Star Wars Episode IX

[sheridan]

My understanding was that Harrison Ford wanted Solo to die.

In 1983 he did.

1980, surely?

[JOE SOAP]

I was always in agreement with you TB, I didnt want them in the films. They should have started fresh. I think there general inclusion has been to the detriment of these films.

Definitely 100% agreement there.  I suspect this would have been how it went if Lucas had retained control, which might actually have happened if the internet hadn't spent 20 years telling him how much everyone hated everything he touched with his money-grabbing hack's hands. 

He began talking to the original trio in August 2012 about returning (he had spent some time working on Sequel outlines) and told them Kennedy would be taking over Lucasfilm and they both began interviewing screenwriters for Episode VII. Just a few months before this, in April 2012, his neighbours ulitmately scuppered plans to expand Lucasfilm's operations so he changed his plans to build affordable housing for low-income families instead. The cast found out in October he was selling to Disney.

After facing strong opposition from Marin County homeowners and environmentalists over the past 25 years, George Lucas has decided to pull the plug on a new Lucasfilm studio facility at Grady Ranch.

The company will now consider offers from other cities to build the Spanish mission-style compound that would have included a 269,000-square-foot digital media studio, two indoor sound stages, a 7,000-square-foot outdoor stage, screening rooms, guest housing, general store, employee cafeteria and wine cave.

"Movies are waiting to be made, and we must move forward," the company said. "Unfortunately, the projects we had planned to shoot on those stages have already started production and we will need the studio space by early 2013."

https://variety.com/2012/film/news/lucasfilm-seeks-new-studio-site-1118052497/


https://www.indiewire.com/2012/11/george-lucas-met-with-screenwriters-mark-hamill-carrie-fisher-about-star-wars-7-before-disney-sale-104440/

I believe he did invest himself in the idea of the Sequels with the original cast while he mulled over the sale to Disney but there's a bigger untold story there concerning the transition. A finished manuscript of Rinzler's The Making of The Force Awakens (originally scheduled for release with the art book) documents all this but still remains on a shelf at Lucasfilm. There's been no Making of.. book commissioned for any Disney made Star wars film since...

[JOE SOAP]

1980, surely?

1980-83.

Ford wanted Han to die in either Empire or Return of the Jedi. As the story goes, Lucas wasn't sure Ford would return at all and unlike the others, his contract was only film by film, so he had him slabbed in carbonite at the end of Empire just in case.

[JOE SOAP]

How much Ford actually wanted the character to die is debatable because anecdotal evidence from others suggest he was quite happy with his work on Star Wars, and a far more likely scenario given how much JJ Abrams recycled in The Force Awakens from the OT production office bins is that JJ simply wanted to channel some of that pub trivia cache into his movie because JJA's track record in both tv and movies shows that he clearly believes that there's no such thing as "cheap" heat.

Ford is happy to be still working. He'd have gone on with whatever they gave him but he never complained about Han being an absent father or falling off a gantry with a smoking hole in his chest. He did reiterate again, though, how he though Han should die.

[TordelBack]

He began talking to the original trio in August 2012 about returning (he had spent some time working on Sequel outlines) and told them Kennedy would be taking over Lucasfilm and they both began interviewing screenwriters for Episode VII. Just a few months before this, in April 2012, his neighbours ulitmately scuppered plans to expand Lucasfilm's operations so he changed his plans to build affordable housing for low-income families instead. The cast found out in October he was selling to Disney.

Ah, I'd forgotten most of this, cheers Mr. S!  The absence of anything resembling a "Making of..." I had not missed - we got more, much more, from the Phantom Menace issue of Cinefex than we have for the whole Disney era.  Art books have been nice though!

[TordelBack]

In fact, watching the Phantom Menace DVD documentary again just the other day, I was struck by the almost scary openness at LFL.  I know RLM mock the yes-man attitude and palpable fear of the end product on display, but there is such sincerity of ambition and awareness of the problems on everyone's part, Lucas and McGregor in particular, that the genuine intention to make something great is the main thing I took away.  Berman McCallum seems to be only guy who comes across a bit false, but that may just be his manner. 

You can see Lucas struggling with how to handle Jake Lloyd's performance after championing him at audition (note: not Jake's fault, he's tiny when all this starts), the worry over how central Jar Jar is and confusion of how to deliver him, and the bewilderment in the editing room as George starts pulling elements of shots apart in search of the perfect take, rather than directing the damn thing in the first place.  We even get budget meetings with actual dollar figures attached for every aspect of  a sequence!  It just reinforces my view of TPM as a really magnificent failure, and it's hard to imagine anything being more different from the massaged, soundbited and soundtracked snippets we get from the current productions.

[broodblik]

The problem with Star Wars is that the original trilogy setup a bar that will be difficult to beat or even get close to par on. The original creator is not even remotely involved with the current trilogy. The current movies look great, but it feels empty almost like the people who made them does not understand the universe it exists in. They all say they are fans but typically Hollywood they think they know better and then they make these money-making soulless movies. The worst part is that I will watch the next move in the trilogy.

[TordelBack]

The current movies look great, but it feels empty almost like the people who made them does not understand the universe it exists in.

I can believe this of Abrams (I don't think Abrams thinks much beyond what works in the moment, and he's very good at that), but not Johnson: I think he understood exactly how the SW universe worked, but by defining that rather explicitly, he collapsed the waveform and pissed off everyone who understood it differently. 

But as you say, my Episode IX ticket is already sold.

[broodblik]

The current movies look great, but it feels empty almost like the people who made them does not understand the universe it exists in.

I can believe this of Abrams (I don't think Abrams thinks much beyond what works in the moment, and he's very good at that), but not Johnson: I think he understood exactly how the SW universe worked, but by defining that rather explicitly, he collapsed the waveform and pissed off everyone who understood it differently. 

But as you say, my Episode IX ticket is already sold.

I hated what Johnson did with Luke Skywalker. His character felt completely out of touch compared to the original trilogy. Now Abrams  is back on directing the new movie if I am correct ? Who is on writing duties ?

[JOE SOAP]

Now Abrams  is back on directing the new movie if I am correct ? Who is on writing duties ?

Chris Terrio & JJ Abrams (with help from George Lucas, apparently).

[JOE SOAP]

Johnson: I think he understood exactly how the SW universe worked

I'd agree with that; even down to drawing references to older films rather than just referencing Star Wars – which is what everyone else does.

[JOE SOAP]

Todd Fisher Reveals J. J. Abrams Will Also Incorporate Unused Footage of Carrie Fisher from 'The Last Jedi' to Bring Back Leia

[Frank]

Todd Fisher Reveals J. J. Abrams Will Also Incorporate Unused Footage of Carrie Fisher from 'The Last Jedi' to Bring Back Leia

I read that whole thing in Mike Stoklasa's Nerd Crew voice.

[Mardroid]

I know this sits badly with a lot of people, but I actually don't mind since they are using actual footage, and as long as it's used in a way that makes sense to the story.

A CGI representation would have been in bad taste, but I think this could be a nice send-off.

I hope they can do it in such a way that it does not feel like it's been crow-barred in, though.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

...in a way that makes sense to the story.

J.J Abrams is making this movie