Disney And George Lucas’ TFA Treatment, A Different Point Of View . . .

badrobot-scriptGeorge Lucas’ statement that Disney is not using any of his treatments for The Force Awakens has set the fanbase abuzz with concern about the direction of the new trilogy. Does this mean the end of George Lucas’ vision for Star Wars? Or might we be overreacting just a wee bit?

 

A slightly different perspective on this after the jump.

 

 

As reported here earlier, George Lucas dropped an apparent bombshell on Star Wars fans everywhere in an interview with CinemaBlend in which he stated:

“The ones that I sold to Disney, they came up to the decision that they didn’t really want to do those. So they made up their own. So it’s not the ones that I originally wrote.”

 

On its face, this would seem to indicate that Lucas’ vision for the sequel trilogy has been thrown out entirely in favor of something invented entirely by JJ Abrams and company.

 

But is this really what’s happened here?

 

 

DisneyLucasFilm

 

Swank-mo-tron at Big Shiny Robot offers this bit of context:

“In my view, the use of the quote is definitely overblown. After George Lucas handed his handpicked screenwriter over to the process, JJ Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan took over the writing duties, which is something you’d expect when a director comes on board a project. Is the final version of this film going to be different than the one Lucas envisioned?

 

Undoubtedly. Is there anything here to indicate that they’ve thrown out everything Lucas did? Not one bit.”

 

This is an important point to bear in mind. I think we all knew long ago that the story was being changed, with the news that Michael Arndt was out and that Abrams and Kasdan were reworking the script. It was rumored that George acquiesced to JJ’s desire that the Big 3 — Harrison, Carrie, and Mark — get more play. There’s no big planet-shattering news as far as that goes. And looking back in the deepest pages of our Star Wars history books, I think we can all agree that every single Star Wars movie thus far has gone through a metamorphosis from its original draft to the final product.

 

Our friend at Big Shiny Robot  points this fact out as well.

“It makes sense the story would be in flux a lot, too. Did you all read how Kasdan and Lucas collaborated for “Return of the Jedi?” If they used George’s original idea for Jedi, there would have been two Death Stars and Palpatine’s office would have been in a lava pit […] That they don’t use ALL the original ideas is completely normal for Star Wars.”

 

Look up at the banner at the top of the page here, folks. That’s from a production painting of this exact scene from the original concept for Return of the Jedi. The differences between the original story treatment and the final film are tremendous, and the result is, in my opinion, a far stronger movie. (For those of you who have never read it, the “Revenge of the Jedi” revised rough draft from June of 1981 can be found HERE.)

 

Allow me to add another wrinkle to all of this.

 

 

Anakin-Skywalker-Darth-Vader-Star-Wars

 

As those of you who have followed George Lucas’ career for a great many years can attest, his public statements about his Star Wars films have had a tendency to morph over time. Let’s take the example of Lucas’ claims from a decade or so ago that Star Wars was intended, from the very beginning, to be “The Tragedy of Darth Vader.”

 

Long ago, George Lucas filmed a movie called Star Wars in which his young hero learns that his father was “betrayed and murdered” by a young Jedi named Darth Vader. Though it is now generally assumed that this was always a red herring and that Lucas planned all along for Darth Vader be Luke’s father.

 

Fast forward to January of 1978, and let’s go back to the old script archive, this time to take a gander at Leigh Brackett’s first draft of The Empire Strikes Back. It can be read HERE.

 

 

Leigh Brackett

 

Nowhere in Brackett’s script is there a single reference to Darth Vader being Luke’s father. Not only that, but in fact Luke’s father’s ghost appears to Luke and provides some of the same backstory that Obi Wan later provided in Return of the Jedi. Furthermore, Luke’s father (identified in the script only as “Skywalker”) gives Luke the “oath of a Jedi Knight” before fading away.

 

Granted, this rough draft was written by somebody other than George Lucas, but given the fact that he contracted Brackett to write it for him, it has to be assumed that Lucas provided her with at least the main points that he wanted her to cover – and that certainly did not include anything about Darth Vader being Luke’s father. That very obviously came about later in the rewrite process as Lucas and Kasdan rewrote the story.

 

And let’s also not forget that the original Star Wars novelization and the “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” novel that followed were both subtitled “From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker.”

 

 

Star Wars novelization

 

As adamant as George Lucas later was that Star Wars had always been “The Tragedy of Darth Vader,” it’s pretty clear that this is something he came up with much, much later.

 

We also heard for a long time that there was no sequel story, that he had nothing written for it, and that the story ended with Return of the Jedi. Then once the sale to Disney was final, we began to hear a very different story altogether, not only from Lucas but also from Mark Hamill, who has stated that Lucas asked him decades ago if he’d ever want to play Luke as an old man in Episode VII.

 

So there’s another story that changed over time.

 

Yes, George Lucas is now saying that Disney decided that they didn’t want to do the stories from his sequel treatments, so they made up their own. No offense to our old friend George, but I smell just the faintest whiff of “from a certain point of view” in all of this.

 

 

Simon Kinberg

 

Back to the Big Shiny Robot article. Swank-mo-tron mentions an interview that he had recently had with Star Wars story consultant and spin-off screenplay author Simon Kinberg.

