LFL/Disney Announce New Star Wars Movies from Benioff & Weiss

[Jeff]

GAME OF THRONES CREATORS DAVID BENIOFF AND D.B. WEISS TO WRITE AND PRODUCE A NEW SERIES OF STAR WARS FILMS

[Nicklab]

Wow.  That is huge.  David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have done an amazing job adapting the world of George R.R. Martin for HBO.  And they're no slouches when it comes to writing.  They have a tremendous grasp for historical material and the classics.  And they very well might be the right guys to tackle a film series that delves into the Old Republic, along with exploring the ancient lore of the Jedi.

[Darby]

I'm a fan of GOT. I don't know why this news leaves me cold. They may well have a pitch that is a home run. It's wait and see like everything else, I guess.

[Dave]

I'm a fan of GOT. I don't know why this news leaves me cold. They may well have a pitch that is a home run. It's wait and see like everything else, I guess.

I feel the same way.  I'm still not sold on the Rian Johnson offshoot trilogy thing if there isn't much relation to the existing characters and story, but it seems Disney has already doubled down.

[Darby]

I think my uncertainty may stem from the fact there seems to be no plan. Maybe that's a result of living with SW for 40 years knowing that there was a very logical progression in the films. We were going to get the PT, and then maybe, the ST. Anything else was pure pie in the sky. Now it seems we might get concurrent trilogies about vastly different subjects - not bad, mind you - and there's no real sense of progression ala the saga films or the MCU. Maybe there is, and we don't know it yet. But numerous films/trilogies/TV shows starts to feel EU-ish to me, and I personally didn't like the sprawl of the old EU. some of it was great, most wasn't.

I don't know. Still thinking about it.

[McMetal]

Boobs! 😄

[Diddly]

Boobs! 😄

LOL that was my first thought too. I look forward to the first Star Wars sex scenes!

[Jesse James]

I have been looking at this as EU the whole time, so I'm totally fine with it in that regard. 

Star Wars boobies?  OK. 

Star Wars has so many stories, and that's part of its charm I think.  The fact a ship can look like it's been to hell and back, but all it ever did was sit in the background of a scene Luke and Obi-Wan zip through in a speeder?  That's Star Wars...  it's stories for everyone.

What I hated about EU was it's all too interwoven.  I'd prefer some distance, to be honest.  And not everyone being a hero, or a villain, or even important.  Some folks are just living their lives, and maybe have an adventure along the way. 

Of course, Imperial Janitorial Trooper 0443 isn't exciting.

[Jeff]

numerous films/trilogies/TV shows starts to feel EU-ish to me, and I personally didn't like the sprawl of the old EU. some of it was great, most wasn't.

I have been looking at this as EU the whole time, so I'm totally fine with it in that regard.

For years and years, plenty of EU fans were wanting "Shadows of the Empire - The Movie" or "Tales of the Jedi - The Movie".  That's where we are at.  Like Jesse said, I'm fine with that.  Until we know more about the who/what/when/where of these new Star Wars endeavors, I'm not going to get too mad about Disney taking advantage of the IP they bought.  You don't spend $4 billion on a property to sit on it... for better or worse.

[Matt_Fury]

Boobs! 😄

We already got that in ROTJ.

[Darby]

You don't spend $4 billion on a property to sit on it... for better or worse.

I'm not advocating sitting on it. There will be movies and TV shows until the end of time, and I knew that in 2012.

I didn't like the EU by and large, especially some of the more integrated parts of it like the Vong storyline. For myself I'd like to have a sense of cohesion and vision that at the moment seems to be lacking. I surprise myself a little at saying that, because I want to see new, bold, strange directions for SW, but I also fear a watering down and a sense of dislocation in the franchise. But that's inevitable. That was inevitable when Lucas sold it, because it's not about a vision or a story anymore, it's about quarterly projections. So maybe my uncertainty right now is that lingering malaise over that idea. Also still, a sense of finality with the passing of Carrie Fisher and the character deaths of Han, Luke and Leia. TLJ is the effective narrative and emotional end of the saga films. IX will be an epilogue, more or less. The future is sprawling out beyond without much to hold on to.

Very excited by a Rian Johnson trilogy; less so by the GOT guys. Wondering where the Rey/Finn/Kylo future is.

[Jeff]

For myself I'd like to have a sense of cohesion and vision that at the moment seems to be lacking.

It's hard to have a sense of cohesion and vision when they haven't told us anything about 'what's next'.   I'm assuming there is a vision for the future, but KK and LFL just haven't let us in on it yet for whatever reason.  I've liked what they have done with the three films so far, I'm willing to give them time. 

One thing I do like about this announcement is the potential to get some of these movies back on a 3-year cycle to give them time to create and not worry about things being rushed for time.  They can start juggling stand-alones, the Rian-Trilogy, the GOT.guys-series, and potentially the future of Rey/Finn/Poe movies too (if they aren't covered in one of the others).  With that said though, that's starting to be a lot and the more they add, the more likely it is to end up with Star Wars movies more than once a year (which will generate even more "is star wars still special" type talk).

[Nicklab]

I just read through the Benioff & Weiss statement again:

“In the summer of 1977 we traveled to a galaxy far, far away, and we’ve been dreaming of it ever since,” Benioff and Weiss said in a joint statement. “We are honored by the opportunity, a little terrified by the responsibility, and so excited to get started as soon as the final season of Game of Thrones is complete.”

The final season is still in production, and is set to be released in April of 2019.  If that's the case?  I would expect that they're going to get to work on their new Star Wars films after that.  And I don't think we're likely to see their first film until 2021 at the earliest, if not in 2022.

[Dave]

... the character deaths of Han, Luke and Leia. TLJ is the effective narrative and emotional end of the saga films. IX will be an epilogue, more or less.

Darby - I think you articulated a lot of what I've been struggling with.  Star Wars without the possibility of its classic core characters being involved is a big unknown for me. 

That being said I really liked Rogue One, but that movie fit nicely in the existing narrative and the Rebels vs. Empire.  And a Solo heist movie in the vein of an Oceans 11 sounds cool, but if it were an Oceans 11 in the Star Wars universe without any known characters?  I don't think I would really find that any more interesting than an animated Oceans 11 starring tropical fish.

I'm not against the plans since I really don't know much about them.  I'll reserve my judgement, but at this point I'm pretty ambivalent about the projects.  There was some well done stuff in the EU (I really like Rogue Squadron), but there was some really uninteresting things as well.  I'm going to need to see a well done teaser/trailer to get fired up about this.

[Matt_Fury]

While I kind of agree with you Dave....I think the Star Wars Universe is fertile ground and there's a lot of potential in the Anthology movies...I'm not at all afraid of getting away from the core characters.


Give me the Magnificent Seven with Jedi and I'll be thrilled.  I'd love to pitch my idea for Star Wars: Pariah to Disney/Lucasfilm and get that made. 


A friend of mine (who is now a published author) threw out an idea to me when we were working together about the crew of the Star Destroyer Avenger mutinying after Vader kills Captain Needa.  It was a cool idea!