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 DaneMcCloud:
Dude, it had absolutely nothing to do with arrogance and everything to do with spending 10 years of their lives on this series, which had become a never-ending journey, especially given that Martin decided that he needed decades to outline and complete the story.
AT&T's management was and has been compete and utter shit. They pressured those guys constantly because HBO was far, far behind in the Streaming Wars (and years later, still lag far behind Disney, Netflix, Amazon and are virtually tied with Hulu, which has 1/100th the original programming). They wouldn't allow them time off, because HBO had absolutely no other "Anchor" TV series and the grind just wore them down.
Running a show, even a small show, is like being a CEO of a company. There are constant challenges with personnel, salary disputes, delays, and of course, egos. When you're talking about a series with the scope of Game of Thrones, Wiess & Benioff were basically CEO's of a global corporation, with filming locations all over Europe, which comes with its own set of logistics, a team of accountants and finance people, not to mention the fact that they had to pull the story out of their asses because Martin failed to do his part, making it no surprise that the series ended up disappointing a large number of viewers.
The blame lies with AT&T.
Hmm. First I’ve heard of it, other than the Martin stuff. And a lot of it makes sense. But by the same token, by season 5 when they went off book, they should have known what they were in for. And ultimately, they controlled the output so they have to wear a bunch of it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
Hmm. First I’ve heard of it, other than the Martin stuff. And a lot of it makes sense. But by the same token, by season 5 when they went off book, they should have known what they were in for. And ultimately, they controlled the output so they have to wear a bunch of it.
Well, this isn't something that would be released or talked about by the showrunners in Variety or the Reporter or any other entertainment related website but it's fairly common knowledge in town.
It's also hurt HBO's rep. Unlike Netflix or Disney+, no established directors and/or showrunners are lining up to work with HBO/AT&T at this point in time.
No one wants "Management" looking over their shoulder every freaking minute of the day and they've pissed off so many people, including Christopher Nolan, that I have to wonder if they'll ever become a true streaming competitor to the likes of Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, etc.
Those streamers are investing in great talent while AT&T/HBO are driving them away. [Reply]
Rotten Tomatoes: Speaking of action, I do have to ask about Boba Fett.
Morrison: My lips are sealed. I can’t say too much about that!
Rotten Tomatoes: Well, I will avoid The Book of Boba Fett. But for The Mandalorian, which everyone has seen, what was it like to return to that character and do that hand-to-hand combat and do things that we hadn’t really seen in a Star Wars movie before?
Morrison: I think that was a blessing for me in a way, in terms of Boba Fett’s history. No one’s actually seen him do anything besides stand there. And of course, his claim to fame was catching the man, I guess. But other than that, he was a pretty elusive bloke. So this was an opportunity again, to work with Robert Rodriguez, who gave it a little bit of an edge. And I think Robert’s ability was to sort of make a good point of making this guy explode. After it, Jon Favreau come up to me and just said, “Congratulations, the fans loved it.”
Rotten Tomatoes: Will we see more of that Boba Fett, the hand-to-hand fighting Boba Fett, in the new series?
Morrison: Well, we can’t say too much, but we’re going to see his past and where he’s been since The Empire Strikes Back. Somebody pointed out he’s been kind of stuck in this one place, and now’s the time to actually go back in time and check out his journey and find out more about him. But yeah, that was the advantage for me, was that we hadn’t seen him do much. And along with Robert Rodriguez as director, we were able to sort of introduce him in a dynamic way, bring him back in a dynamic way alongside the Mandalorian. It was just an honor to be asked back.
Hey, it could have gone anywhere. It’s a new time, and I think they’re looking for fresh faces. And of course, again, it was either Dave Filoni or Jon Favreau probably meeting, and then had a few discussions. I was just kind of quietly thrilled when I did do the meeting. I saw a couple of concept photos on the wall and there was a guy that looked very, very similar to me. And I kept saying, “Is that me? Yeah, it must be me. Yeah, it is me!”. And then of course, after having a good meeting with these guys and they outlined a few things, it was just wonderful. Again, it was nice to work with these people, and it was just a great opportunity. They brought Robert back in to direct a few more. There’s some wonderful directors involved. It’s hard work now, what we do now, a whole new system, with COVID in place, health and safety regulations.
I just hope I meet the expectations, because you can somehow kind of feel those things. You asked me that question earlier about Occupation – could you feel or sense anything, but definitely on The Book of Boba, you can get more of a sense and a feeling for if it’s working or not. So I think with being involved with that last series of The Mandalorian and having a reentry, it has created a little bit more expectation.
But yeah, I feel good. We’ve done some good work. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
Well, this isn't something that would be released or talked about by the showrunners in Variety or the Reporter or any other entertainment related website but it's fairly common knowledge in town.
It's also hurt HBO's rep. Unlike Netflix or Disney+, no established directors and/or showrunners are lining up to work with HBO/AT&T at this point in time.
No one wants "Management" looking over their shoulder every freaking minute of the day and they've pissed off so many people, including Christopher Nolan, that I have to wonder if they'll ever become a true streaming competitor to the likes of Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, etc.