Me: How much of Lucas’ blueprint do you rely on or is it even in play anymore?

 

Kinberg: It depends from movie-to-movie, is the answer. But it’s definitely a part of the planning of all the different movies and it was something that I was exposed to from the beginning of the process.

 

To me, this very strongly suggests that Lucas’ treatment for The Force Awakens hasn’t been simply chucked in the bin as many of us may assume to be the case. We’ll find all of this out in years to come, of course, but I suspect that what happened is that JJ Abrams and company did exactly what has been done early in the conceptual phase of virtually every Star Wars movie to date: They kept what they felt worked, including the general theme and probably a number of characters and story elements, but went a different direction with the story.

 

And speaking of different directions, this segues nicely into the last aspect of this puzzle. When George Lucas spoke about selling Lucasfilm Ltd. to Disney back in 2012 he casually mentioned that he had written treatments for, “The final trilogy.” This, of course, seems to suggest that his plans were to finish the Skywalker storyline with Episode IX. But Lucas also said that he gave Disney enough material to make Star Wars for the next 100 years. If George’s intentions were to finish the current series at IX then how would Disney continue to make movies for a hundred years? This is purely speculation but part of what George may be referring to is Disney’s direction to continue the current saga beyond nine? Surely they would need to plan this trilogy to set up the next. For more on this particular speculation you can read Echo-07’s article that we posted back in June.

 

George Lucas may genuinely feel that this means that Disney and the TFA production team decided not to do his story, but that doesn’t necessarily make it so. My humble suggestion is that we try to keep all of this in perspective for the time being until we get a clearer picture of what has actually changed. The situation may not be quite as Lucas characterizes it, and it could even end up resulting in a stronger story and a more enjoyable movie for us this December. As always, time will tell.

 

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214 thoughts on “Disney And George Lucas’ TFA Treatment, A Different Point Of View . . .

  • January 21, 2015 at 6:16 pm
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    do i remember correctly that there was a clause in the contract that they had to follow the main points in the treatments ? But besides that they could do whatever they wanted?

  • January 21, 2015 at 6:17 pm
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    I’d be perfectly fine with the idea of Star Wars becoming like James Bond and having movies come out every few years (related or completely standalone).

  • January 21, 2015 at 6:24 pm
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    GL clearly has stated that the Sequel Trilogy storyline that he has sold to Disney, the one developed in conjunction with Michael Arndt will not be used by Disney.

    We can argue from now till TFA release day, the truth is that we will never see the original story developed by the Father of Star Wars saga.

    It is almost a day that I try to accept this terrible news, but, simply there is not a single positive aspect of this terrible news.

    The only truth is that a JJ Abrams developed plot, characters, and world, to me have the same value than every Expanded Universe product realized until today.

    My fear and suspect is that there are business decision behind this unfortunate turn of event…

    TFA could be a great movie or a bad one, simply without the original creator storyline behind it, TFA is no a Star Wars movie, it is more properly a movie inspired by or vaguely based upon the universe of Star Wars.

    • January 21, 2015 at 6:36 pm
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      George Lucas has “clearly stated” a great many things over the years that turned out to not be entirely true.

      I see no reason to assume that this latest statement of his is any different.

      Certainly not reason enough to begin making pronouncements about the death of Star Wars or anything like that.

      • January 21, 2015 at 6:56 pm
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        Star Wars died the second he signed on the dotted line.

        • January 21, 2015 at 7:26 pm
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          If it died then why are you here reading the forums lol

          • January 21, 2015 at 8:53 pm
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            May I remind you Lucas said to Kershner and Kasdan “you’ve ruined my movie” when he saw first edit of Empire? Then he took the editing room by himself and edited his version, and then all three were agree that Lucas’ didn’t work.

            The greatness of Empire and Jedi (reflected in this good article) is all the people who convinced George to make a step backward in certain points. Lucas took care of his companies and “guide” the creative people, but ultimately tones of credit are for others. This is the same with some great video-games and novels, and of course with The Clone Wars.

        • January 21, 2015 at 9:38 pm
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          And you’re here because you’re a closet cinematic necrophile.

        • January 22, 2015 at 11:15 pm
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          Star Wars died the day Lucas decided he would write and direct the prequel trilogy himself. J.J. Abrams can’t do any worse with TFA than Lucas did with the prequels; there’s nowhere to go but up.

      • January 22, 2015 at 1:47 am
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        Long before the prequels, I started distrusting Lucas. He was constantly contradicting previous statements he’d made about his vision of the Star Wars universe.

        Once the prequels came out, it was pretty evident that he really didn’t have a plan and was making it up as he went along.

        I don’t know how this can be considered terrible news. After the prequels (and not to mention, long before the prequels, those terrible Ewok spinoff made for tv films)I’m happy they’re keeping him away from it.

