Star Wars stand alone films on hold...

Funny that many consonants are starting with a vowel when pronounced phonetically :confused:D To return to our on going programming: NO MORE STARWARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I was looking for the exact reference so I could get the wording right, for my more in-depth review of Solo, and that led me skimming back through Brian Daley's Han Solo books, and lemme tell ya... After seeing Solo, I would love to see those turned into a movie series with Alden as Han. I found, when I was reading through, my brain is now flipping back and forth between him and young Harrison. It was an interesting revelation.

I'd also like to see a Boba movie. When we last saw him in Clone Wars, he was a punk wannabe who was getting screwed over by his crew and beaten by Ventress (who hogtied him and stuffed him in a trunk). Aurra Sing stole and crashed Slave I. Etc. I'd like to see how he gets from that to being the most feared bounty hunter in known space.

All of these -- and Solo -- deal with the fringier elements of Star Wars. The dangerous underbelly of society, where some of the best Clone Wars and Rebels episodes took place. Use Han and Boba to be the caudience's familiar touchstones and let the stories speak for themselves. Use them to introduce new characters, that we can then follow later without them as training wheels. Jumping over to the comics, Doctor Aphra was working with/for Vader in his title. She proved so popular with fans that when that series ended, she got her own, largely unsupported by any of Our Heroes. This is exactly what I see people clamoring for, but when they get it, they don't seem to know what to do with it. New stories set in the Star Wars universe, introducing new characters... It's such an established IP, though, that you can't just throw a whole cast of new characters at a movie audience. A familiar face really helps smooth the transition. If they didn't, a lot of casual viewers would be wondering when Han or Luke were going to show up. Or maybe Poe, if they're unclear about the era, as happened with Rogue One.
 
As far as Rian Johnson

He apparently shoots for having a movie half the audience will hate

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/996486979578662912

I can't believe there haven't been more replies to this. I mean, it totally spells it out - that, practically in spite of himself and his talents, he's little more than a provocateur, resting on "any attention is good attention". And let's be clear, there is a world of difference between getting people to think, vs. merely getting people to hate.
 
Awww, man! I like the anthology films. Would it kill Disney/LFL to take some responsibility that they royally effed up Solo? Or was it really easier just to say that anthology films don't make money (they do) and that SW fatigue is the cause (it's not).

I actually think it's neither. I don't think it's an issue of Star Wars fatigue as much as it is a combination of self-competition (seriously, Marvel is just cranking stuff out at a breakneck pace), and -- more importantly -- some mismanagement at the executive level. This is where legitimate criticisms of Kathleen Kennedy come in from a business perspective. It's not the displeasure of some fans with Rian Johnson's film, but rather that there were some pretty serious production SNAFUs in the making of the -- so far -- only two anthology films, and some behind-the-scenes stuff with Ep. IX. Kennedy initially tapped several directors who are not established big-budget directors. Josh Trank, Rian Johnson, Lord & Miller. Colin Trevorrow had Jurassic World, and Gareth Edwards had Godzilla under their respective belts, but that was it for big budget. Trank had a big-budget failure, Lord & Miller had done comedies, and Johnson had literally nothing big budget.

As much as I decry LFL not taking risks with their story subjects, they definitely took risks with their project leaders. Trank flamed out early on. Lord & Miller shot a whole movie that had to be reshot and which was almost certainly responsible for the financial failure of Solo (budget overruns, inability to move the scheduled release, ineffective marketing). Rogue One, although financially successful, had some serious post-production issues to deal with, and the experience was apparently unpleasant enough for Edwards to say that he wouldn't want to direct another Star Wars movie. Trevorrow dropped out of Ep. IX and JJ took it over, although he's still credited as a co-writer.

What all of this suggests to me -- and I claim no great expertise here -- is that Star Wars has been going full-tilt with a particular business model since the Disney purchase of LFL, and it has been...of mixed success. TFA was undoubtedly a success. (I'm talking financially here, not just what people think of the film; I certainly have my criticisms of it.) TLJ was also a financial success, however it may have divided the fan base. But so far, we have two "saga" films and two "anthology" films, and only the Saga films managed to avoid production SNAFUs. As a result, I think taking a step back, pausing the breakneck pace of development, and saying "Hang on. What are we doing here, and why are we doing it?" is a wise choice. Something isn't working, or isn't working as well as it should.

If Marvel can avoid "Marvel fatigue," then Star Wars should absolutely be able to. Marvel's had far fewer of the kind of production SNAFUs that Star Wars has. My recollection is that only Ant-Man suffered from anything comparable. So, again, I think this boils down to a need to reevaluate strategy at the C-suite level. Figure out what the common threads in production failures have been, and try a different approach. And meanwhile, focus on what they know works (the Saga films).

