12 Star Wars
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Re: 12 starwars films, Kurtz says that was the plan.
Usenet post from 1982........
"Revenge of the Jedi"... Episode 6 in the Star Wars saga, has
just finished filming, according to some friends I have down in
Arizona.
The release date for us humans that want to see it is
still the summer of 1983. I guess it takes that long to score
all the music, do all the film-editing, prepare all the promo
material, and all that junk.
I wish Lucas & Co. would get the thing going a little faster.
I can't really imagine waiting until 1997 to see all nine parts
of the Star Wars series"
Lucas didn't either.
Usenet post from 1982........
"Revenge of the Jedi"... Episode 6 in the Star Wars saga, has
just finished filming, according to some friends I have down in
Arizona.
The release date for us humans that want to see it is
still the summer of 1983. I guess it takes that long to score
all the music, do all the film-editing, prepare all the promo
material, and all that junk.
I wish Lucas & Co. would get the thing going a little faster.
I can't really imagine waiting until 1997 to see all nine parts
of the Star Wars series"
Lucas didn't either.
darthgordon
Sr Member
Re: 12 starwars films, Kurtz says that was the plan.
I'm not seeing the number 12 there...
I'm not seeing the number 12 there...
Re: 12 starwars films, Kurtz says that was the plan.
They had no idea what was going to happen back then. ESB could just as easily have flopped.
They were just throwing out anything in interviews in the early days.
NONE of it can be taken as a master plan of any kind. Thinking there ever was anything beyond a very basic large storyline that could be expanded or contracted at will, is just silly fanboy wishful thinking.
There was a mention of 12 once in Rolling Stone I think.
They had no idea what was going to happen back then. ESB could just as easily have flopped.
They were just throwing out anything in interviews in the early days.
NONE of it can be taken as a master plan of any kind. Thinking there ever was anything beyond a very basic large storyline that could be expanded or contracted at will, is just silly fanboy wishful thinking.
There was a mention of 12 once in Rolling Stone I think.
MFP 2020
Sr Member
Re: 12 starwars films, Kurtz says that was the plan.
Me, too.
So Lucas has been planning to rape our childhood since...our childhood?
Me, too.
So Lucas has been planning to rape our childhood since...our childhood?
Re: 12 starwars films, Kurtz says that was the plan.
Until there are 12 films, there aren't.
Be happy with the 6 we have.
Until there are 12 films, there aren't.
Be happy with the 6 we have.
blip
Sr Member
Re: 12 starwars films, Kurtz says that was the plan.
Thousands of people would be totally confused. Everyone would want to know what happened to the other three movies."
Although the upcoming Empire Strikes Back was written by screenplay-writer-novelist Leigh Brackett before her death, Kurtz explains that the original idea was actually derived from the first Star Wars brainstorming session, a session....
which eventually produced the twelve tales which comprise the massive Adventures of Luke Skywalker set.
As it turns out, these almost mythical tales are not stories in the traditional sense of the word. "They exist in rough outline form," says Kurtz. "They were an outgrowth of the original screenplay concept. The first two or three drafts of Star Wars were very long and elaborate, covering a tremendous amount of time and story.
We found that we had to cut things in pieces and narrow everything down into story blocks.....
We wound up with one dozen adventures of Luke Skywalker as a result."
Despite his detailing the history of The Empire Strikes Back, Kurtz realizes that the sequel will be viewed by many as just another Star Wars spin-off. Kurtz feels that it's important to stress that fact that Empire will be unlike any sequel ever filmed. In fact, neither Kurtz nor Lucas view it as a sequel in the Hollywood sense of the word.
"We're approaching this movie as a separate entity unto itself," he emphasizes." It will be produced well, directed well, written well. The Godfather II was a film that was made with this goal in mind and it worked out very well. In fact, a lot of people felt that it was better than the first film.
Usually what happens with a sequel is that if you have a successful original movie the sequel is rushed out to capitalize on the success of the first. And all of the wrong elements from the first film are picked up. The elements that made the first film are ignored and the elements that everyone thinks made the first film, the most obvious ones, are emphasized.
You end up with a film, as in the case of Jaws II, where you're telling the same story over again and the audience is amazed that somehow the filmmakers couldn't come up with a slightly different story. I guess it was one of those occasions where the creative people didn't want to tamper with a successful formula."
Kurtz and Lucas feel that, thus far, they have been very successful in keeping The Empire Strikes Back light-years away from the standard sequel formula. As successful as their attempts have proven, however, they have still had their share of problems concerning the script ... problems of a totally unexpected nature.
The script, penned by Brackett, was carefully constructed to avoid all clichés and stereotypes.
Unfortunately, shortly after finishing her initial draft, the talented writer passed away. Already nearing pre-production time, Kurtz and Lucas picked up the script and ran with it.