        In 1977 Lucas introduced us to a new kind of hero and a new kind of story. We were enveloped in a world where
        – a mystical Force could be wielded by gifted individuals
        – a dying breed of peace keepers, knights if you will
        – an ominous Empire led by a dark and terrifying entity
        – a space ship that, even with it’s junky appearance, would become the coolest ship ever to most
        – cool and interesting aliens

        When the prequels came out, it was like that was taken away
        – a Force that suddenly became a science
        – an invincible Jedi who were so powerful that, frankly, most of the battles were pretty boring
        – a confusing and frankly ignorant government that became the center of the story
        – unrealistic looking space ships that appeared 100 times more advanced than the ones that were supposed to appear 30-40 years later
        – Jar Jar Binks, Watto, those stupid Chinese talking aliens and battle droids that would say “Roger roger” all the time

        If you like the prequels, that’s fine. Everyone’s taste is different. But, for me, Lucas was done with Star Wars a long time ago. I’d be curious to see his treatment to see if it was any good, but I’m happy someone else is working on it

        • January 22, 2015 at 10:51 am
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          Your entire spiel about the Prequels is ridiculous:

          – a Force that suddenly became a science

          Yes, a science that involves seeing the future/past, throwing things with your mind and sensing other’s presence. Just like the old movies. Nothing changed. They should never have used the terms “cyborg”, “clone” or “energy field” in the first movie, since “science” turns you off of SW.

          – an invincible Jedi who were so powerful that, frankly, most of the battles were pretty boring

          The invincible Jedi that gets his arm cut off and then his legs and is badly burnt and has to wear an artificial lung for the rest of his life.

          – a confusing and frankly ignorant government that became the center of the story

          A large group of politicians are easily led? That’s TOTALLY unrealistic and would never happen in real life! :p

          – unrealistic looking space ships that appeared 100 times more advanced than the ones that were supposed to appear 30-40 years later

          How are ships that look like blockade runners, Star Destroyers and souped-up X-wings “more advanced”? Oh wait, they have red stripes on. Never mind, you’re right.

          – Jar Jar Binks, Watto, those stupid Chinese talking aliens and battle droids that would say “Roger roger” all the time

          Yeah, stupid Chinese aliens with animatronic masks, unlike every OT alien design…

          The complaints that are valid are the acting and the writing. Had both these elements been improved, people wouldn’t complain about the aesthetics.

          • January 22, 2015 at 12:01 pm
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            Look, I grew up with it. I dressed as Luke for Halloween when I was 8. I remember, back in the day before VCRs, the original would return to the theater every half year to a year before Empire.

            I don’t know, nor do I care, what your background is. But don’t tell me that my opinion is ridiculous. That, in itself, is a ridiculous statement.

            Do you understand?

          • January 23, 2015 at 9:09 pm
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            [Not the guy you responded to, but I want to mention my story.]

            I grew up with The Phantom Menace. I was 9 when it came out. Yeah, I have seen OT before (I was 7, SE in cinemas), but the Prequels really got me into this universe.

            I watched TPM thousand times on my VCR, and I still remember all the dialogues. Padme was my first love, Obi-Wan was my favorite hero of all time and I loved lightsaber duels and space battles.

            I love all Star Wars Episodes.

          • January 23, 2015 at 12:23 am
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            Let’s understand Mr. Lucas here. During the making of Jedi after Jabba was created, he was going through a terrible divorce. He lost mega millions to his wife and even future proceeds of other films. Jedi suffered, then there was Indy: Temple of Doom,and Howard the Duck. See the similarities in these films. They were awful. I think Lucas purposely made bad films, so that his EX would bow out of the future film contract money. As for midichlorians in 1977… They wound up on the cutting room floor, and should have stayed there, but desperate George revived this crap to feed it to a different generation in hopes to get a better response to it. Lucas has Dilution of Grandeur. I grew up the 70’s and 80’s and I’m glad Lucas is off the SW project.

        • January 22, 2015 at 10:54 pm
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          Lucas was always at his best, IMHO, when he was collaborating with others on his films. Once he essentially became a CEO, that collaborative aspect began to give way (understandably) to “Let’s tell the boss what he wants to hear.”

          He’s always had really cool ideas, but without anyone there to help him to refine those ideas (and abandon the ones that aren’t working) his batting average went way down.

          (But he still made some of my favorite movies of all time!)

      • January 22, 2015 at 6:58 am
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        The death of starwars was the goddamn prequels. Lucas after the 80’s is useless. This is the possible rebirth of starwars- thank god they threw out Lucas’s crap idea. No trade federation disputes and senate garbage. This news makes me happier than I already was when he sold Lucasfilm to competent filmmakers.

    • January 21, 2015 at 6:37 pm
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      Ojca trylogi? 😀 a kto jest matką? 😀

    • January 21, 2015 at 8:26 pm
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      He also said there was no possibility of there ever being a sequel trilogy a while back. Either way, we should be rejoicing that he has no involvement in EpVII. The man’s off his rocker, his creative juices have run dry. I respect and admire him for creating the saga overall, but remember that the reason the OT was so incredible is because he had several people’s opinions when approaching a creative decision. If you ask me, that’s really where the PT fell short; no one dared to tell George his ideas were silly or didn’t make sense. They all figured that any movie with “Star Wars” slapped on it would rake in cash, regardless of the plot, characters and continuity. Half the time George didn’t even care, he’d just waltz into the studio, give his little “okay” or “neh” and that’d be it. There’s video footage of this.
      Personally, I’m glad he’s steering clear of involvement and I can almost guarantee that this trilogy will give us exactly what we’ve been waiting for.

