You have a valid point there.
You have a valid point there.
Actually, I may not have a valid point. I read into the details and found some stuff out.
Disney has done a lot of good stuff, so it's interesting to see what they'll do with it. One concern, when they say they want to be releasing a new movie every two or three years it sounds less like "we have lots of creative and interesting stories to tell with this franchise" and more like "we want to keep raking in the cash." Tent-poles don't exactly make filmmakers strive for quality.
I'm also interested to see how this effects the live action television series Lucas planned. It's been on hold, waiting for cost to come down.
I'm cautiously optimistic. I'm sure that the movies and associated merchandising will be a smashing financial success for Disney whether or not the new movies are any good.
Worst case scenario and we end up getting a second round of the prequel trilogy... it won't hurt the original trilogy which is now be guaranteed to be released unedited on blu-ray.
My personal advice to Disney would be to shoot for a PG-13 rating. That way there will be mature content to balance out the Jar Jar type content which will inevitably weasel its way in somewhere.
Second, there needs to be some overlap with the original cast. There's no reason they can't get Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher to return, even just to play a minimal role, such as offering sage advice to the new characters. Also, Harrison Ford will return given enough money. I'm not too concerned with how much the original cast has aged... I'm not expecting Gold Bikini Leia, but Hollywood magic cuts decades off a person's apparent age.
At this point, Carrie Fisher could play Jabba the Hutt. If you paint Mark Hamill green you've got your Yoda, and Harrison Ford has spray tanned enough to pull off a decent Lando Calrissian.
Third, not holding my breath, but I really hope that Disney goes easy on the CGI this time. Use the CGI where it's needed, but lets see some cheap props and carpentered sets to bring back the old-school feel.
Maybe my biggest problem with the prequel trilogy was that it feels like watching Avatar in 2D. A retro vibe would be much appreciated and doesn't have to be mutually exclusive with high production values.
It could be awful and it could be great. So Lucas is a creative consultant, at least he doesn't have creative control. Like many have said it can't really be worse than the prequel trilogy. I haven't seen much of the Clone Wars series but I believe it was praised higher than any of the prequel films. In any case my interest in Star Wars ended when Attack of the Clones came out.
If I recall correctly, Lucas was in a similar role during Empire and Jedi, which are by far the two best in the franchise. It seems like his ideas are great when executed by others, but he is a god-awful director himself.
I think, really, the only way this could be screwed up worse than if Lucas himself wrote and directed the next trilogy (presumably whilst drinking gallons of KFC gravy) is if they over-kill the brand with an episode X and beyond. And, since it's Disney, we all know that'll happen eventually.
When I first heard the announcement, my first thought was 'YES! Finally a chance for the Timothy Zahn Thrawn trilogy to be made as movies!' I seriously think that anything after the original trilogy they use, that should be the story they do. It would be most epic.