JON FAVREAU TO EXECUTIVE PRODUCE AND WRITE LIVE-ACTION STAR WARS SERIES. THE DIRECTOR OF IRON MAN AND THE JUNGLE BOOK WILL HELM THE SERIES FOR DISNEY’S NEW DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER PLATFORM.
Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Emmy-nominated producer and actor Jon Favreau has signed on to executive produce and write a live-action Star Wars series for Disney’s new direct-to-consumer platform. Favreau is no stranger to the Star Wars galaxy having played roles in both the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series and in the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story.
“I couldn’t be more excited about Jon coming on board to produce and write for the new direct-to-consumer platform,” says Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. “Jon brings the perfect mix of producing and writing talent, combined with a fluency in the Star Wars universe. This series will allow Jon the chance to work with a diverse group of writers and directors and give Lucasfilm the opportunity to build a robust talent base.”
Favreau is thrilled to be returning to the Star Wars galaxy: “If you told me at 11 years old that I would be getting to tell stories in the Star Wars universe, I wouldn’t have believed you. I can’t wait to embark upon this exciting adventure.”
Disney’s collaborations with Favreau extend back a decade, when he helped launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe as director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2 and as an executive producer of the Iron Man and Avengers films for Marvel Studios. For Disney, he directed and produced the massively successful The Jungle Book, which won an Academy Award for its groundbreaking visual effects. He is currently in production on Disney’s highly anticipated reimagining of The Lion King, set for release in 2019.
The untitled Star Wars live-action series does not yet have a release date.
GAME OF THRONES CREATORS DAVID BENIOFF AND D.B. WEISS TO WRITE AND PRODUCE A NEW SERIES OF STAR WARS FILMS
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are going from Winterfell to a galaxy far, far away.
It was announced today that Benioff and Weiss, creators of the smash-hit, Emmy Award-winning television series Game of Thrones, will write and produce a new series of Star Wars films.
These new films will be separate from both the episodic Skywalker saga and the recently-announced trilogy being developed by Rian Johnson, writer-director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
“David and Dan are some of the best storytellers working today,” said Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm. “Their command of complex characters, depth of story and richness of mythology will break new ground and boldly push Star Wars in ways I find incredibly exciting.”
“In the summer of 1977 we traveled to a galaxy far, far away, and we’ve been dreaming of it ever since,” Benioff and Weiss said in a joint statement. “We are honored by the opportunity, a little terrified by the responsibility, and so excited to get started as soon as the final season of Game of Thrones is complete.”
No release dates have been set for the new films, and there have (thankfully) been no sightings of White Walkers around Lucasfilm.
RIAN JOHNSON, WRITER-DIRECTOR OF STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, TO CREATE ALL-NEW STAR WARS TRILOGY
For director Rian Johnson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi was just the beginning of his journey in a galaxy far, far away.
Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Johnson will create a brand-new Star Wars trilogy, the first of which he is also set to write and direct, with longtime collaborator Ram Bergman onboard to produce.
As writer-director of The Last Jedi, Johnson conceived and realized a powerful film of which Lucasfilm and Disney are immensely proud. In shepherding this new trilogy, which is separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.
“We all loved working with Rian on The Last Jedi,” said Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm. “He’s a creative force, and watching him craft The Last Jedi from start to finish was one of the great joys of my career. Rian will do amazing things with the blank canvas of this new trilogy.”
“We had the time of our lives collaborating with Lucasfilm and Disney on The Last Jedi,” Johnson and Bergman said in a joint statement. “Star Wars is the greatest modern mythology and we feel very lucky to have contributed to it. We can’t wait to continue with this new series of films.”
Johnson’s upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi arrives in U.S. theaters on Dec. 15, 2017.
No release dates have been set for the new films, and no porgs were available for comment. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bowser:
And in all honesty, it was Kathleen Kennedy's vision and insistence that ruined the Disney trilogy. It was a monetary win and Disney made money on it, sure, but there's just no getting around what KK was doing with the Star Wars universe.
The biggest mistake was not creating a solid backstory for the 30 years prior to the sequel trilogy. We're starting to see some of that now with The Mandalorian and the upcoming Book of Boba Fett and probably Ahsoka. The Bad Batch and The Mandalorian are also, slowly but surely, revealing The Emperor's cloning plans (and in the new Darth Vader Marvel comic, we're seeing the beginnings of the creation of the Sith Fleet seen in RoS). But it's just too late to undo the the events of the sequel trilogy and we all know how it ends.
Had the decision been made to begin telling stories 5 years after Endor, the story would have grown organically and may have led the writers to a different place altogether. And while the Emperor may have returned and Luke may have questioned his role or duty in training future Jedi, we would have seen that in real time, not in a fast forward.
Now, there's just no way to undo the sequel trilogy, although I think JJ did about as well as humanly possible, given the events of The Last Jedi. Luke admitted his mistake, helped Rey defeat Palpatine while Ben Solo reconciled with Han Solo and Rey ultimately became a Skywalker.