      • January 21, 2015 at 8:35 pm
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        Yeah right!!! I bet you love that expanded universe crappola. Mara Jade, Prince Xizor and all that dumb crap. You and all the rest of the Lucas haters don’t deserve to be star wars fans. Us diehards just toss you into the pile with all the EU and fan fiction crap. Let me ask you this. You are a Lucas hater huh? Then you should be hating on not just the prequels but the originals as well!!!! You people are not fans, your fareweather fans, bandwagon jummpers.

        • January 21, 2015 at 8:40 pm
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          Do you even read what you type?

        • January 21, 2015 at 8:55 pm
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          Lucas was a legendary creative mind until the merchandising got a hold of him and swallowed him whole. In the originals, so many other brilliant minds had input in the creative process. He didn’t give two shits either way with the prequels.

          • January 21, 2015 at 9:37 pm
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            Anyone who thinks george lucas was guided by merchandize while making star wars mustve never seem any of his many interviews where he talks about storytelling and the integrity of an artists purpose…

          • January 21, 2015 at 10:26 pm
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            Most of those interviews were made before the prequels.

          • January 22, 2015 at 2:02 am
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            I wish I could find it, but before Revenge of the Sith there was an interview with Lucas where he talked about merchandising A LOT.

            I always remember him saying that “Most definitely Darth Vader’s suit will look different” and made reference to the fact that there would be a new toy because of this.

          • January 22, 2015 at 4:58 am
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            And as we all know, Vader’s suit was completely different…

          • January 22, 2015 at 12:03 pm
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            Yeah, it didn’t happen. But the interview exists.

        • January 22, 2015 at 1:54 am
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          What you say makes no sense. Actually, I never got into the expanded universe. I read the first book (forgot the name) and that was it.

          If I hate the prequels I should hate all the films? Really?

          So, saying that, if I hate chocolate ice cream, I should hate all ice cream. If I hate seafood pizza, I should hate all pizza. If I hated the fourth installment of Indiana Jones, I should hate all of them.

          Interesting

          I guess if I think you’re a little off your rocker, I should think that everyone here is a little off their rocker.

        • January 22, 2015 at 4:37 am
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          – JIMJAMBONKS –
          Holy sh!t, calm down, what is your problem? The guy above you only stated his opinion.
          You lose it like an insane on a wrecking tour for nothing, did you forget to take a depressant?
          I reported you for the second time for your agressive rude behaviour toward others.

          • January 22, 2015 at 12:06 pm
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            Word

          • January 22, 2015 at 5:05 pm
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            Sounds like a 14 y/o who’s ranting.

      • January 25, 2015 at 5:56 pm
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        I’ve been a fan of Star Wars since A New Hope. My favorite Star Wars movie is Empire by far. The Prequels, while I try to re-watch them all the time, just don’t jive well with me. I can never get pass the wooden acting, odd pacing and those damned green “Asian” nemoidians. But the art direction in the Prequels is second to none! But hey what do I know? I’m sure someone will just put a convenient label on me and what I say and move on. It’s so much easier to do that in life rather then take the time to have good back and forth/ point/counterpoint.

        Anyways, I’ve read all of the comments here and it’s interesting to see that so many people have already made up their minds about Episode VII BEFORE it’s even in the theaters or finished at all for that matter.

        It’s sad that some Star Wars fans seem to have loss that wide-eyed, open-minded, youthful enthusiasm that was part of the original Star Wars experience in the first place. I have A New Hope that the Stars Wars Empire will Strike Back and we all will experience The Return of the Jedi and the Force will Awaken!

    • January 21, 2015 at 8:28 pm
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      This is for BARBIOS. Yes!!! This man gets it!! I’m am with you. Any of us fans that have been with Star Wars since 1977 and are expecting to walk into this movie and get that old familiar feeling are going to be very dissapointed. To me and the rest of the diehards this is expanded universe crap, fan fiction. In my opinion, the only EU story that has been worth a damn at all was Kights of the Old Republic. That book trilogy with Mara Jade, the stupid Solo twins and all that was just horrid. This really is BAD NEWS.

      • January 21, 2015 at 8:43 pm
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        You’re wasting your time and what little mind power you’ve stored up. You’re only setting yourself up for disappointment because you’re jumping to ridiculous conclusions. Think before you submit, asswipe.

        • January 22, 2015 at 2:53 am
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          I hope you are not talking about me. If you are, I feel sorry for you for the fact that you like that EU crap. I could write better books than that, that’s what I do for a living.

    • January 21, 2015 at 8:31 pm
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      A perfect analogy in the TFA change is one that happened in TPM. Lucas conceived QuiGon who essentially had the lead role in Episode 1, as HE was the one who found Anakin. That doesn’t jive with the OT statements from Kenobi.

