We're talking, of course, about the company which seems almost literally unable to handle the idea of not making a sequel to any film which got seen by a paying audience of more than 3 people. Except Prince Caspian, for some reason. They've been known to pillage their archives as far back as the 1940s, going so far as to produce Bambi II in 2006 - yes, you read that right, Bambi II - a direct-to-video (and I don't doubt utterly worthless) sequel to the original film which had been around since 1942. Apparently it holds the record for the longest time gap between a film and its sequel, but the real issue is that Disney felt it had to exist at all.
There seems to be a school of thought out there which holds that Star Wars creator George Lucas himself had become something of a money-grubbing corporate fiend of late, but whether or not that is true, he at least had the decency not to bother making Episode VII. House of Mouse, of course, saw a cash cow and promptly rushed in with the largest milking bucket they could find. We don't know who's writing the new film(s), or who will be directing them, but to my nose (and those of many others, it seems) it all smells like a particularly rotten case of lucrative-release-date-first-and-shaky-plot-later. What really irks is the wording of the news piece, which suggests that Disney aren't just looking to make a new trilogy, but that Ep VII would be "followed by episodes eight and nine and then one new movie every two or three years". In other words, just keep churning them out, mindlessly and endlessly, for the rest of eternity - somewhat like how Shrek ended up.
All bleak and terrible, then? Likely, but not definite. There are, in my opinion, a small handful of directors out there (presently numbering 3, although I can't say I've thought it through too comprehensively) who I can't rule out as unavailable (Joss Whedon is too busy making Avengers 2, for example) whose hiring could turn the Third Trilogy into potentially-not-disastrous news, and whose names I shall present in alphabetic order, along with my thoughts on why they might be able to redeem the new sequel(s) from Mouse's rancid avarice...
- Brad Bird: has directed 4 feature films to date, and all of them have been critically lauded and/or massively successful. Basically all were both, except that Warner never bothered to market The Iron Giant properly, so most people have never heard of it and it didn't get the fame or the box-office numbers that it deserved. The success of Bird's films probably has a lot to do with what another writer has called "his vice-grip on storytelling mechanics" - I can't think of any way to improve on that description. Bird started in animation but proved with Mission: Impossible IV that he can do live-action as well, and right now I have no idea what Bird is doing with himself, so he might even be available to take on Star Wars VII.
- Kenneth Branagh: not remotely the obvious choice to direct a superhero movie - Thor could have been a disaster on so many levels - but somehow it all came together and worked out surprisingly well. I suspect Branagh's famously Shakespearian background could stand him in good stead to handle the philosophical and quasi-religious undertones of the galaxy far, far away.
- Gore Verbinski: proved with the first Pirates of the Caribbean, and with Rango, that he can make a very good film so long as he has a decent script before (and not after - Dead Man's Chest...) the cameras start to roll. Main strengths include his visual sensibilities (the Pirates sequels still looked fantastic, even when the plot structure was teetering dangerously) and his wit - imagine the director who crafted Jack Sparrow working with Harrison Ford to portray a much older but still smuggler-ish-at-heart Han Solo, and you should be able to see why I put Verbinski on my list.
Might come up with some more names later, but can't promise.
But for now, of course, we'll all just have to wait and see.
- The Colclough
When I first heard about it (at www.Gamesindustry.biz) I did not know what to think. OK, George Lucas is apparently going to serve as a creative consultant on the films so they should be good. Also While I am a big fan of the films I was unsure if I was excited or not, should there be more films or should it be left alone. I do think that 2 years (while being the standard production time for films at the moment unless you are in Japan where it is just a few months because they don't mess about) is not long enough and should be at least 4 years like previous films.
ReplyDeleteThis move though is one of Disneys best moves in recent years. While they did buy Marvel and have made huge amounts of money with it, recent yars have shown that Disney's film side is gradually fading away, recent evidence of this can be seen with John Carter which grossed $270000000 and had a budget of $250000000. With CGI being the common practice of animation films, disney is no longer making the style of animations that made them the company they are today. Films like The Lion King, Bambi, Snow White, The Rescuers and 101 Dalmations were all done in the style of cartoon animation, without this Disney is not Disney. With the purchase of Pixar they have a new way of making films with their name attached to the characters, but this won't last. Disney are not stupid though and so have made wise purchases to keep that division a float which is very important because without the film division, Disney would not last, all of it's other products are connected to it's media division, without that they may as well sell themselves.
An interesting thing to point out is that PIXAR was originally owned by Lucasfilm before it was bought by Steve Jobs and later Disney, So it is a sort of Family reunion.
One question must be raised about this whole thing and is What is Darth Vaders role in this? Star Wars and No Darth Vader should not happen. The main story of Star Wars is about Darth Vader. Star Wars without Vader is like Godzilla without Godzilla or a Tim Burton Film without one of the Main Characters Dying.
The above choice of directors are interesting but could be improved thanks to one country, Japan. Star Wars was heavily based and influenced by The Hidden Fortress, a film by Akira Kurosawa. Unfortuanately he is no longer alive as he would be the perfect choice to do the next lot of Star Wars films. However there is one director from Japan who could do it, he would not even need 2 years, he could do all of it in 3 months and it would possibly be the best in the series. He makes 3 films a year and does not reduce quality, one of my Top 5 Favourite Non Godzilla films is by him - 13 Assassins. He is Takashi Miike. In order for any future Star Wars films to be good it needs that Japanese essence in it and so in my oppinion the Director should be Japanese to do this, who knows maybe the next films could be based on 13 Assassins.
It is a hard thing to think about, what position you should be in but 3 new Star Wars films should be exciting as long as they are done right. (I may qoute this stuff for my own post on the subject).