"We now have two drafts that we're quite pleased with," says Kurtz. "We took Leigh Bracken's draft and looked at it. It was fine. George took it and made some minor modifications, fleshing it out a bit because, obviously, she didn't have the chance.
She was going to do two drafts and a polish but passed away just as she was about to start the second draft. The difference between her first draft and the second one completed by George is fairly minimal. George had to re-adjust the emphasis slightly. We may or may not hire another writer to do a minor dialogue polish. We'll be making that decision soon."
During the time when the first script was being edited, Kurtz and Lucas had to make other decisions concerning the film, including exactly what originator Lucas' involvement with the picture was going to be. "George will be acting as supervisor for the film," states Kurtz, "sort of an executive producer, I guess. He has worked on all the story elements and he wants to make sure that the movie progresses along the proper track.
It's his original story and he wants to make sure it goes smoothly.
He's working on some things right now that don't have anything to do with directing. He's staying out of filmmaking, concentrating on his writing. He's been available for consultation and has sat in on most of the planning meetings."
Replacing Lucas in the Star Wars director's chair will be Irvin Kershner, the director of The Eyes Of Laura Mars, The Flim-Flam Man and Raid On Entebbe. "We picked him for several reasons. Of all the directors we talked to he was one of the people who had worked with action before and had a good graphic sense. He's a visual director," Kurtz emphasizes. "Also, he hasn't gotten a chance to do science fiction before. He's very enthusiastic about it, which is important.
STARLOG
Thousands of people would be totally confused. Everyone would want to know what happened to the other three movies."
Although the upcoming Empire Strikes Back was written by screenplay-writer-novelist Leigh Brackett before her death, Kurtz explains that the original idea was actually derived from the first Star Wars brainstorming session, a session....
which eventually produced the twelve tales which comprise the massive Adventures of Luke Skywalker set.
As it turns out, these almost mythical tales are not stories in the traditional sense of the word. "They exist in rough outline form," says Kurtz. "They were an outgrowth of the original screenplay concept. The first two or three drafts of Star Wars were very long and elaborate, covering a tremendous amount of time and story.
We found that we had to cut things in pieces and narrow everything down into story blocks.....
We wound up with one dozen adventures of Luke Skywalker as a result."
Despite his detailing the history of The Empire Strikes Back, Kurtz realizes that the sequel will be viewed by many as just another Star Wars spin-off. Kurtz feels that it's important to stress that fact that Empire will be unlike any sequel ever filmed. In fact, neither Kurtz nor Lucas view it as a sequel in the Hollywood sense of the word.
"We're approaching this movie as a separate entity unto itself," he emphasizes." It will be produced well, directed well, written well. The Godfather II was a film that was made with this goal in mind and it worked out very well. In fact, a lot of people felt that it was better than the first film.
Usually what happens with a sequel is that if you have a successful original movie the sequel is rushed out to capitalize on the success of the first. And all of the wrong elements from the first film are picked up. The elements that made the first film are ignored and the elements that everyone thinks made the first film, the most obvious ones, are emphasized.
You end up with a film, as in the case of Jaws II, where you're telling the same story over again and the audience is amazed that somehow the filmmakers couldn't come up with a slightly different story. I guess it was one of those occasions where the creative people didn't want to tamper with a successful formula."
Kurtz and Lucas feel that, thus far, they have been very successful in keeping The Empire Strikes Back light-years away from the standard sequel formula. As successful as their attempts have proven, however, they have still had their share of problems concerning the script ... problems of a totally unexpected nature.
The script, penned by Brackett, was carefully constructed to avoid all clichés and stereotypes.
Unfortunately, shortly after finishing her initial draft, the talented writer passed away. Already nearing pre-production time, Kurtz and Lucas picked up the script and ran with it.
"We now have two drafts that we're quite pleased with," says Kurtz. "We took Leigh Bracken's draft and looked at it. It was fine. George took it and made some minor modifications, fleshing it out a bit because, obviously, she didn't have the chance.
She was going to do two drafts and a polish but passed away just as she was about to start the second draft. The difference between her first draft and the second one completed by George is fairly minimal. George had to re-adjust the emphasis slightly. We may or may not hire another writer to do a minor dialogue polish. We'll be making that decision soon."
During the time when the first script was being edited, Kurtz and Lucas had to make other decisions concerning the film, including exactly what originator Lucas' involvement with the picture was going to be. "George will be acting as supervisor for the film," states Kurtz, "sort of an executive producer, I guess. He has worked on all the story elements and he wants to make sure that the movie progresses along the proper track.
It's his original story and he wants to make sure it goes smoothly.
He's working on some things right now that don't have anything to do with directing. He's staying out of filmmaking, concentrating on his writing. He's been available for consultation and has sat in on most of the planning meetings."