      Disney rumored to want Luke, Leia and Han have more screentime in TFA compared to Lucas original draft, so essentially both movies were changed on who would be the central characters.

      My point and Dekka’s original point is this has been going on for years, and that is why people are jumping the gun saying TFA is just fan fiction now.

      The only news I take from this is that Lucas is not involved anymore, so the quality of the movies rests on JJ & Disney.

      • January 21, 2015 at 11:07 pm
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        “A perfect analogy in the TFA change is one that happened in TPM. Lucas conceived QuiGon who essentially had the lead role in Episode 1, as HE was the one who found Anakin. That doesn’t jive with the OT statements from Kenobi.”

        Wrong actually. Qui-Gon was NOT the lead as he first conceived The Beginning. It was after thinking about it that he changed QGJ from a support role as Obi-Wan’s old Master to being put in Obi-Wan’s place.

        What Qui-Gon did was intended for Obi-Wan but then Lucas realized that it was for more interesting for Obi-Wan to be an apprentice who takes Anakin on not because he believes in him or the Chosen One but because of fulfilling Qui-Gon’s request to train him.

        • January 22, 2015 at 11:03 pm
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          Absolutely right. Most of Obi Wan’s original role in the early TPM drafts was given to Qui Gon. Now, I thought that Liam Neeson was fantastic in that role and he’s one of the few things about that movie that I think really works well. BUT…

          Here we come back again to Lucas’ cavalier attitude about continuity. When Obi Wan finally tells Luke the whole story in ROTJ, he’s pretty damned clear about the fact that HE was the one who believed that Anakin should be trained. “When I first knew him, your father was already a great pilot, but I was amazed at how strongly the Force was with him. I took it upon myself to train him as a Jedi. I thought that I could instruct him just as well as Yoda – I was wrong.”

          Lucas may very well have found it more interesting to change that so that Obi Wan was merely fulfilling a deathbed promise to his mentor, but it doesn’t dovetail at all with what Lucas established back in 1983. (And “But Obi Wan lies” is a cop-out… Lucas really dropped the ball on this one.)

    • January 21, 2015 at 9:46 pm
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      yeah, remember didn’t create star wars alone, there were a lot other people involved. gary kurtzman, ben burtt, john williams, irvin kershner, created star wars as well, and made it what it is today, and other brilliant actors that gave life and insight to the memorable characters. GL’s actually didn’t want c3po to be voice by anthony daniels and didn’t want frank oz to voice yoda. how’s that for a god?

    • January 22, 2015 at 1:38 am
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      George Lucas may have created Star Wars but the ones that have driven it over the years have been the fans. We wanted more stories, we got them through TV, novels, video games, comics, fan fiction, conventions, fan art, etc. George is not a god, he came up with a good idea and gave us a world to explore. I got more out of the EU of the books and games than from the movies. Then Mr Lucas took a dump on them when he came up with mediclorians and Jar Jar, said that the books were no longer canon, that he supposedly approved for his universe. Now I just take Star Wars as it comes. I love the EU of the books and grateful for what CW did to preserve some of it. Many talented people have come out of Star Wars and the more people are involved with perfecting the script, I say the better, so long as they work together.

      I’m glad GL is out of Star Wars.

    • January 22, 2015 at 6:48 pm
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      So getting Kasdan on board sooner, rather than later, was a publicity stunt…meant to mask JJ’s overriding of the story?

    • January 23, 2015 at 9:09 am
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      This chould be a good movie it could be a bad one. Time will tell. But after the pt I am move confident in the movie the less GL has to do with it. I don’t dislike him and I appreciate all that he has contributed to film but no one stays on top of there game forever. I am cautiously hopefull VII will be good. And frankly if GL was still at the helm after his last three sw movies I would not even bother to watch another one.

  • January 21, 2015 at 6:24 pm
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    The difference is….in all the other films, Lucas was in charge. Whatever ideas were used or thrown out, Lucas’s input was right there. This situation with eposide 7 is not comparable to creative flux during the production of the other films for a few reasons:

    1. Lucas is no longer in charge. He was kept on as a consultant (but rumors indicate he was not used).

    2. Lucas himself is said “The ones that I sold to Disney, they came up to the decision that they didn’t really want to do those. So they made up their own. So it’s not the ones that I originally wrote.”. He didn’t say “they probably changed some of my ideas”, he didn’t say “I’m not sure how much of my ideas were used”, he didn’t say “some of my ideas were omitted”. He said they didn’t want to use what he sold them and they came up with their own.

    3. Ardnt was taken off writing duties and mysteriously departed from the project. Completely. Not to mention the rumors of disagreements about the focus of the story.

    The writers of this article are trying to liken what happened here with eposide 7 to the changes and basic evolution that happens on all films. But it’s NOT the same. At least from what’s been revealed. Were ALL of Lucas’s ideas completely thrown out? Who knows? But that’s irrelevant. Even if a few things remained, Lucas is flat out saying they didn’t use what he sold them, and they came up with their own ideas. I don’t know how much more point blank he can be. Are you expecting him to say “they took my script, spit on it, burned it and threw it down a flight of stairs!”, because he’s not going to say that. He’s being vague and slightly diplomatic. Trying to spin what Lucas said so you don’t have to accept (or think about) Lucas version of Star Wars ending, doesn’t change a very CLEAR statement:

    “The ones that I sold to Disney, they came up to the decision that they didn’t really want to do those. So they made up their own. So it’s not the ones that I originally wrote.”

