With pre-production in full-swing, a confirmed release date of December 18, 2015, has been set for Lucasfilm’s highly anticipated Star Wars: Episode VII.
“We’re very excited to share the official 2015 release date for Star Wars: Episode VII, where it will not only anchor the popular holiday filmgoing season but also ensure our extraordinary filmmaking team has the time needed to deliver a sensational picture,” said Alan Horn, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios.
Star Wars: Episode VII will be directed by J.J. Abrams (Super 8, Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek) and is being scripted by Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi). Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, with Tommy Harper (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Jack Ryan, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Jason McGatlin (Tintin, War of the Worlds) serving as executive producers. John Williams is returning to score Star Wars: Episode VII.
Definitely apprehensive. It would be impossible not to be after the prequels, not to mention the overwhelmingly negative opinions of the Abrams Star Trek movies among much of the QT3 crowd.
Also, this marks the first December release for a Star Wars film. Interesting choice.
I’m not apprehensive because of Abrams - I think the Star Trek films are pretty well directed, obligatory lensflare gag aside - it’s the scripts that are rotten, particularly the sceond one. And what makes me apprehensive is that they’ve set a release date without having a finished script.
I blame Abrams for the writing in the Star Trek films. Not that he wrote them himself, but it’s been pretty clear from interviews that “stupid action film” was where he wanted to steer the franchise. On the Daily Show he outright said he didn’t like the cerebral tone of the existing work, and he wanted something action-focused. While I obviously don’t know the politics, I strongly suspect he had enough pull on the project to reject bad scripts, and he didn’t.
So yeah, I fully expect a JJ Abrams Star Wars will be bad compared to IV-VI. Not soul-sucking awful like I-III, but bad.
That’s fair, but the action movie disposition fits much better with Star Wars and I think it’s safe to assume Disney will give Abrams a lot less control over the script than he had on Star Trek.
Yeah, I like J.J. Abrams as a director, but I have very limited confidence in his script/story sensibilities. Going back to his TV days, even the things that start out cool (Alias, Lost) devolve into a muddle.
AS for the new Star Trek’s, they were an over-plotted mess. Everything was so dependent on coincidences and nonsensical character actions. If you think about it at all, it just comes apart. The same problem plagued the Star Wars prequels. All of these ridiculous plots that were houses of cards (with the cards made from tissue paper).
Simpler, sometimes, does not equal dumb. They need to keep it simple.
I was pleased when these movies were announced, but I’ve since realized that what I really wanted was for these movies to be released in the 1990s, not more than 30 years after the original trilogy. I wanted to see Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, etc. 10 years after Return of the Jedi, and to have their stories continue – now so much time has passed that they can’t be leads as I wanted. The closet thing we ever got to that was Hamill in Wing Commander 3-5.
I’m also increasingly pessimistic about Disney and JJ Abrams - I think his Star Trek movies are reasonably entertaining, but also feel pointless and forgettable, and I really dislike everything else he’s done. It’s all just so bland and Spielberg-lite, and Disney is going to play this franchise so safe.
I’m fine with Adam Driver - that’s not what motivated this disenchantment. I just can’t see this movie having any real creative edge or even substance.
