Originally Posted by Frazod:
Really wish Dane would come back. I'd love to get his take on this shit.
Your wish is my command
:-)
I'll be happy to answer some questions in this thread topic only. I'm not returning to post on a daily (or hourly) basis. It's not that I dislike CP but life has become very, very busy and while this is a great place to hang and chat, right now, I just don't have time. Maybe sometime in the future but for now, this is it.
This will probably be a bit "all over the place" but here's what I know as of right now:
From my understanding, there are no plans for further Star Wars films. Benioff and Weiss were fired - make no mistake, they were fired. It's been spun that they took the $250 million dollar deal with Netflix (which is pennies to Disney & Lucasfilm) and their schedule became too busy but that's not the truth. Alan Horn, Bob Iger and KK fired B&W after the reaction to the final season of Game of Thrones. Star Wars just can't take that kind of heat after The Last Jedi and Disney didn't want to completely trash the brand. Trust me, they're completely aware of the reactions to TLJ which is why they're pulling everything back. For reference, The Mandalorian cost $15 million per episode and Season Two's already been greenlit, which will make it a $240 million dollar investment before it even hits the air (and from what I'm hearing, The Mandalorian will continue as long as Favreau wants it to continue).
Kevin Feige is producing a Star Wars film. When or what that will be is a mystery, even to Disney. After Iger and Horn gave him complete control over Marvel's TV division (and ousted Jeph Loeb), one of the terms was that he could step into Star Wars. No one is attached, no story has been defined and there is nothing on the schedule. The schedule that was released earlier, with SW films beginning in 2021 all the way through 2026 have been wiped from the slate.
As for Rian Johnson, he's started a new production company and one of the producers is a friend. They're concentrating on smaller movies (I haven't had time to watch Knives Out yet but word is that it's really "fun"). There's been no announcement but the general feeling is that he's out. I mean, we all could have figured that out but there's true panic at Lucasfilm. They're taking meetings with just about any writer that's had any success in the past few years and everyone, and I mean every single one of these writers that have done a "courtesy" meeting with KK, has outright and flat out told her "Not Interested". She brought the guys in from "A Quiet Place" and asked them to create a series of movies and stories set outside the Skywalker Saga, with new aliens, ships and characters, who told her right to her face "If we're going to do that, we'll do it as a start up, for our production company". KK has been trying to hire writers for Indiana Jones and has been met with the same resistance. There's been some talk of Feige eventually taking over Lucasfilm but I've been told that isn't happening but I'd imagine that IF his film is made and IF it's a huge success, he'll take the reins at some point. But that could be years away, so don't get your hopes up.
Regarding The Mandalorian, I was in Pedro Pascal's presence (long story) and I asked him outright "Are you Boba Fett?". He replied that he has an NDA but then followed it up with a hard "No". Take it for what it's worth. I was convinced but Pedro's an actor. He went on and on about how Boba wasn't a "real" Mandalorian, unlike his character. For Rebels fans, there's been whispers of Sabine Wren making an appearance in this series but I can't see that happening unless Season 1 is about finding Ahsoka and/or Ezra Bridger. We all saw the Ghost in the ROS trailer and I was hoping to run into Vanessa Marshall at Lake Hollywood but I haven't seen her since Robert Forster became sick and passed. Before that, I'd see them several times a week but I never thought to ask if she would be in ROS because no one from Rebels had appeared in a Star Wars film (For those of you that aren't aware, Vanessa played Hera, mother to Kanan Jarrus' son and pilot of The Ghost).
I've known about the Obi Wan deal for years, I think as far back as 2015. Yes, the movie with Stephan Daldry was moving forward until the box office flop of Solo (which I really liked and like more and more with each viewing). Last September, Lucasfilm pivoted to a series. I have no idea why they waited so long to announce it and I had word that it would be revealed at Star Wars Celebration but it wasn't (I texted Bowser about it back in April - I was totally confused). It's set 8 years after Revenge of the Sith and for now, there will be six one hour episodes (that could change once it goes into production). From what I've been told, it's Open-Ended; it could go one season, it could go five seasons. It all depends on the stories. From my understanding, Obi Wan will travel off-world and it'll be somewhat set in the criminal underground that we saw in Solo. Hopefully, we see at least one more Darth Maul/Obi Wan confrontation. Everyone knows what's at stake so I expect it to be awesome but that's all I know at this point in time.
I ran into Gareth Edwards about 18 months ago at Lake Hollywood (again, Bowser knows the whole story). I asked him if he was involved in further Star Wars films and he said "I'm working on it" and gave me a smile and a wink. I'd run into him a few more times since then and I didn't really talk to him about Star Wars, although when I saw him a few weeks ago, I got the story: Tony Gilroy, who wrote and directed the 3rd Act of Rogue One was hired as screenwriter and director. Gareth didn't go into specifics but from what I heard elsewhere is that they he and Lucasfilm couldn't see "eye to eye" on the direction of the series. Maybe I'll get some further info down the road but at this point, I'm just glad it's Gilroy as opposed to anyone else. The 3rd Act of Rogue One, which I thought was an utterly amazing Star Wars film, was all him, including the Darth Vader scene, which didn't exist in the first cut (Ben Mendelsohn's role was reduced substantially once Gilroy took over, which really bummed him out at the time. He was looking at this as his "breakthrough" role and while he was great, it didn't make him a household name).
There's another TV series in the works that sounds a bit like the Star Wars Underworld series that Lucas oversaw (and there were more than 100 completed hour long scripts, too. GL was just waiting for the technology to catch up to his vision). I don't know if there's been much publicized about that series but it's in the works, although I don't know where they're at in terms of showrunner, script, characters, etc. It's been under wraps for a while, which could mean they're close to announcing or that it's not moving forward at all. As anyone that works in this business can attest, it's a miracle that anything is made, at all.
And finally, The Rise of Skywalker. Yeesh, what a mess. RJ dug a deep, deep hole in the fan base and Star Wars isn't likely to recover any time soon, unless ROS is a massive success - Like Avengers: Endgame succes. The movie has already seen extremely extensive reshoots and it won't surprise me if, like The Force Awakens, they're editing the movie a week out from release. They've gone through countless iterations of how to include Carrie Fisher's character and story. In terms of "leftover footage" from TFA they've all talked about, I've heard it's about 5 minutes of footage that's somewhat usable and they've already rescinded the notion of no "CGI Leia" with her daughter, Billy Lourd, as a stand in. This notion that "The Emperor was always going to appear in the final episode" is hogwash. Terrio and Abrams cranked out the script quickly because they knew there would be massive changes down the road. And like TFA, where Spielberg, Lucas, Zemeckis and Ava Duvernay all put in their two cents during editing, the same is happening with Rise of Skywalker. Lucasfilm is desperate for this film to work.
I bought Thursday night tickets because I want to see the movie before I hear or read any one else's reactions. But in all honesty, I'm expecting it to be a mess and unfulfilling. If they pull it off, it might end up as the highest grossing film of all time but considering where The Last Jedi left the characters, I just can't see that happening.
I hope I'm wrong.
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