    It is what it is. It’s not “blowing it out if proportion” to say we probably aren’t getting the story Lucas came up with. Some ideas may remain but according to Lucas we are getting a new take on episode 7 that least mostly departs from Lucas’s vision. Stop trying to spin it to spare the fan boys emotions .

    • January 21, 2015 at 6:42 pm
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      Yeah, and for quite a few years Lucas also “clearly stated” that Star Wars had always been conceived as “The Tragedy of Darth Vader”, which was complete nonsense.

      He also said for years that he had no plans whatsoever for sequel films, and then when sequels were announced, Mark Hamill mentioned that Lucas had asked him back in the 1980s if he’d be interested in reprising his Luke Skywalker role as an older man for the sequel trilogy.

      If you prefer to take Lucas’ latest statement at face value, be my guest. History has shown, however, that Lucas tends to make public statements that aren’t as accurate as he makes them sound.

      • January 21, 2015 at 7:08 pm
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        Hey come to your senses!

        What Lucas has done or said in the past about its own creature & property has nothing to do with this CLEAR statement:

        “The ones that I sold to Disney, they came up to the decision that they didn’t really want to do those. So they made up their own. So it’s not the ones that I originally wrote.”

        Do you believe that now he could tell a lies that could be so easily unveil by JJ, KK, Bob Iger or every other Disney spokesman?

        If you want to find at all cost a positive aspect to this terrible mess, good for you.
        If you love a James Bond-like future, or Marvel-like future for the saga, good for you.

        I born the same year of ANH, I have seen RoTJ in theater, and as an old fan, this new truth hurts terribly.

        “So they made up their own. So it’s not the ones that I originally wrote.”

        TFA is just JJ fan fiction. No more, no less.

        • January 21, 2015 at 7:43 pm
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          Well then get over it. Lucas could have made the film, but he sold it’s rights. It was going to become “fan fiction” for you eventually, if not now, later..

        • January 21, 2015 at 7:54 pm
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          Speaking as an old-school Star Wars fan myself (saw Star Wars in 1977 when I was nine) I’ve read countless interviews with George Lucas over the years. I’ve always greatly admired him as a filmmaker (though I wasn’t crazy about the prequels) but I’ve also noticed that he often says shit that doesn’t turn out to be supported by fact.

          I’ll come back to the same example I gave in the article: How many years did Lucas try to sell the PT to us on the basis that Star Wars was “always intended” to be the Tragedy of Darth Vader? Even though a simple bit of research on the making of ANH and ESB shows this statement to be untrue.

          The idea that he would never make a statement that could easily be proven to be inaccurate is just silly. He’s done it before, and all I’m saying is that it’s possible that he’s doing it now.

          After all, this situation is tailor-made for a hyperbole-laden bit of artistic bitching on Lucas’ part.

          You’ve seen it over the years as well as I have, I’m sure. Lucas, god love him, is a well-known control freak. No big deal, many filmmakers are. It kind of goes with the territory.

          Now suddenly he’s sold his story to somebody else. I never expected him to be able to bring himself to do so, but he did. And now the new production team has done what ends up being done to most movies – making major tweaks to the original storyline. Lucas did it himself plenty of times, but now it’s somebody else doing it.

          He wouldn’t be the first storyteller to view any changes made to his tale as “throwing out my whole story”, regardless of how much of the original story may still be there.

          This is, remember, the same guy who hollered at Irvin Kersner, “You’re wrecking my movie!” There was just a wee bit of hyperbole to that too.

          All I’m saying is that there may also be just a wee bit of hyperbole to his recent statement about Disney scrapping his entire treatment.

        • January 21, 2015 at 7:56 pm
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          you do realize that lucas did not write and direct empire and jedi right? get a GD clue buddy.

          • January 21, 2015 at 9:15 pm
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            Got a GD clue? DEKKA129 is well informed. He has read the big making of books because I did so and recognize some of the facts he comments. He did a good and documented article and yes, Lucas got mad at post in Empire. Lucas wanted directors to film the movie, but not necessarily to bring their vision on it (that’s why some big ones rejected the offer).

          • January 21, 2015 at 10:11 pm
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            bla bla bla….lucas didnt write shit for any of the movies.,..he wrote down ideas and hired someone to write the stories for him. he gets tooo much credit in my opinion…the ships the monsters etc etc…NOT of his doing…he hires these people to make the shit…then he pics out what he likes. it does not matter if george has nothing to do with it. the only way ANY of you will be satisfied with star wars is if Ralph maq was still alive and doing concept art…he WAS Star wars….i can care less about lucas being involved…he had great ideas for star wars..but he didnt write or create shit in the movies…he merely takes credit for the crap because it is his company…its a damn fact.

        • January 21, 2015 at 9:09 pm
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          I’d rather watch JJ & Kasdan’s Fan Fiction than the last set of movies George came up with.