Replacing Lucas in the Star Wars director's chair will be Irvin Kershner, the director of The Eyes Of Laura Mars, The Flim-Flam Man and Raid On Entebbe. "We picked him for several reasons. Of all the directors we talked to he was one of the people who had worked with action before and had a good graphic sense. He's a visual director," Kurtz emphasizes. "Also, he hasn't gotten a chance to do science fiction before. He's very enthusiastic about it, which is important.
STARLOG
Last edited:
darthgordon
Sr Member
Re: 12 starwars films, Kurtz says that was the plan.
There's the number I was looking for.
There's the number I was looking for.
Zombie_61
Master Member
Re: 12 starwars films, Kurtz says that was the plan.
Of course not; it's Episode II.V.
Organic Mechanic
Sr Member
Organic Mechanic
Sr Member
Qrest Fourstar
Sr Member
Re: 12 starwars films, Kurtz says that was the plan.
I don't know how much stock you can make of that article. The way the Brackett script is described in the Making os ESB book, they were never happy with most of that script.
Everything is a work in progress until it's creator says it's done.
I don't know how much stock you can make of that article. The way the Brackett script is described in the Making os ESB book, they were never happy with most of that script.
Everything is a work in progress until it's creator says it's done.
blip
Sr Member
Re: 12 starwars films, Kurtz says that was the plan.
Starlog 18 Dec 1978
He wasn't cynical when we met him. He has a very real interest in science fiction on both its serious and humorous level. We found out during our various interviews with directors that it was more difficult than we had thought to find someone that seemed to be right in terms of their attitude toward the material."
And just what about the material? Will eager Star Wars fans get to see all their favorite aliens back again in The Empire Strikes Back! According to Kurtz, an intergalactic class reunion is just what the script calls for. "Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, David Prowse, Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew are all set for the new film."
The producer smiles enigmatically when it comes to revealing any vital story details from the forthcoming movie. "Well, I can't really say too much," he demurs. "The new story takes place after the end of the first one. It's a progression in that the rebels have moved on to try to form a new base of operations and are still being harassed by the Empire. But we want to keep a lot of the key elements confidential for a while because there are some other projects around that are working along similar ideas as Star Wars.
"We will continue to have action elements and suspense involved in Empire, but we will spend a little bit more time on character development and the relationships between characters.
By the way, the romantic triangle (Han -Leia - Luke) is resolved in this one, but I'd rather not say how. I want that to be a surprise.
"Obviously this film doesn't resolve all the problems with Darth Vader and his people or the rebels because we have yet another story that we're working on now that is really the third part of this storyline and will reconcile certain elements.
"The new movie will also have some new alien and human characters that we hope will be as appealing as the ones in the original Star Wars," he adds. Along with new faces and plot twists, The Empire Strikes Back will offer a horde of new special effects designed to re-impress old friends.
This time out, the SFX chores will fall into the able hands of Brian (Space: 1999) Johnson while original SW effects master John Dykstra moves on to greener pastures. "We're trying some new effects that have never been attempted before," Kurtz relates. "As a matter of fact, we're assembling the new equipment now. Of course, some of the effects will be extensions of what was done before. We'll have a lot of outer space battles."
Leaving the particulars of The Empire Strikes Back momentarily, Kurtz returns to his anti-sequel theme. "Our approach to this," he re-emphasizes, "is that this is a film that will stand up on its own merit and be accepted without any reference to the first film. And that's the way we'll approach each one of them in the future."
Each one of them? Surely Kurtz can't be thinking of filming all twelve Star Wars adventures! "Well," he shrugs offhandedly. Obviously, the producer is thinking of just that, envisioning what could probably develop into the most successful movie series of all times ... or the most spectacular TV show ever launched. At this point, Kurtz can see Luke Skywalker stalking the silver screen indefinitely. The boob tube, on the other hand, looks like rough terrain upon which to tread.
"We've talked a little about TV," Kurtz confesses, "but I don't generally like the idea because television has a lot of restrictions that are difficult to deal with. The time spent on TV is so breakneck, so horrendous that what usually happens is that the first couple of shows of your series turn out really good because you have the time to spend on them.
Then as you get caught up in the rat race, it gets worse and worse. You try desperately to finish each show on time. The only alternative for a good series is to go into it with every single episode planned out in advance. But even that wouldn't work.
I think that the impact of a Star Wars series on television just wouldn't be as great in terms of both visual presentation and sound quality. We've pretty much ignored television, with the idea that a series would be too difficult to deal with."
Until the day when either Kurtz' attitude or the technical abilities of television change, the Star Wars epics will be a permanent fixture on movie screens. One classic film completed ... a sequel currently in the works ... a third movie in the planning stage. Just how long do Kurtz and Lucas intend Luke Skywalker to fight the forces of evil throughout the galaxy?
