:36 PM

^Shit yes meant ESB and RToJ. Not enough coffee when I typed it.

2/7/2013 3:02:02 PM

Word on the street is young Han Solo and Boba Fett adventures

2/7/2013 3:59:24 PM

word on my street is ewoks vs gungans in an epic battle for supremacy.

2/9/2013 1:47:33 PM

Word on the street is Star Wars / Young Indiana Jones crossover ft. the characters from Maniac Mansion.

2/9/2013 1:56:45 PM

I just hope they keep the guy who played Bones. he was my favorite in the first movie.

2/10/2013 11:29:54 AM

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Into_the_Great_Unknown

2/10/2013 11:38:37 AM

needs more Shia Lebouf

2/10/2013 12:05:42 PM

Looks like they are going to wrap up Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

They are also canning 1313 it appears to have them develop games based on the new Trilogy. BOO. Let them finish 1313 and then shift them over.

They are also halting production of Detours, the animated comedy by Seth Green that was supposed to air this year.

Detours Trailer:

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/03/disney-clone-wars-cancelled/

Article with all info:

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/03/disney-clone-wars-cancelled/

3/12/2013 7:59:30 AM

I'm a little dismayed that they pulled the plug on Clone Wars. The close of this last season was left with way too many loose ends. I've heard that the animation team may shift into doing some feature films to better wrap things up, and I hope that it's true.

Y'all probably don't care one bit about the toys and such, but I have to say that Hasbro has REALLY dropped the ball with their merchandising over the last year. There were an awful lot of opportunities which they should have taken with producing toys for the Clone Wars series, but they never materialized. It's turned into a fantastic opportunity for Lego to produce sets and figures which Hasbro - primary owner of the license - hasn't even prototyped.

3/12/2013 11:40:51 AM

From the article, the clone wars is not necessarily done

it says that no new episodes for CN will be produced and the show will probably wind up on DXD

3/12/2013 1:01:09 PM

Well everybody knew it was going to probably end up on XD. That wasn't the issue. This guy is making it sound like they may not even do a 6th season. Maybe they are just going to do a DVD movie or something like that. I dunno. Either way, I wish they would have wrapped it up better, or hope they do still. The current Ahsoka just leaves after being persecuted can sorta wrap up her storyline, but it seems odd that Anakin's padawan is never mentioned in Episode III at all.

3/12/2013 1:54:51 PM

^^, ^ Yeah, that's kinda what I meant. Instead of production just shifting networks, Dave Filoni makes it sound like they are going to do something in the future, but doesn't say what. That's why I'm betting on feature films (e.g. a 2-hour special, or maybe even another theater release). They've already got a bit in the can judging from the footage where one of the clone troopers has a crisis of judgment and subsequently shoots the Jedi in the back.

I'm more interested in seeing how they use Darth Maul in all of this. I know, I know, it was super cheesy to bother bringing him back, but Palpatine did indicate that he has special plans for him. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say he's going to make Darth Maul hunt down Ahsoka because he knows what it would do to Anakin, and then Anakin will avenge himself upon Maul. I just don't see any rose-colored ending for Ahsoka (seriously, she just leaves the order and is never heard from again?!), which makes me think there'd be a theater release of whatever is left. If they're gonna kill her off - as they almost have to - then I doubt that you'll be seeing that on the Disney channel. It'd actually be sorta fitting since the whole series started in the theater, and could potentially go out in the theater.

3/12/2013 2:31:06 PM

More shit news from this whole thing:

http://kotaku.com/disney-shuts-down-lucasarts-468473749

Lucasarts is dead. Everybody laid off. Star Wars will now be licensed out for games instead of being made in house.

4/3/2013 2:05:34 PM

its not surprising. lucasarts hasn't made a decent game in years and years

4/3/2013 2:28:01 PM

1313 was looking very promising. But you are right, they were nowhere close to what they used to be in their heyday in the 90s.

4/3/2013 2:42:19 PM