I'd also like to see a Boba movie. When we last saw him in Clone Wars, he was a punk wannabe who was getting screwed over by his crew and beaten by Ventress (who hogtied him and stuffed him in a trunk). Aurra Sing stole and crashed Slave I. Etc. I'd like to see how he gets from that to being the most feared bounty hunter in known space.

All of these -- and Solo -- deal with the fringier elements of Star Wars. The dangerous underbelly of society, where some of the best Clone Wars and Rebels episodes took place. Use Han and Boba to be the audience's familiar touchstones and let the stories speak for themselves. Use them to introduce new characters, that we can then follow later without them as training wheels. Jumping over to the comics, Doctor Aphra was working with/for Vader in his title. She proved so popular with fans that when that series ended, she got her own, largely unsupported by any of Our Heroes. This is exactly what I see people clamoring for, but when they get it, they don't seem to know what to do with it. New stories set in the Star Wars universe, introducing new characters... It's such an established IP, though, that you can't just throw a whole cast of new characters at a movie audience. A familiar face really helps smooth the transition. If they didn't, a lot of casual viewers would be wondering when Han or Luke were going to show up. Or maybe Poe, if they're unclear about the era, as happened with Rogue One.

Right, and that's exactly what I thought the plan was for the anthology movies.

Although, I have to be honest, I think we're getting to a point where we have to move beyond the OT characters. You can still do the OT setting to launch new characters, but the OT characters themselves are...well, they're pretty well established. Doing a "backstory" movie about one isn't going to grab audiences. It helps to have a familiar face, but I think what's more important is a familiar setting and a familiar struggle. Everyone "gets" Rebels vs. Empire. That's an easy touchstone. Everyone "gets" the underlying concept of the Clone Wars. Clone dudes vs. robot dudes, lots of Jedi, and a couple of Sith dudes behind the scenes. An underworld story -- if you want to launch an underworld series -- can tie into that, at least tangentially. Tell a story like what Han and Chewie did, but tell it from the perspective of the smuggler ne'er-do-wells instead of the plucky rebels. Don't have the smugglers join up (initially), but have them remain in contact with the Rebels or maybe end up branded "Rebels" by the empire and now they're on the run. Hey, there's your sequel!

But continually going back to the OT well for characters and stories? That's unsustainable.
 
What all of this suggests to me -- and I claim no great expertise here -- is that Star Wars has been going full-tilt with a particular business model since the Disney purchase of LFL, and it has been...of mixed success. TFA was undoubtedly a success. (I'm talking financially here, not just what people think of the film; I certainly have my criticisms of it.) TLJ was also a financial success, however it may have divided the fan base. But so far, we have two "saga" films and two "anthology" films, and only the Saga films managed to avoid production SNAFUs. As a result, I think taking a step back, pausing the breakneck pace of development, and saying "Hang on. What are we doing here, and why are we doing it?" is a wise choice. Something isn't working, or isn't working as well as it should.

Probably more of an aside here, but I always got the feeling that the anthology films were going to have more of a lower-budget indie feel; taking chances with slower pacing and darker tone, to contrast with the popcorny saga films. I don't know why I thought this, other than just wishful thinking; it's obvious the "superhero" model for this sort of thing has taken us down a certain road with how fantasy movies are "supposed" to feel, and I was hoping for the anthologies to be more or less homages to an earlier day. Rogue One was probably as close to the mark in terms of old-school tone as I should have reasonably expected, but I even then I was hoping for something "smaller and heavier" (and presumably cheaper).
 
Soo... is Rian Johnsons trilogy still on?

If soo does that mean that the fans that boycotted Solo had their plan backfire?

Cause the boycott was over episode 8 KK and disneys direction...
 
Nobody's really sure, but the theory is if they didn't explicitly cancel it, then it isn't cancelled yet. They explicitly cancelled the standalone films we knew about (Kenobi and Fett), but the rest remains up in the air. The one article suggests that his trilogy is still on, which I suspect will be the continuation of the Rey story.
 
I can't believe there haven't been more replies to this. I mean, it totally spells it out - that, practically in spite of himself and his talents, he's little more than a provocateur, resting on "any attention is good attention". And let's be clear, there is a world of difference between getting people to think, vs. merely getting people to hate.

NAILED IT!

Find something people care about, defile it, act shocked.

Will it make him box office cancer? He aint getting any more of my money.

Camera rolls down from straight down shot of jedi camp. As camera rolls to direct view of horizon, we get a view inside the jedi camp. Kylo Ren is having difficulty holding his lightsaber because he has tiny T. Rex hands. He is getting more and more frustrated. The other jedi trainers are competently holding their lightsabers, activating them, posing, muttering overly confident movie lines, de-activating their light sabers. Enter Luke, he sees Kylo repeatedly dropping his lightssber with his tiny, T Rex arms. Luke shakes his head and offers some encouragement, just as Kyli picks up his saber, activates it, then drops it, cutting off the corner of a table.

