How Steven Spielberg is Lending a Hand to the Star Wars Film Franchise
Legendary director Steven Spielberg is playing a huge part in helping re-build the Star Wars franchise without even officially being a part of it. Read on for more.
Steven Spielberg sure seems to be playing a card or two in the continuing success of the Star Wars universe, all without even directing or producing a single episode. It was Spielberg who recently had a hand in discovering Alden Ehrenreich, the actor who was just cast as the young Han Solo for the untitled Star Wars spinoff. Spielberg was so impressed that he invited Ehrenreich to the Amblin offices to meet with Francis Ford Coppola, and his career was off and running.
The long time writer, producer and director also played a hand in Lucasfilm’s President Kathleen Kennedy and her decision bringing in J.J. Abrams to the director’s chair for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg weighed in on how he factored in on the Abrams signing for ‘The Force Awakens’. It seems that the power of suggestion may have went a long way to helping kick start a dormant Star Wars film franchise.
“I brought J.J.’s name up. I thought J.J. would be the best person to direct Episode 7 and I called J.J. and said ‘Would you do it if it was offered to you?’ He said, ‘I would but my wife won’t let me ’cause she doesn’t want me to restart any more franchises.’ But I went to Kathy and asked if I could get J.J. to say yes to this would you consider it? Kathy said ‘Are you kidding? Of course I would. But why would J.J. do Star Wars; he’s already done Mission Impossible and Star Trek.’ So I take Katie Abrams and J.J. to dinner that night to Giorgio with my wife, Kate, and right in front of Katie Abrams I popped the question. I said to Katie, ‘I think there’s a chance that J.J. could direct Star Wars. What do you think of that?’ And Katie turned to J.J. and said, ‘That would be amazing. Really?’ And I went outside the restaurant, picked up my phone, called Kathy and said, “When can we meet with J.J.?” And that’s how the whole thing began.”
Knee deep in producing his latest films, Ready Player One, Transformers: The Last Knight and the untitled sequel to Jurassic World, Spielberg is a busy guy these days. Even with his daunting schedule over the past few years, it seems he may have unknowingly played a small part in bringing Colin Trevorrow to the table for Star Wars: Episode IX. While this connection may seem to be a little far fetched, one has to think that perhaps Kennedy pays attention to those old masters of cinema in people like Spielberg.
“You’ve got to pick the right directors, and that’s what Kathy has done so brilliantly on the Star Wars series. Rian Johnson and Colin are the two best directors who could be doing Episode 8 and 9. And that’s the whole key.” Spielberg said.
That old master will be teaming up with Kennedy and Harrison Ford in the next Indiana Jones sequel expected to hit theaters in 2019. The three-time Oscar winner is excited about the future of the Indiana Jones franchise and all its possibilities. Perhaps, the new Indy movie will prove to be the next blockbuster smash that ‘The Force Awakens’ was for Disney. With Spielberg involved, anything is possible.
Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII will arrive in theaters December 15, 2017, followed by Colin Trevorrow’s Star Wars: Episode IX in 2019.
Source: THR
I still think I would like to see Spielberg himself working on one star wars film
You may be right…
Spielberg, always the coolest guy in cinema history. And know he’ll help shape Star Wars to a whole new level of greatness never seen before even though he may not direct one of them.
Proof of Human awesomeness, people.
His last nonspoiler-spoiler about indy is confusing. :q
But i really can’t wait to see the “old school” Steven in Ready Player One” and Indiana Jones 5 after historicalandsometimesinterestingbutsnoozing period
What is “buts noozing”? Sounds painful. And vaguely wet.
Spielberg is a jerk, I suspect he always was jealous of George Lucas for creating that franchise. He forced Shiah Laboeuf in Indiana Jones 4, he forced JJ Abrams on Force Awakens, he forced Alden Ehrenreich on Han Solo spin off. What is the agenda this man is pursuing, who does he think he is? He didn’t invent Star Wars and he needs to saty out of it and stick to his bland movies. Spielberg also worked on the prequels, but strangely he doesn’t brag about it because he doesn’t want to share the blame. But if the prequels had been well received by the public, he’d be bragging about it. I don’t like this guy. Stick to your CGI stuff and your Disney cardboard sets and Jurassic park sequels.
