Lawrence Kasdan Talks Star Wars.
On Thursday The Empire Strikes Back writer Lawrence Kasdan received the Final Draft Hall of Fame award in Beverly Hills. Later he was interviewed by LA Times and shared some of his ideas and hopes for the upcoming movies. (Lawrence Kasdan is writing one of the new stand alone movies and also is consulting on Episode 7). Read what he had to say after the break…
“Hollywood’s become such a difficult place to do certain kinds of stories, and a lot of them are the kind of stories that I did all the time,” Kasdan said. “To do a big movie that Hollywood does now, that you think can be better than most of them … that’s a rare opportunity.”
Kasdan would not confirm reports that the spinoff films would center on iconic characters Han Solo, Boba Fett or Yoda, but said he wasn’t focusing on his previous scripts or on the extended “Star Wars” universe in his approach to writing the new film.
“I’m trying to start fresh,” he said. “There are certain pleasures that we think the saga can bring to people that they’ve been missing, and we’re hoping to bring them that, and at the same time, have them feel that it’s all new.”
Kasdan said he was looking forward to working with “terrific writers” Kinberg and “Episode 7″ screenwriter Michael Arndt. Asked if it would be strange to work on “Star Wars” without George Lucas at the helm, Kasdan was quick to point out that it was Lucas who recruited him to the project last fall.
“George sort of brought me into this part of it, and he’s stepping back from the company,” he said. “He’s sort of given his blessing to everybody, and he’ll be there if you need him. I think everyone’s interested to see where this can go. It’s been some very different places over 30 years …. I think with J.J., we’ll get something entirely new.”
It’s well-trodden territory. Since the original trilogy three decades ago, “Star Wars” has expanded to include novels, comics, video games, the critically praised animated TV series “The Clone Wars,” and the oft-maligned prequel trilogy, beginning with 1999′s “The Phantom Menace.” But the first three films stand apart, Kasdan said.
“The ones I worked on were a long time ago, and they had a slightly different feeling than the ones that followed,” he said. “The first three, ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Empire’ and ‘Return of the Jedi’ are all sort of more about people than the ones that followed. ‘Empire’ appeals to people, I think, because it’s the second act of a three-act play, and everything sort of goes to hell during the movie. And when you leave, everyone is in trouble, and that is the best part of the story to write. And people responded to it. Irvin Kershner was a completely different kind of director than George, so the movie’s much darker than the first ‘Star Wars.’ It’s more edgy.”
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Born on April 24, 1980.