        • January 22, 2015 at 1:23 am
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          I was born eleven years before Star Wars was released. I saw Star Wars six times in 1977. I have never read an EU book or watched the tv cartoons.

          I’m excited for TFA because it feels like the sequel I’ve been waiting for all these years. I don’t even spare a second thinking about the PT. The poorly executed story, direction and acting killed it for me.

          Lucas created the concept, and many other talented individuals helped build what we know as Star Wars.

          I will buy my ticket and see TFA in the first week it opens. I’ll base my opinion on it when I walk out of the cinema. If it’s good, I’ll be pleased. If not I’ll get on with my life. No sleep will be lost, either way.

  • January 21, 2015 at 6:36 pm
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    I have about as much enthusiasm for EP VII now as Lucas does. “Meh, whatever, I’ll see it at some point.” We got a pretty good send off for real SW in TCW Yoda arc, from now on this is just fanboy crap no matter how you try to spin it.

    • January 21, 2015 at 7:28 pm
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      “Meh, whatever, I’ll see it at some point.”

      Lucas said nothing like that. He said he is excited to see them in a way he hasn’t been able to before, as an audience member.

    • January 21, 2015 at 7:48 pm
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      The way I’ll spin it is.. It’s going to come out, make the prequels look BAD.. make a TON of money, and you’re going to love the movie.

      • January 21, 2015 at 8:13 pm
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        For the record, I look forward to the movies, and they may be great (might even be the best yet), but as an old school fan I was excited for what Lucas had in mind for sequels filtered through great writers and directors, not what someone else had in mind. We already had that with the EU. If Lucas is exaggerating, fine. If not, then that makes me very sad as someone who has wanted to know what “really” happened after Jedi. I find it hard to believe that his basic ideas were that terrible. I still believe a great writer and director could have made the prequels great with the basic ideas intact.
        If they had said from the beginning that they were doing sequels with Lucas’s blessing but no outlines, I would have been appropriately excited, but when the news broke that Lucas has treatments and others were making them into films, that was a whole different level of excitement, one that fulfilled an abandoned dream I had for a long, long time.

  • January 21, 2015 at 6:39 pm
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    I take Lucas answer as positive news. In my view he f-cked Star Wars up completely with the prequels and the special editions.

    No Lucas: good news at this point

    • January 21, 2015 at 6:47 pm
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      I remember when there were hardly any SW fans around before the special editions and prequels, now it’s like a quasi religion with the worlds biggest fan base if you want to call that a screw up.

      • January 21, 2015 at 6:54 pm
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        I do, actually

        • January 21, 2015 at 7:18 pm
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          Henke’s I-Hate-Prequels comment of the day: done. On to his next chore…

          • January 21, 2015 at 7:21 pm
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            I do hate the prequels. Yes!

          • January 21, 2015 at 7:26 pm
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            Well I like them (as well as all Star Wars,) so you can just spew your excrement elsewhere, thank you.

          • January 22, 2015 at 7:17 pm
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            Oh don’t be such a bigot. People are aloud to point out when something is bad, even if some people still do enjoy it for whatever bias reason. If you like them, great. But people are aloud to say they are bad in a discussion about them!

      • January 21, 2015 at 8:45 pm
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        Yup, all these lucas haters and prequel haters are new fans that have jumped on the bandwagon over the last 15 years and have no idea what it was like to grow up with the original films when they were brand new, and the exciting promise of a prequel trilogy someday. I love all 6 films, not equaly though. Attack of the Clones was BY FAR the worst film in the saga(so far). To me it made episode I look wonderful, but it still has its moments. Lucas has stated many times that he wouldnt let anyone else make the films, that it was “his thing” and I was perfectly cool with that. I honestly would have been fine with it ending at Jedi, and the more I think about it now that lucas has been tossed out, I wish it had.

        • January 22, 2015 at 2:18 am
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          What are you talking about? You have it almost exactly backwards.

          From what I’ve seen, the prequel haters were the ones who DID grow up with Star Wars. It was, generally, the new fans that loved it.

          I don’t know where you get your delusions, laserbrain.

      • January 22, 2015 at 2:14 am
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        Bk2 January 21, 2015 at 18:47 PM

        “I remember when there were hardly any SW fans around before the special editions and prequels”

        What planet were you living on?

      • January 23, 2015 at 9:42 am
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        I don’t remember that at all. Sw was always the movies that shaped my imagination. And I think that goes for my entire generation. So this time you are talking about “before” “when there were no sw fans” must have been before 1977. Becaus it didn’t happen in my life time.

  • January 21, 2015 at 6:40 pm
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    Having Lucas have no part in the Sequel Trilogy can’t be anything but a HUGE positive!

