General Star Wars Thread

[RottingCorpse]

Yep, so Luke = Yoda now. And we get an AT-AT battle in a white-sand desert instead of snow! I wonder if there's a Cloud City as well.

And Finn is probably Han in carbonite. What do you bet he never wakes up the whole movie and gets his body kidnapped by a bounty hunter (or Captain Phasma) at the end?

Think we'll get a Luke Skywalker lightsaber battle? I hope so.

[nacho]

What do you bet Luke really is new-Yoda and we just get a lengthy training montage and then Rey leaves too soon because she learns that Finn, Poe, and Leia are in trouble when she goes to the second island in that opening shot which is the "dark side" island where she learns the prophecy that she's the balance and that she has a dark side and we also get hints about her ancestry.

[RottingCorpse]

And Kylo Ren decides he wants to turn Rey to the dark side so he can overthrow Snoke.

The only remaining question is how does Lando fit into all this? Would they actually return to Cloud City? That would both be extra lame *and* kind of cool at the same time.

[Reginald McGraw]

Cloud City will be replaced by Sub Terrania Station and have the exact layout of Cloud City but upside down.

[Sirharles]

I'm more than a little afraid all of this will be true.

[nacho]

Mark Hamill's recent comments about how they handle Luke in the script scare me...

[RottingCorpse]

I haven't read them because in retrospect my only enjoyment of The Force Awakens came from not knowing anything.

But if they're going off the rails, power to them, I say. I think Luke should turn evil anyway.

[RottingCorpse]

I've been quietly following the Young Han Solo director debacle this week. Supposedly Rouge One had similar problems and post-production and shoots were completely done without Gareth Edwards involvement. I guess the answer is "money," but why any young director signs onto these things is beyond me.

Ron Howard to Take Over as Director of ‘Star Wars’ Han Solo Spinoff

Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron Howard will take over as director of the “Star Wars” Han Solo spinoff, Lucasfilm announced.

His hire comes after the movie’s original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired Tuesday, while in the middle of production after clashing with producer and Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy and co-writer/executive producer Lawrence Kasdan. The duo, who had previously overseen “The LEGO Movie” and “21 Jump Street,” wanted to inject more humor into the storyline and encouraged improvisation, something Kasdan did not appreciate.

Howard will begin work immediately. The picture still has several weeks left on its shooting schedule, and five additional weeks of pre-scheduled reshoots that were planned for later this year. The exact amount of time and money that it will take to actually complete the production (which was about three-quarters finished when the directors were fired), will vary depending on how much rewriting and reshooting Howard deems is necessary after reviewing the script and shot footage.

It is unclear just how Howard will be credited and whether he will share directing credit with Lord and Miller, or potentially take no credit at all (though that seems unlikely). Lord and Miller have the right to appeal any decision, but ultimately, the Directors Guild of America will make the call.

Howard previously worked with Lucasfilm  on 1988’s “Willow,” a fantasy adventure that garnered two technical Ocscar nominations (visual effects and sound editing) but was a box office disappointment. Howard’s credits also include hits such as “Parenthood,” “Splash,” “Backdraft,” “The Da Vinci Code,” “Apollo 13” and  2001’s “A Beautiful Mind,” about the brilliant, anti-social mathematician John Nash, which won four top Academy Awards including best director and best picture.

These days, however, the former child actor is in need of a big hit. He’s had a string of duds that include “Inferno,” “In the Heart of the Sea,” “Rush,” and “The Dilemma.” His last significant success was 2009’s “Angels & Demons.”

[nacho]

Jeez, yeah. I would hate that job!

[RottingCorpse]

Every time I start to get cynical about Star Wars, they drop something like this on me.

[RottingCorpse]

So, Abrams is back in for Episode IX after the Colin Trevorrow (sp?) fallout? Meet the new boss and all that...

This means the new trilogy will ape the original trilogy. The first one was (initially) a pleasant surprise. The second one will betel good one, and the third one will be a corporate driven mess.

[RottingCorpse]

Interesting...

[nacho]

Well, what's it matter? We'll go see it. Like always.

[RottingCorpse]

That’s true.

But this looks interesting enough, even if half of what we’re seeing is almost certainly Abrams style misdirection. I like the “Not this shit again” attitude from Luke Skywalker. I hope they keep that old gunslinger pulled back into the shit show vibe he seems to have in this trailer.

[RottingCorpse]

So I'm treading carefully on social media this week as "reactions" are starting to come in. Review embargo ends Wednesday I think.

I'm cautiously optimistic, but mostly I'm just excited to see a Luke Skywalker movie again. It was his journey we all loved, so seeing him back in action even if he's just become the curmudgeon-y old man we're ail turning into should be cathartic.