We’ll see. I highly doubt we’re going to get a “meditative” anything in Star Wars, but okay.
You don’t need to look further than Rebels to see Disney doing meditative things with Star Wars.
I think fans need to understand that there’s a big difference between the cartoons/TV shows that Disney/Lucasfilm makes and the movies they make.
Don’t dismiss me as a “fan,” because I’m not except in the most abstract sense of the term, in that I like Star Wars pretty well. I’m weighting my comments more carefully than that.
The truth is, all you can go by here is a sample size of two films–one which had its ending reshot (and, given that it gaves us that Vader scene, seems to have been far better for it)–and the talents Disney brings on board. You say Disney isn’t willing to go meditative with Star Wars: I can point to multiple examples of them doing exactly that, and who they’re hiring as proof. And while you can say that in the past, the blockbuster formula sort of precluded any experimentation in a film of this budget, there’s lots of evidence that Hollywood is moving away from that line of thinking. 2017 was the worst summer box office in a long time, and Hollywood seems to be making note of it: sequels aren’t nearly as successful as they were, and there’s recognition that more experimental shows like Game of Thrones and Stranger Things are what people are talking about these days, not blockbusters.
All of that equals, in my opinion, a 50/50 shot that Disney is going to use the Star Wars standalone films as a medium for experimentation. In fact, I’d argue that’s already happened: Rogue One is already tonally very different than any other Star Wars movie, and while Lord and Miller were replaced on Solo, I’d argue the fact that they were hired in the first place was an indication that Disney was willing to take a shot at a different sort of Star Wars movie. Sure, they were fired, but accounts I’ve read suggested that the major issue was that Lord and Miller wanted to shoot the movie with the same sort of ad hoc style they’d use to film a comedy like 21 Jump Street Lord and Miller, and wouldn’t change when Disney pushed back on that. That doesn’t mean “Disney doesn’t want to experiment”; all it means is that the experiment didn’t end up the way they originally expected.
Bluntly, the only point of doing the Star Wars stories is to try out new ideas and approaches to the universe without possibly imploding the brand. All evidence suggests that’s just what Disney is doing, step by step and learning as they go. Meanwhile, you have guys like Dave Filoni, one of the most critical voices within Disney when it comes to the mythos, using Star Wars Rebels as a way to flesh out new ideas on how Star Wars stories can be told, and guys like Stephen Daldry–whose last directing job was Netflix’s The Crown–getting hired.
How you can look all that and say we’ve already seen the “ceiling” for experimentation within Star Wars is mystifying to me.
-
No, I’m going by the sample size of all Disney films, but more specifically, the current crop of Marvel, Star Wars, and the live-action fairy tale movies.
-
I don’t think you can point to “multiple examples” of them willing to be more meditative with Star Wars movies than Rogue One. Your two examples, Rogue One and the dust-up with the Han Solo film already come with caveats.
-
Blockbuster budgets? Disney has thus far not been shy about spending money with Marvel or Star Wars properties, and for good reason. They basically sell themselves.
-
Game of Thrones and Stranger Things have nothing to do with this discussion. They’re TV shows. They’re on completely different networks. They have no bearing on Star Wars.
Again, we’ll see. I think you’re wrong, at least for a decade. And certainly for as long as these Marvel and Star Wars properties continue to bring in major revenue as-is. The time to get experimental is when the formula stops working.
Actually they do. Read that Variety article I linked: movie studios are straight up terrified that the only mainstream film anyone is really passionate about anymore are television shows. There’s executives quoted in it who say as much. And, again, the person Disney signed up to do Obi-Wan is coming right from directing a much lauded miniseries for Netflix. If you don’t think Hollywood is paying attention to the renaissance we’re experiencing in television right now, you’re wrong.
To the rest of your points, they’re just, like, your opinion, man. You have your blind guess that we’re a “decade” away from an experimental Star Wars film; I say they’re already taking steps towards making it now. We’ll see… and then, I expect, we’ll be quibbling about whether or not it counts as experimental enough, and declaring ourselves winners.
They took those steps - and arguably went a lot further, given hires like Edwards, Josh Trank, Lord & Miller and Edgar Wright – and, if anything, Disney is trending towards being more hands on. Anyone who wants to be an actual director gets slapped on the nose and muzzled or shown the door. They have a mold that they like, especially for Star Wars with Kathleen Kennedy being very hands on, and they refine every project to fit that mold, even if it starts with a more individualistic artistic vision.
And that method of operating has been very effective for them (they really don’t make movies that are ever terrible), so they don’t have an incentive to change, and have the perception that being more diverse in their approach and offering a broader range of movies will just damage the franchise and Disney brand.
Still basically just rumors, but - Lucasfilm may be looking at starting production on this early 2019.
So Disney is cool with their other huge property Marvel branching off into pretty much unknown corners of its universe (GoG, Antman, Doc Strange, The Comedic Thor) while only pushing for rehashing the same old characters for the Star Wars universe? I have little to no interest in early Han or Obi and I grew up with SWs. Just seems like two totally different strategies from the same company.
Even though Rogue One was a big commercial hit by any reasonable standard, it didn’t make as much as Force Awakens by a significant margin, which seems to have the Star Wars division less interested in straying from the core characters in the series.
I have as little interest in the Han Solo as I could possibly have for a “Star Wars” movie, but I would be interested in more of Ewan McGregor’s Obi Wan though, especially since there is a sizable gap between his Clone Wars adventures and the original Star Wars.
I’d much rather have an adult R-rated movie with entirely new characters set in the same universe, but we are many years from something like that being possible, if ever.
I think I already have Star Wars fatigue.
Never ever going to see an r-rated SW movie.
There is already a XXX Star Wars movie. (I won’t link to it.)
It’s fun to periodically update this thread. At this point, nobody really knows what’s happening, but Ewan MacGregor did repeat in an interview that he’d be happy to play the part again -
Ewan does probably the best acting for a major character in the prequels.
Movie is now rumored to be in preproduction, still without an official announcement from Disney or Lucasfilm. Believe it … or not.
Huh…that seems unlikely, doesn’t it? I can’t get that page to load (or the site at all), but it seems odd they’d be in production without a director or actors attached. I mean there’s no real need for them to be secretive about it, so if they had talent on board why not announce?
The page is taking a long time to load for me, guess they’re getting hammered. But note that they are saying the movie is in pre-production, so they’re writing and planning to start filming next year with a 2020 release. But it may just be crap.
Here’s another site mentioning the same rumor. Stress: RUMOR
Well, looks like they’re referencing the Fanthatracks site I linked. Still, hopefully we’ll be hearing more soon, assuming it’s real.