Those streamers are investing in great talent while AT&T/HBO are driving them away.
Oh I don’t doubt it at all. And it’s a shame. More good production that hits the ground is better for me.
I think unltimately it hurt D&Ds rep too though, right? Are those guys even working these days? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
Oh I don’t doubt it at all. And it’s a shame. More good production that hits the ground is better for me.
I think unltimately it hurt D&Ds rep too though, right? Are those guys even working these days?
While the fans may be disappointed, it didn't hurt their rep in town. 10+ years is a long, long time to work on one project and one project only and those guys definitely needed some downtime before moving on to their next project.
They did sign a $250 million dollar deal with Netflix and they're working to adapt a screenplay at this point. With that said, $250 million is chump change these days, especially considering the budget for GoT was $150 million per season. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
While the fans may be disappointed, it didn't hurt their rep in town. 10+ years is a long, long time to work on one project and one project only and those guys definitely needed some downtime before moving on to their next project.
They did sign a $250 million dollar deal with Netflix and they're working to adapt a screenplay at this point. With that said, $250 million is chump change these days, especially considering the budget for GoT was $150 million per season.
Right on. Hopefully they can return to form. GOT through Season 6ish was damned good television. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
While the fans may be disappointed, it didn't hurt their rep in town. 10+ years is a long, long time to work on one project and one project only and those guys definitely needed some downtime before moving on to their next project.
They did sign a $250 million dollar deal with Netflix and they're working to adapt a screenplay at this point. With that said, $250 million is chump change these days, especially considering the budget for GoT was $150 million per season.
after they got past the well established and published story and character arcs is when it went off the rails. They obviously took their eyes off the ball of the most successful TV show in a long time. How does that not hurt their reputation in Hollywood? [Reply]
Originally Posted by BigRedChief:
I re-watched Solo last week. That was a good movie. Definitely a victim of the backlash. As a stand alone it was a very good effort.
It's a great film, really. Gets a little better with every viewing. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BigRedChief:
after they got past the well established and published story and character arcs is when it went off the rails. They obviously took their eyes off the ball of the most successful TV show in a long time. How does that not hurt their reputation in Hollywood?
No, they did not. They were not working on other projects nor did they sign any other deals during their commitment to GoT. 10 years is a long, long time to dedicate to one TV series. And it wasn’t a Live Studio audience rom-com or single camera comedy. It was a massive production and before the recent Disney+ series, the biggest in TV history.
HBO demanded that they finish the series according to their schedule because the cupboards were empty. B&W didn’t get to take a few years, nor did they have any kind of blueprint from Martin because Martin himself didn’t know what the hell would happen next.
If management doesn’t give creatives time to create, the end result is most likely going to be disappointing. The blame lies solely with HBO/AT&T and everyone in town knows it, which is why they signed a deal with Netflix for up to $300 million. [Reply]
Just one more note on GoT: I watched the first and maybe part of the second season but had to stop due to time constraints, a newborn, wife's cancer and so much more, so I say this as someone who has no skin in the game.
I don't know how many people watch the credits after each and every TV episode or film but I think that most people are aware that it takes hundreds, if not thousands, of people to create an episode or feature film. Each of those people have a specific role that they do well and sometimes, those people rise to the level of supervisor or manager but for the most part, people are content in their roles. People don't start out as a Gaffer or Set Designer, then "move their way up" to Producer or Director. That's not how the industry works. There are clear pathways that must be taken in order to achieve those titles and goals.
The reason why I'm stating this is because when Benioff and Weiss signed on run GoT and adapt the books, they were hired based on their ability to do just that: Adapt a book into a screenplay and series. I understand that many of the fans felt a huge letdown after the show progressed past the books, which left B&W to continue the story on their own, and without an outline or roadmap of what was to come.
That isn't their strength and was never their strength. Their latest projects for Netflix are once again, to adapt, one of which is from a Pulitzer Prize winning novel and the other, a trio of Sci-Fi novels into a feature film(s). I suspect they'll be successful at doing so, as they were with GoT. But it was foolish to expect that B&W could continue the stories that they could not originate.
People have their gifts. But those gift generally do not extend beyond their capabilities, but HBO did not care. And unfortunately, B&W took the brunt of the heat and not HBO. [Reply]
The main problem I had with game of thrones began well before they ran out of book material: they chose to emphasize the politics and downplay the already subtle magical elements of the show. That decision moved the course of the entire series away from the books almost immediately after the events of the red wedding, and I don't think it's a coincidence that the show's decline in storytelling quality began roughly at that same point. After that, they appeared to have no real idea where to go with any of the characters, not because they ran out of books, but because they stopped following the story Martin had laid out. The further from the template that they moved, the more obvious it was that they either didn't understand their own characters, or they weren't capable of telling stories with them without Martin's direct influence. [Reply]
Oh I'm fully in agreement that the complete dumpster-fire that season 8 was couldn't have been the fault of just two people, but people need someone to blame and D&D are the easiest target. They were after all, the people who took most of the credit for the huge success of seasons 1-3. [Reply]