Well...there has certainly been alot that has happened in the world of entertainment since I took a semi-break from this blog. There is no one in the world who does not now know about the mega-deal that was reached last week between Disney and Lucasfilm. A deal that saw Disney acquire George Lucas's company for $4.05 Billion and then promptly announce they will be releasing a new Star Wars film in 2015.
Now I am going to diverge for bit here, so stay with me. I had a particularly interesting week this past week personally. I had applied for a promotion at the company I work at a few weeks ago. It felt like the right time for me to make a move as things began to kind of align. The interview for this new position was last week Tuesday. It was at my company's headquarters and I met with the regional manager and the head of sales for the state of Wisconsin. The interview went as well as it could have gone. I felt confident it went well and liked my chances very much.
So I return to my office feeling great, content, and incredibly optimistic. I log into my work computer and just decide to hit up one of my favorite entertainment sites. I scroll down and find the headline regarding the Disney/Lucasfilm deal. I let out a Bullshit by accident, to which one my co-workers takes notice and asks what is wrong. I tell her I am fine and go to read the article. I think to myself as I read it that it is not April Fools Day and there is no reason this blogger would make up an article of that nature. So I just sit there completely stunned and dumbfounded. I check a few other sites and see the headline and know, absolutely, that this really happened.
The best way I can put it is that it felt, at that moment, like I woke up and was inhabiting a parallel universe where one of the things I hoped and prayed for had come true: New voices inhabiting the Star Wars universe. The interview- gone from my mind. My advancement- not a thought in my head. No, I was just so incredibly elated and just absolutely excited over the possibility of what the Disney deal represents for Star Wars. I love Star Wars that much! Yes, Disney acquires ILM, Skywalker Sound, Indiana Jones (although that is complicated), even Howard the Duck...slight snicker. But it is absolutely Star Wars that benefits the most from this deal.
After the disappointment that was the prequel trilogy, I really felt it was time for Lucas to let others play in his sandbox. I told friends at the time of Episode III's release that it would be amazing if Lucas would decide to let new writers and directors, many inspired by Star Wars, a chance to tell original stories set in his universe. They laughed of course and said that would never happen. I couldn't argue with them at the time. I believed for the many years since those days that I would never see a new Star Wars film. It made me sad.
It just seemed so selfish of Lucas to not let anyone else have a chance to create a new film. Sure, George let many writers and game creators have the ability to write or create content outside the original and prequel trilogies. But he was always very protective of Star Wars on film. I understood as it was his creation to do what he pleased with. However, there were so many more stories that could be told in the Star Wars universe. It just seemed such a waste.
Of course now that is all mute. There WILL be more stories told on the big screen in the Star Wars universe. That is such an incredible thing to write and something I thought I never would be able to write. The question now becomes what stories will those be. Let's recap what we know to this point:
-Disney announced they will release a new trilogy of films, starting in 2015 with Episode VII.
-Episode VII, VIII, and IX will be based on outlines written by Lucas himself.
-Lucas originally intended for there to be 12 films in his Star Wars series.
-Lucas met in August with Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill to discuss the possibility of a new Star Wars film.
That is all we know right now. But it certainly is enough to speculate as to what the new trilogy could be about. First, it seems logical to think that Mark Hamill will return in some capacity as Luke Skywalker. Many have speculated that Luke would take on a role of the sage mentor in this new trilogy, similar to Obi Wan in the original trilogy. Two, Lucas has been planning this for some time. He met in August with Hamill and Fisher, but I would imagine that Lucas was dusting off those outlines many months before that. Lastly, I would say we are going to see Leia and Han's children in this new trilogy. Having the offspring of a Skywalker is essential to this new trilogy as it keeps continuity with the entire series and just seem organic to me. I believe a film following the next generation of Skywalkers with Luke in tow could be great.
Now I could go on and theorize as to where this series could go, however I want to veer off and just get into what I felt would have made a great new set of films for Star Wars.
Many years ago a friend of mine dared me to come up with an outline for a new film series for Star Wars. He did it while we were playing one of our marathon games of Star Wars Monopoly (Yeah I am a dork, I know.). So I sat down and wrote a few things and then it became fun and I wrote some more. I ended up with a rough outline of the first film of a trilogy and very broad strokes of the next two. Then I left it and never looked at it again.
Lucas decided to dust off his outline and I have dusted off mine. My trilogy would be set thousands of years before Episode I at a time when the Jedi and Sith are at war. I always felt that was a massively untapped era in Jedi history. Sure there are video games that have done just that in the last few years, but those are not canon. Anyway, my main protagonist would be a female. She was a Jedi, but the first film would find her as a bounty hunter, having been kicked out of the Jedi order due to a romance with a fellow Jedi Knight.
The structure of the story would follow that of Episode IV. A weapon that needs to destroyed, Jedi captured and needing rescue, and a rogue (my main character) who is called upon to help. There would be humor, there would be great fight scenes, and most importantly it would be a fun film.
Now there is more to this female bounty hunter and there would be many secrets revealed, including a huge one in film two. I would love to write more about the overall story, but hey someday I might actually write it and then who knows, right? The point is that I would look backward and not forward for any new trilogy. The Jedi-Sith War could be such an epic series of films.
Perhaps we will get a backward looking trilogy someday. For now we are getting sequels to the original trilogy. And I for one could not be happier. In the coming weeks I will be writing up related posts to this announcement, ones in which I explore directors for the new trilogy, what other avenues Disney could pursue with Star Wars, and what they could do with Indiana Jones.
For now all I can say is that these are amazing times we are living in as Star Wars fans. The possibilities are truly endless.
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