^ what? Are you guys going to let him get away with saying this?
Actually, seeing as his account is not private, and having taken the liberty of perusing his prior statements, I think something more ‘special’ is in order.
I think it’s time to demonstrate the full power of this disqus board!
User Platinum Star… Is BLOCKED! LOLOLOLOL
https://blog.disqus.com/user-blocking-is-now-available-on-disqus?UTM_SOURCE=motd_home&UTM_MEDIUM=web
https://youtu.be/Io5SLKiGdAw
Nice! Good to know because I already have some people on here in mind….
You’re so edgy.
k bro
I guess your entitled to your opinion, but your logic isn’t there. Steven was SO jealous of George and Star Wars, yet he refused to direct a single episode.
“I wanted to do one 15 years ago and he didn’t want me to do it. I understand why – Star Wars is George’s baby. “George is my best friend and I believe I am his, but we are all competitive. “I believe that this is George’s franchise. It’s his cottage industry and it’s his fingerprints. “He knows I’ve got Jurassic Park and Raiders…. But George has Star Wars and I don’t think he feels inclined to share any of it with me.”
I stand corrected.
I was actually looking for something else to direct at PlatinumStar regarding their friendship, stumbled on that and thought ‘huh!’. I had always thought the same but, welp, there it is 🙂
Not entirely accurate. Post a link or it didn’t happen
I just grabbed it off Lucas’s IMDB page. I’m not your research assistant though, so I suppose you’re going to have to figure out how Google works.
That utterly useless garbage that spews forth from your maw…
What’s the point of even attempting to have a conversation if you insist on doing so completely divorced from any sense of logic or reason? You know most everyone here thinks you’re little more than annoying, right?
At some point, I don’t think you even believe any of what you’re saying.
This has to be a joke.
He’s clearly a troll and you lot are biting it seems.
Because it’s often a bit fuzzy on who’s a deliberate troll and who’s just not all that bright. Trolls do their thing for a reason. There’s little chance of them being completely ignored, so the only way to run them off is to humiliate and embarrass them. Most often, this is fairly easy. If someone is working with at least half a brain, they don’t typically engage in trollish behaviors anyways.
There are several previous trolls springing to mind that no longer visit these comment sections. If we run continue to run them off, then we can get back to some reasonable, adult Star Wars discussion and debate.
^^adorable amount of effort
I totally agree with you, he’s done enough harm in the last three years, please leave Star Wars alone and do another movie with Tom Hanks.
A no-news news story meant to filler the slow news feed and trigger fan arguments; the mods must be bored.
meh
hem
A no-news news story meant to filler the slow news feed and trigger fan arguments.
I hear ya man, it’s gotten to the point where we can’t really talk about the films themselves like civilized adults and all it becomes is a shouting match saying well….
You said it, bro. I can’t even say I like a film these days without some jerk waiving his butthurt over the movie in my face. Yeesh..
Similarly, it’s apparently impossible to have a conversation where you say “you know, that film didn’t work for me, and here’s why” without a pile on from people who have wrapped WAAAAAY too much of their self-worth up in their love of a particular movie. I mean, what’s the point of HAVING a discussion board if people only want an echo chamber, and not to be forced to see, horror of horrors…actual discussion?
people who have wrapped WAAAAAY too much of their self-worth up in their love of a particular movie
That to me is actually the worst part of the whole ordeal. Just because I didn’t like said film doesn’t mean I don’t like you, I just have an opinion that’s different from yours. Why not talk about what we liked (and didn’t like) have a civil discussion about it, learn something new about how the other person thinks, and be on our merry way 🙂
I disagree. Remember… you started this blood feud. Now I will end it!
😛
I think the only civilized place left where you can actually have a civilized discussion would be birthmoviesdeath. Even though the site can be (at times) an echo chamber, the conversation rarely (if ever) turns to something vile and personal.
well since he’s contributing so much time and effort towards the franchise…… why not just let him direct one of them….. it would be AWESOME
why did they put Lucas aside and this guy is overseeing Lucasfilm?
lucas put himself aside- this guy is just lending a hand
No, Disney put him aside, he had ideas for the sequels but they didn’t want it. They wanted to make a reboot of A New Hope and slap 1 dimensional token characters to win some demographics that wouldn’t watch the movie if they don’t see their likes in the movie according to DIsney execs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8hQVlRgFlU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWNLWMy336A
Now they have Spielberg overseeing the destruction of Star Wars and make sure it’s just a dumb money making machine. It’s not surprise from Spielberg, he’s the producer of Transformers after all.
