Official STAR WARS Saga Discussion Thread: Part 5 (4 Viewers)

[TravisR]

As far as I'm concerned, Kennedy also completely missed the reason why Solo didn't do as well as the other Star Wars movies. It wasn't the recast of Han and Lando, it was the bad release date (Memorial Day hasn't been a guarantee in 20 years) and also the movie being released five months after the last Star Wars movie. Does anyone think that Solo would have done better if they had pasted a de-aged Harrison Ford face on top of modern day Ford or even another actor? No, it only would have resulted in armchair quarterback losers making You Tube videos showing how they could do the face replacement better than ILM did.

Now that being said, if they don't want to recast old characters, that's fine by me because it'll hopefully force them to something else in the SW galaxy. Also, I agree with her that moving away from the Skywalker saga is vital and I hope they start doing something new soon. Unfortunately, everything on the cover of Vanity Fair (Ahsoka, The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor) is straight from the previous movies or TV shows so while I want to see those shows, I guess it'll be a while until they actually move away from the Skywalker saga.

 

[Sam Favate]

As far as I'm concerned, Kennedy also completely missed the reason why Solo didn't do as well as the other Star Wars movies. It wasn't the recast of Han and Lando, it was the bad release date (Memorial Day hasn't been a guarantee in 20 years) and also the movie being released five months after the last Star Wars movie. Does anyone think that Solo would have done better if they had pasted a de-aged Harrison Ford face on top of modern day Ford or even another actor? No, it only would have resulted in armchair quarterback losers making You Tube videos showing how they could do the face replacement better than ILM did.

Now that being said, if they don't want to recast old characters, that's fine by me because it'll hopefully force them to something else in the SW galaxy. Also, I agree with her that moving away from the Skywalker saga is vital and I hope they start doing something new soon. Unfortunately, everything on the cover of Vanity Fair (Ahsoka, The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor) is straight from the previous movies or TV shows so while I want to see those shows, I guess it'll be a while until they actually move away from the Skywalker saga.

Yup. Once again, we see Hollywood learning the wrong lessons from a movie's disappointing box office. As you point out, Solo failed at the box office for a variety of reasons, not least of which was doubling the budget of the movie by firing and replacing the directors.

Alden Ehrenreich was very good as Han Solo, and I would like to see him continue, even as a supporting player in the Lando series -- and I do hope the Lando series is still a go. We've heard almost nothing about it, and I wonder how Kennedy's new position on this affects that show.

Also, fans have speculated for a while now that Sebastian Stan would admirably play Luke, and I think he should be given a chance, especially if they were to craft a bigger role for Luke in their post-ROTJ shows. Seeing Hamill is great, but having an actor like Stan would allow them to do more with the character.

As I said in the Indiana Jones thread, this is a decision that I bet future leaders of Lucasfilm and Disney will reverse. Yes, having Star Wars go in new directions is a good thing, but things inevitably come back to the original characters -- just look at Star Trek, which is now enjoying a great success with a new show focusing on recast Capt. Pike, Mr. Spock, Uhura and others previously seen and played by the original actors.

 

[ScottJH]

Happy 45th anniversary to Star Wars!

 

[TravisR]

I've posted it before and I'll post it again but in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the original, here's audio that a kid recorded of his audience watching Star Wars back in the summer of 1977. This is a great time capsule of when Star Wars was just fun and it always gives me a smile.

 

[Clinton McClure]

All you’d likely hear today are keyboard clicks of disinterested teens texting each other and a half dozen screaming babies.

 

[SamT]

 

[Sam Favate]

Taika Watiti said he will not start filming his Star Wars movie this year, and that he’s “still trying to figure out what the story is.”

I guess Lucasfilm’s going to need someone else to step up if they’re going to make that Dec. 2023 release date.

 

[Wayne_j]

Keep in mind that this is Taika Waititi we are talking about who can be a bit whacky, but this just came out.

Taika Waititi forgot Natalie Portman was in those 'Star Wars' prequels

Taika Waititi's memories of those 'Star Wars' prequels are lost in a galaxy far, far away.

ew.com

""Natalie said to me, 'what do you do next? And I said 'I'm trying to work on a Star Wars thing. Have you ever wanted to be in a Star Wars movie?' She said, 'I've been in Star Wars movies.' I forgot about those ones," he admitted.

Portman appeared as Padmé Amidala in The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. The initial film in the prequel trilogy debuted in 1999 with the story concluding in 2005. While the productions grossed a whopping $2.5 billion at the global box office, they have long-been criticized by even the most devoted fans and critics. "

 

[SamT]

 

[Alex...]

 

[Tommy R]

And all this time I thought Baby Yoda was stollen from…Yoda.

 

[TravisR]

I heard Joe say that on his podcast a few months ago and while I never thought of it before that, there are some aspects that are pretty similar. However, I don't know that that means they lifted it from Gremlins. Despite the similarities, I tend to think LFL set out to take Yoda and make him a baby (so he's even smaller and makes baby noises) and Gizmo happens to be very similar to that idea.

 

[The Drifter]

This is utter B.S. The Yoda character was first introduced in ESB (1980), and Gremlins came out in '84.

 

[dpippel]

Yeah, for as much sense as the accusation makes, you could just turn this thing around and accuse Dante and his team of being the plagiarists. They made a cute, fuzzy version of Yoda to cash in on the character's popularity when they designed Gizmo.

 

[Alex...]

 

[Alex...]

 

[benbess]

In 1988 my Mom and I experienced in an LA theater James Earl Jones perform in the play Fences. Jones won a Tony Award for this role. As people here know, it's a heavy-duty dramatic play, and Jones gave a shattering performance, with at one point tears streaming down his face. It was powerful, to say the least. After the standing ovation, the assistant to Mr. Jones informed the audience that he would come out in a few minutes to talk with anyone who would like. My Mom and I, and about three dozen others, stayed back, and heard this quiet and commanding man answer questions, and talk about the craft of acting. It clearly was a deep calling for him. About drama and social change. My respect for him was already large, but I admit was largely from Darth Vader and a few other roles—and it took a quantum leap that day.

 

[Alex...]

 

[Sam Favate]

Stumbled on this old clip today, but I've never seen it and it's brilliant.

 

[Sam Favate]

How can we make this happen?