Luke: you saber skills improve, by the da-aa-ayyy
Kyli: if only I had arms, created the right wa-aa-aayyy (looks st table)
Luke: oh dont worry my you friend, you only made it be-heh-et-ter.
Kylo (raises his small T Rex arms, palms up to the sky) the only thing I am built for, is knitting a swea-heh-ehh-ter.
 
I can't believe there haven't been more replies to this. I mean, it totally spells it out - that, practically in spite of himself and his talents, he's little more than a provocateur, resting on "any attention is good attention". And let's be clear, there is a world of difference between getting people to think, vs. merely getting people to hate.

It was actually posted some time back in TLJ thread and has been commented on a few times. I`m still convinced he wont be let near a Star Wars set again once the person who hired him is gone.
 
Not so fast....

Lucasfilm told ABC News there are still “multiple” Star Wars films currently in development that have not been officially announced. Those projects are moving forward separate from an already-announced “Star Wars” trilogy being overseen by “The Last Jedi” director Rian Johnson and another series of movies from “Game of Thrones” producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.


https://www.starwarsnewsnet.com/201...ates-multiple-films-still-in-development.html
 
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Its more than obvious that the GoT movies are going ahead, not so much the Ruin Johnson project. He seems to spend most of his time on social media than at the writers desk. Strange when you think a trilogy to rival the wonder of the OT, his words, would take some time, effort and creativity to just throw together. Lucasfilm just recently announced a Boba Fett movie to, that didnt turn out to well....
 
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They will keep Rian Johnson because they will just do what they did with TLJ. Make an awful movie and then tell the people who didn't like it, that they're racist/misogynist. Love or hate George Lucas, he didn't insult all the fans that didn't like the Prequels!
 
Its more than obvious that the GoT movies are going ahead, not so much the Ruin Johnson project. He seems to spend most of his time on social media than at the writers desk. Strange when you think a trilogy to rival the wonder of the OT, his words, would take some time, effort and creativity to just throw together. Lucasfilm just recently announced a Boba Fett movie to, that didnt turn out to well....

Technically that Fett movie was never announced. Also, the Collider article specifically mentions the Johnson triligy as well as the GoT stuff as moving forward so I wouldn't get too excited just yet.
;)
 
Well thats the problem isnt it, nothing seems to be ever officially announced, leadership has been replaced by an Acme Rumor Making Machine. If Disney doesnt realise that Johnson is basically the cause of all the troubles it finds itself in today, then Lucasfilm is doomed.;)
 
They are floating it out there and seeing the response.

Disney wants to make money. Why invest in four big budget movies that are iffy?

They thought Star Wars would be bullet proof, they believed in RJ, they were wrong twice.

The Ewok movie is still a go, though. And the musical will feature Fran Drescher, Sofia Vergara, and Curtis Armstrong. Uwe Boll will EDIT take over if RJ gets the boot!


Sofia : Aye! Juu know I cannot take dees any more
Curtis: Oh my young padawan, I aim to settle the score
Fran: Babe, don't worry, I'm here to take you under my wing (he-uhuhuhuhuhuh)
Sofia: Ohhh Keep away craysee lady, juu laughers really steenk
Curtis: My lightsaber, glowing with wrath in my hand
Sofia: (runs behind Fran) Dees man esss loco, 'e kill me where I stan'
Fran: I got cha babe, no one's gonna hurt choo
Curtis: The so be it (slowing down) I will do what ever I mmmuust doooooooooo.
 
Well thats the problem isnt it, nothing seems to be ever officially announced, leadership has been replaced by an Acme Rumor Making Machine. If Disney doesnt realise that Johnson is basically the cause of all the troubles it finds itself in today, then Lucasfilm is doomed.;)

Rian Johnson's trilogy has been officially announced. I imagine we'll hear a little more at next year's D23 expo, though not much because they'll be in full spin up mode for EpIX at the time. I fully expect a whole lot of nothing until then.
 
Nobody's really sure, but the theory is if they didn't explicitly cancel it, then it isn't cancelled yet. They explicitly cancelled the standalone films we knew about (Kenobi and Fett), but the rest remains up in the air. The one article suggests that his trilogy is still on, which I suspect will be the continuation of the Rey story.

Actually, despite what people wish, think they are reading between the lines, or otherwise, the one thing consistent between all reports says that Rian's trilogy is the focus after E9.

As far as his comment about being okay with half the audience hating him-- it's not that he's shooting for it, it;s that derision is better than indifference. Derision sells more movie tickets, causes more discussion, and makes for more news than a movie that leaves everyone MEH.

He's not setting out to intentionally **** off half the audience. He's going out, making extreme choices knowing some people will hate it, and not letting that dissuade him. Considering that you can't make everyone happy, especially SW fans, it's probably the only attitude you can have and not want to shoot yourself.
 
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