And Lucas wrote his treatments because he wanted to sweeten the deal with Disney. Come on, the man said there were no more episodes because after Sith, there was no more story to tell. The ST was never more than a ploy to ensure the survival of his companies post Disney acquisition.
What?? A ploy from Lucas to ensure the survival of Lucasfilm? How is it that his treatments would save the company when DIsney ditched his ideas, there’s a contradiction here. Lucas said it was over after ROTS, it was 2005, he also said nobody else than him will make SW, yet he let Jar Jar Abrams do it. He changed his mind, he even wanted to make TV series but that was abandoned. He totally had ideas for the sequels he just didn’t have the will to make the movies himself so he accepted to let Disney do it and handed over the company to some rattlesnake he thought was a friend. That witch backstabbed him, ditched his stories and went to the profit maximization route with a reboot laced with feminist propaganda. And she gave the project to her pet director to make sure he does just what she wants, no matter how bad it is. TFA is her feminist fantasy, a shameless reboot full of plot holes and misplaced humour. Look now, with Gareth Edwards on Rogue One, it’s a little bit different, he’s not as submissive as JJ Abrams. He probably told her to fack off with her stupid ideas, she kicked him and brought JJ back to shoot some lens flare orgies, large explosions,SNL humour and dumb one liners.
Watching Platinum Star try and troll his butthurt and only seeing “this user is blocked” is hilarious. I keep thinking of the polymorph scene from Warcraft. XD
Would it? I have the distinct feeling that the Berg has lost his touch with action/adventure. All respect for the man’s brilliant career, but ever since he started making “SERIOUS!” movies, he’s lost his grip on “fun”.
Did you ever get to see tintin? and if so, what did you think? I know it’s an animated film (hence the amount of over the top sequences Speilberg gets away with), but for me, It felt like Steven was really tapping back into his old adventurous self.
I did see it. Didn’t finish though because I was so bored by it. More telling, my KIDS, Indy junkies both, were bored by it as well. I found that strange as I kept hearing how it channeled the Indy spirit, but I just wasn’t seeing it. I know it seems like the audience is split on that film – half think it’s awesome, half…well, shared my impression.
I beg to differ. The motion-capture acting-animation was good, the graphics were stunning, and even some of the action scenes (though contrived and implausible) were for the most part well done. But the story wasn’t there, I could tell there was a story that it was adapted from, but it just sort of droned through the beats of the story without really giving it new life. Props to Andy Serkis though, his turn as Captain Haddock was the highlight of the film and deserving equal respect within Serkis’ already-stunning resume.
I guess my issue was that Tintin was so obviously an experiment. Intellectually it’s awesome, but in terms of entertainment, it … it just didn’t work for me; ‘didn’t click.
I second Crankypants’ opinion that Spielberg has fully transformed into a dramatic director, and hasn’t yet been able to successfully return to his popcorn-roots — no matter how many critics impulsively praise his every move.
So agree. Used to get so excited for a Spielberg directed movie, but haven’t been dazzled by his magic since ‘Saving Private Ryan’. Like Lucas, his golden period was the ’70s/80s, so the window of opportunity to direct a SW movie has closed. Disney should stick to their strategy of younger, up-and-coming directors.
Completely agree. What was his last good “fun” movie? Catch Me If You Can in 2002?
Which IS awesome though 🙂
Oh I love that movie. But then I’m a huge mid century modernism nerd so I could watch it just for the title sequence and the costumes.
Munich made me believe that he was a great director again. Then Crystal Skull made me believe he wasn’t. While I think without the presence of Lucas Spielberg could direct a good Star Wars film, I think the franchise is safer in the hands of younger directors.
Love Dahl, so my butt’s in a seat, however early word is not encouraging so far.
aww man, I was hoping for Michael Bay !!
I just wish he was really focused on the story side of it too because what they’ve come up with so far is shit