Kurtz smiles at the thought: "For years and years to come."
Starlog 18 Dec 1978
He wasn't cynical when we met him. He has a very real interest in science fiction on both its serious and humorous level. We found out during our various interviews with directors that it was more difficult than we had thought to find someone that seemed to be right in terms of their attitude toward the material."
And just what about the material? Will eager Star Wars fans get to see all their favorite aliens back again in The Empire Strikes Back! According to Kurtz, an intergalactic class reunion is just what the script calls for. "Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, David Prowse, Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew are all set for the new film."
The producer smiles enigmatically when it comes to revealing any vital story details from the forthcoming movie. "Well, I can't really say too much," he demurs. "The new story takes place after the end of the first one. It's a progression in that the rebels have moved on to try to form a new base of operations and are still being harassed by the Empire. But we want to keep a lot of the key elements confidential for a while because there are some other projects around that are working along similar ideas as Star Wars.
"We will continue to have action elements and suspense involved in Empire, but we will spend a little bit more time on character development and the relationships between characters.
By the way, the romantic triangle (Han -Leia - Luke) is resolved in this one, but I'd rather not say how. I want that to be a surprise.
"Obviously this film doesn't resolve all the problems with Darth Vader and his people or the rebels because we have yet another story that we're working on now that is really the third part of this storyline and will reconcile certain elements.
"The new movie will also have some new alien and human characters that we hope will be as appealing as the ones in the original Star Wars," he adds. Along with new faces and plot twists, The Empire Strikes Back will offer a horde of new special effects designed to re-impress old friends.
This time out, the SFX chores will fall into the able hands of Brian (Space: 1999) Johnson while original SW effects master John Dykstra moves on to greener pastures. "We're trying some new effects that have never been attempted before," Kurtz relates. "As a matter of fact, we're assembling the new equipment now. Of course, some of the effects will be extensions of what was done before. We'll have a lot of outer space battles."
Leaving the particulars of The Empire Strikes Back momentarily, Kurtz returns to his anti-sequel theme. "Our approach to this," he re-emphasizes, "is that this is a film that will stand up on its own merit and be accepted without any reference to the first film. And that's the way we'll approach each one of them in the future."
Each one of them? Surely Kurtz can't be thinking of filming all twelve Star Wars adventures! "Well," he shrugs offhandedly. Obviously, the producer is thinking of just that, envisioning what could probably develop into the most successful movie series of all times ... or the most spectacular TV show ever launched. At this point, Kurtz can see Luke Skywalker stalking the silver screen indefinitely. The boob tube, on the other hand, looks like rough terrain upon which to tread.
"We've talked a little about TV," Kurtz confesses, "but I don't generally like the idea because television has a lot of restrictions that are difficult to deal with. The time spent on TV is so breakneck, so horrendous that what usually happens is that the first couple of shows of your series turn out really good because you have the time to spend on them.
Then as you get caught up in the rat race, it gets worse and worse. You try desperately to finish each show on time. The only alternative for a good series is to go into it with every single episode planned out in advance. But even that wouldn't work.
I think that the impact of a Star Wars series on television just wouldn't be as great in terms of both visual presentation and sound quality. We've pretty much ignored television, with the idea that a series would be too difficult to deal with."
Until the day when either Kurtz' attitude or the technical abilities of television change, the Star Wars epics will be a permanent fixture on movie screens. One classic film completed ... a sequel currently in the works ... a third movie in the planning stage. Just how long do Kurtz and Lucas intend Luke Skywalker to fight the forces of evil throughout the galaxy?
Kurtz smiles at the thought: "For years and years to come."
Last edited:
Colin Droidmilk
Sr Member
Re: 12 StarWars films! (Kurtz says, that was the plan).
'We wound up with one dozen adventures of Luke Skywalker'. Doesn't chime with the highly detailed account of the story genesis in the Rinzler book, does it? That account shows Lucas struggling for years just to come up with one story, the result consisting basically of some kind of Vader and Ben back story and the events in the film. But perhaps Rinzler has left a whole lot out...
I see they mention Brian Johnson in the article. I remember when we heard about Johnson being hired, me and my friends were really worried that all the ships would be going slow and crap like in Space;1999, LOL!
'We wound up with one dozen adventures of Luke Skywalker'. Doesn't chime with the highly detailed account of the story genesis in the Rinzler book, does it? That account shows Lucas struggling for years just to come up with one story, the result consisting basically of some kind of Vader and Ben back story and the events in the film. But perhaps Rinzler has left a whole lot out...
I see they mention Brian Johnson in the article. I remember when we heard about Johnson being hired, me and my friends were really worried that all the ships would be going slow and crap like in Space;1999, LOL!
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