Open Discussion – September 30, 2009
Sep 30, 2009 by Vic HoltremanIt’s Wednesday again, time for our regularly scheduled open discussion post.
As usual – talk about whatever you like as long as it’s related to movies, …
It’s Wednesday again, time for our regularly scheduled open discussion post.
As usual – talk about whatever you like as long as it’s related to movies, TV or Screen Rant itself – just remember to play nice.
Around the web:
Loading ...
Mcat are you aware of the published Star Wars fiction that takes place after Endor?
There’s enough in the Zahn novels for a triLogy. I hope they someday do it.
Yeah Ken from my point of view “Six Feet Under” ended and the same production crew then developed, “Dexter”. Both shows were filmed at the same stage in Hollywood …
well M-Cat,
what are they supposed to do, Vader is dead, the Big E is dead. Nary a Sith to be found standing. While they made box office, the official word was “dissapointing” when it came to the last three films. Since they cost so much to make and they were Lucas’ babies, all three, most guys after taking three big strikes are told to sit on the bench before they are let back into the game (unless you are M. Night I suppose). The critical fanbase felt abused after the prequels were done and while a SW7 may get made, someone would have to write a compelling script that would somehow glorify the “mopping up” phase of restoring the republic or just ho far down the road do we go, yet another generation or two?. Does it go into chick flick mode, trouble with Han and Leia’s nuptuals? is Leia carrying Jabba’s child while she was a slave girl? The main characters have aged quite a bit, what kind of story is there left to tell? Star Wars the Next Generation?
While some Star Wars fans may complain that the latest trilogy ruined the franchise for them, the films were VERY profitable and made loads of cash. If anyone thinks they weren’t successful they’re living in a dreamworld.
As to the final 3 films, the template is already in place. The novels and continuation have been written. There is enough material for 3 films set after “Return of the Jedi”.
I guess if you were a hardcore Star Wars fan you would already know this.
@790
You’re right, the prequels each made a bundle of cash (movies need to make around 3 times their budget back to be considered a success, all 3 films on their own managed this quite easily and in fact ended up making close to a billion dollars each).
But we have to think about things as they are now. The Clone Wars film only made £68 Million (still a huge success considering its budget, but way below that of one of the features). The three prequels left a bad taste in most peoples mouths, both fans and non-fans (they were enjoyable in parts, but, considering quality you couldn’t even compare them to other decent Sci-fi/fantasy films let alone the original trilogy) and now, with the TV show allegedly on its way and the CGI films/show and so on, people have stopped caring.
People wanted the first 3 episodes for two reasons.
1. People like prequels (despite the fact the most prequels to movies are usually bad), they like to see how their characters became who they were (anyone who’s heard Patton Oswalt’s comedy bit on this should be laughing right now, if you haven’t heard it, youtube it, it’s great)
2. The original trilogy was already set up the be the final 3 chapters in a 6 chapter saga, so they knew they were missing bits.
But, the next 3 chapters? If they did that, most people would feel they were just trying to milk as much money out of the franchise as possible (yes, I can see the irony in that statement), a lot of people probably wouldn’t care as much and the only people who’d see the movie would be the really really die hard fans (I’d consider myself a fan, but probably not that die hard) and those of us who were just plain curious. It likely wouldn’t get the success of the prequels though.
Also, I’d just like to point out, one of the major parts of the original trilogy that was missing so much from the prequels was Han Solo. I’m not saying they should have shoe-horned him in, or added Harrison Ford for whatever reason, I’m just saying, Ford brought what was essentially a sense of realism to the whole thing. His character kept the whole thing grounded. Without his type of character, what we ended up with was something a little more self indulgent, we were taken into this world and never given the link back to ours that Ford managed to give us by essentially giving us a character that was like a real human being, who had realistic dialogue and a realistic view on the whole thing (in other words, a character who didn’t seem like he was reading lines written by George Lucas).
A lot of the success of the prequels is down to timing. Waiting that long for them allowed the hype to build to unprecedented levels and then they came pretty fast so as not to let the disappointment levels felt by many to influence the box-office too much. The fact that they waited for their core audience to age and have children, who they took to see the prequels, who then became the new core audience was marketing genius.
