Re: Rian Johnson to write and director a new trilogy of films..
Being on this site has taught me better to voice a negative opinion when everyone is optimistic about something, but I'll say this: there was an interview with George Lucas, and I'm sure it's out there on the internet somewhere, ages ago (around 76-77, I think) where he briefly mentions ideas he's had for a set of films in the SW universe that went beyond the original films. So far removed from them, he said most people would probably hate it...
...I want that.
I've wanted that since... forever. In the alternate reality where that happened when these new films came to be, I envy them. I would rather have something that was divisive and made for some to love than something that everyone will like.
I love the OT, I like the PT, but everything after the PT has... not been my cuppa, to put it lightly. And what Lucas touches on in that interview, and as far as Disney is concerned, Star Wars is a brand. As in, to the majority of people, the tangible things about Star Wars (more current and specifically, the OT) should not and can not be strayed from because deviation from the brand is sacrilegious. It's the image people associate to Star Wars over both what Star Wars as a franchise and as films can be. Why did clear Coke fail despite it being the exact same formula as regular Coke? It deviated away from the brand. And in that brand, Coke must have color. And it's gotta be that "Coke" brand color. There were even talks by some that the taste was different because there wasn't any coloring.
It's all about the brand and people who are either wholly bought into it or not. Disney is all about the brand and has been for almost the past 80 years, and in that time, it's learned its lesson from trying different things that weren't met with the reception they were looking for.
Considering this, what these new films have been, what the line-up for the other planned films (that will stretch the entirety of my life) will be, how this is setting a trend for future films, on top of the fact that I only like one film from Rian Johnson (Brick), what can I appropriately say about hearing this news?
I won't stop drinking.