It seems to me that they're at least building up the backstory of how The Emperor survived the destruction of the Death Star 2 and we're seeing the cloning operation first hand in The Bad Batch and in The Mandalorian but it's much harder to make a story "fit" within certain parameters than it is to allow the story to guide the writers to a more logical place.
The bottom line is that absolutely everything should have been planned out and in place for at least 30 years in the future, if not 50, before producing a movie set 30 years in the future without a backstory. It's freaking Screenwriting 101! [Reply]
Originally Posted by eDave: J.J. Abrams acknowledges it probably would have been better if they had approached the Star Wars sequel trilogy with a plan.
Yeah, it's official. I hate him as much as Lynch. :-)
Pretty sure Disney fucked up too trying to roll this shit out fast with nostalgia and SW fans and everyone just eat it up. Damn cash grab on this trilogy. Will never watch it again just like those prequels. I love the animated filoni series and mando so far...just give me quality please. Stop going to see shitty SW movies....I want great story telling.
Originally Posted by Hammock Parties:
Finally watched episode 1 of the bad batch.
Wow! Just an amazing job of expanding on the post episode III lore. Super super interesting. Filoni needs his own movie very soon.
I haven't watched today's episode but I've seen the first five episodes and I have to say, I find it to be terribly disappointing.
It's not even close to Filoni's best work, which shouldn't be surprising because he isn't writing and directing every episode . He's taken on more of a producing role, much like the failed Resistance animated series.
I'll continue to watch, mainly because there's very little new content available these days, but my kids were bored after the first episode, so I have very little incentive to continue watching because there's just nothing of any importance or significance happening so far. [Reply]
Originally Posted by keg in kc:
With the exception of the series finale episode, I like the Bad Batch so far much more than I did the final Clone Wars season.
Yeah, I found that to be disappointing as well, outside of the final two episodes.
I just don't think there's any reason for The Bad Batch to exist at this point in time. Do I really need to know how the Rancor ended up in Jabba's Palace or that Fennec Shand was a bounty hunter 30 years before The Mandalorian?
IMO, they're approaching the "we're doing it because we can" and not because it's important in the overall Star Wars Galaxy. Hopefully, that changes but my expectations are very low. [Reply]
After last night’s episode, I’m out. It’s simply not even worth 22 minutes of my time.
I’ll monitor this thread, just in case anything of significance happens but to me, it is by far the worst TV series produced by Lucasfilm because there is absolutely no point to this series (and, to top it off, the music is god awful. It’s Kevin Kiner’s kids scoring the show and it sounds like it). [Reply]
I started watching the first episode, then got tired and went to bed (kind of a warning sign when it couldn't hold my interest). Never picked it up again. And I think I won't bother with it now. [Reply]
It's not produced by Dave Filoni, either. He's the Executive Producer, which is basically a hands-off consulting role.
The first episode was co-written by Filoni but every other episode has been directed and written by other writers. There have been seven different writers and 5 different directors for the initial six episodes.
I haven't heard anything about the ratings, which is never a good sign, because all of the streamers love to boast about their ratings when they're high.
Unless the series does a 180 and introduces Vader, The Emperor and/or The Inquisitors, I'll be surprised if it gets another season. [Reply]
I recently re-watched the entire Star Wars film saga and came away a revelation or two.
First off, how was Vader's Imperial Star Destroyer able to instantly follow Tantive IV from Scarif to Tatooine? Hyperspace tracking wasn't "a thing" at that time and I don't recall seeing anyone plant a homing beacon the Rebel ship.
And secondly, man, the backlash to The Last Jedi really killed a great movie in Solo. I hadn't watched it in a few years but after seeing it this past weekend, wow, is it a great Star Wars film! The acting, direction, VFX and cast were perfect, IMO, even Alden Ehrenreich. Sure, he's not Harrison Ford but he does a really, really great job with a really difficult role.
The only aspect of Solo that doesn't meet expectations is the score. The first ten minutes, which were composed and conducted by John Williams, is fine. But John Powell's score is weak at best and some of the choices made by the director and editors weren't good, IMO, specifically, the use of Han's Theme in the asteroid field in The Empire Strikes Back. That music fit the scene in Empire perfectly but now, that's ruined because they repurposed the music while Han was making the Kessel Run.
Otherwise, I think it's the second best of the new movies, just a hair behind Rogue One although R.O. isn't nearly as "fun" as Solo. As most people know, there's a Lando series in development right now but I've heard some whispers about brining back A.E. for a Solo series as well. I would love to see the seedy underworld under the Empire's control and a Solo series would kill it, IMO. [Reply]
To your first question - when Jyn and Cassian are in the vault on Scarif and going through the files looking for "Stardust", she mentions hyperspace tracking as one of the files. That's playing it loose and fast, but I "think" it's enough to allow Vader to catch up with Leia above Tatooine.
As far as Solo - completely agree. KK and RJ not only fucked up THEIR movie (and the one JJ had to try and salvage), but also the Solo movie. How do you kill the Star Wars Golden Goose? Didn't think it was possible until those two showed up.
I sincerely hope they find a way to give us a Solo sequel or a series. Solo on rewatch is much, much better, and Alden really does do a fine job as a young Han. [Reply]