I think the Star Wars universe is too interesting not ignore and should have more movies made from it. Not necessarily featuring the heroes of the previous trilogy(2 trilogies?) but just the same reality. I suppose what I’m saying is I want moar Jedi!
Oops, “too interesting to ignore” that should’ve been. Blame multitasking at work (not doing any and trying not to get caught)!
I’d like to see a live action movie based on the Old Republic timeline since they’re making a new mmo based on it.
I think they’re waiting for Lucas to die so they can film a story that isn’t a boat load of crap.
Let’s not forget that they’re going to do the Star Wars live action tv show soon. I’m sure of that’s done right it will generate some buzz.
Kinda what I was referring to, there’s going to be a TV show and as far as I can tell, the overall reaction, upon hearing about it was one of extreme indifference. Should the show actually be any good, it’ll still probably only have average ratings, get cancelled early on and garner a cult following. And forget about it having to compare to the movies, it’ll be compared to any number of the great Sci-fi television shows over the years and if it isn’t as good, it’ll be nothing more than another black mark on the franchise.
What they’d need, is for a show as good if not better in quality to BSG, that gets amazing ratings week after week, ends on a good note and THEN for someone to say “Hey, um, so George Lucas said we could make episodes 7,8 and 9 and all he’s going to do is write the story and leave the movies in the capable hands of…um…some capable hands!”
Which I doubt will happen any time soon.
I’d love to see more Star Wars films made, especially if they use the Timothy Zahn novels as a template. Hell, they could use even some of the more recent novels (preferable NOT the Yuzhan Vong novels) and keep the original characters in their roles. Doubtful, but possible. I do believe, however, that George Lucas said that there would be no more films that occur after ROTJ. That is a shame because they can make individual films about the Star Wars universe without having to include Luke, Leia, Han, etc. Then again, I shudder to think of what Lucas would think up to ruin his own product again.
790
I did read a couple of the books starting with the one right after return of the Jedi. They had decent stories and they are very interesting. I would love to see them come to the big screen someday. The villian seemed pretty nasty too. I think he was an old Jedi gone bad or something. I can’t remember his name but all this talk is getting me hype fir star wars again. I’m going to have to search the closet for the books.
@piratedan
they could replace all those characters with new actors ala star trek and continue the story. I’m sure people would be upset with the choices but it’s worth trying. Heck, bring in abrams to take over fir George Lucas.
Yeah the overall story set in Zahn’s novels focused around Admiral Thrawn and his attempt to restart the Empire using a secret fleet of Star Destroyers.
Meanwhile Skywalker is a master Jedi at this point and Thrawn goes after a old Jedi in an attempt to take out Skywalker.
Good series. They would prob have to change a few things but they could pull it off. I’m not sure about casting. Hammel would prob work as older Luke, Fisher and Ford, I’m not sure about them.
I would rather see an attempt on future sequels then a re-release of the series in 3D.
790
that’s it – admiral Thrawn! He seemed pretty nasty to me. They change a couple things and keep it dark like empire strike back and it’s gold.
Jago
good point. Would have saved me an hour and a half downloading the thing. Where were you a week ago with this info lol?
Oops I think I posted that for jago in the wrong thread.
@m-cat
lol… Well i didn’t know you bought that. I actually have a couple of movies i bought as well for ipod/iphone as well that i watch all the time at work when i’m bored. The cable guy, Aliens, Hustle & Flow, etc. Also i buy episodes of ” how i met your mother” its hilarious.
How I met your mother is pretty funny…I like that. I have a couple episodes of Two and a Half Men on there for the comedy…love it.
On my iPhone I have The Matrix, T2, first 2 seasons of Burn Notice, many episodes of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dexter episodes and Alien and Aliens. Never a moment to be bored.
oh that was to Jago
Okay, I just finished a marathon of the whole 1st and 2nd seasons of The Flight of the Conchords. Awesome! I love the humor and their songs. “All the humans are dead!” and Murray is comedic genius.
HEY Red Dwarf fans, “RED DWARF: BACK TO EARTH DIRECTORS CUT” comes out on Dvd this Tuesday October 6th.