  • January 21, 2015 at 6:42 pm
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    And anothering thing…your “humble suggestion is that we try to keep all of this in perspective for the time being until we get a clearer picture of what has actually changed.” Is how you finish the article…as if to say keep an opened mind until we know more. Fine. But the entire article is set up to suggest that people are misunderstanding Lucas quote. So we should keep all of this in perspective for the time being until we get a clearer picture of what’s actually changed, but then why is it ok for you to argue eposide 7 is still based on Lucas’s vision? That’s not keeping it all in perspective until we get a clearer picture of what’s actually happened. That’s decidedly saying you think ” Lucas’s quote is blown out of proportion and misunderstood and here’s why”. If we (you) are to “keep all of this in perspective for the time being until we get a clearer picture of what has actually changed.” this this article wouldn’t exist. Since we are waiting for more info. Instead you post this article to argue YOUR side(as to keep the fragile Lucas loving fan boys emotions safe), and then end it with the “let’s not rush to judgement” type quote. Unfair

    • January 21, 2015 at 7:05 pm
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      “But the entire article is set up to suggest that people are misunderstanding Lucas quote.”

      No, actually that’s not the point at all.

      The point is that Lucas’ quote may not completely reflect the reality of the situation.

      I’m not saying that people need to parse Lucas’ quote so that they understand it more fully. I’m saying that Lucas has always had a tendency to make public statements that sound definitive at the time, but that on later examination turn out to be either partly true or in some cases not particularly true at all.

      It may very well be that Disney has thrown out every last word and concept that Lucas gave them and started from scratch. But it is at least as likely that they’ve done nothing of the kind, and that they have retained elements, concepts and characters from the original treatment in the rewrite.

      So yes, I think it’s a good idea to not just fly off the handle and get all keyed up about Lucas’ statement when we have no idea what the TFA story is and how similar or dissimilar it may be to Lucas’ original treatment. We don’t have all or even a few of the facts yet, other than a statement from Lucas that could easily be one of his classic overstatements.

    • January 22, 2015 at 6:07 am
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      What’s with all the polarization around here?

      Dekka made the article to clarify that there’s no need to overreact (yet), which given the current HATE HATE vs LOVE LOVE atmosphere is a totally legitimate point on which to write an article.
      It’s basically counter-hyperbole.

      I’m w/ Dekka on this one, you guys need to take a chill pill until we actually know HOW MUCH of Lucas’ stuff they threw away, or whether or not Lucas’ stuff is good or bad. For all we know, the franchise just dodged a bullet. Either that or it stepped in front of another bullet. WE KNOW NOTHING.

      Also by all appearances George Lucas has an indecisively polarized mind-set. He “interprets” things and then “reinterprets” all the time, it’s his nature. The only thing we know FOR SURE is that They received his Draft, and they did not use the Draft in it’s entirety.
      Luke was at one point a girl, he was being trained by his father on a desert planet, his big brother busy in a battle having a duel with Lord Valorums and his minion, Darth Vader, who happened to be wearing an oxygen mask. The differences go on and on.
      However both final and rough versions begin with a space battle above a desert planet, both a lightsaber weilding mask-wearing Darth Vader. Both have an old Jedi Warrior who trains the son of Anakin.
      Essentially they’re still the same movie, just all the events names and locations have been changed.

      M2C

  • January 21, 2015 at 6:48 pm
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    Lucas may have said things that weren’t true in the past or changed things or contradicted himself, but the difference is he was always referring to HIS choices. What he never did was lie about what other people did. He could say “i wrote this to be 12 parts” and then later say “it’s 6 parts” or “there is no story after episode 6” and then later say “well I have episode 7,8,9 but never fleshed it out” or “I never thought I would have the time to make them”. What he CANT do is falsely make claims about JJ and Disney. Lucas isn’t going to LIE about them. If he said they aren’t using his ideas…..that’s probably the case.

    • January 21, 2015 at 7:25 pm
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      Lucas has never flat-out bullshat us before? Really?

      The whole “Star Wars was always intended to be The Tragedy of Darth Vader” thing that he peddled as absolute fact while he was making the PT was, in fact, demonstrably untrue. The PT was certainly that, but it wasn’t something he’d conceived back when he made the original 1977 movie, and it wasn’t even something he apparently had in mind when he began scripting work on ESB. It was something that he made up later.

      But because he wanted the public to view Episodes 1-6 as one cohesive story when he was making his prequel trilogy, he made a “very clear” statement that was simply not supported by the facts.

      We’ve now also gotten strong indications that Lucas asked Mark Hamill back in 1983 about doing Episode VII later on when he was an older man, despite Lucas’ endless claims over the years that he never intended to do sequels to the OT, that there was “no story” and that the whole thing was intended to end with that little dance around the Ewok campfire.

      This isn’t about Lucas’ story choices. I think we can all agree that he’s changed up his film stories as he’s gone along, and of course as a filmmaker that’s his prerogative. No argument there at all.

      This is about Lucas not always being entirely accurate in his public statements. I don’t know that he’s necessarily being inaccurate with this latest statement about Disney throwing out his story, but given his tendencies to do that in the past, I just don’t see the need to take this particular statement at face value before we have all the facts.

      • January 22, 2015 at 1:29 pm
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        It’s irrelevant as most people appear to be relieved he’s not involved

  • January 21, 2015 at 6:52 pm
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    This site will never post anything what throw a shadow over star wars, no matter what. Lucas is in charge? He´s the one!!! Disney is in charge? Couldn´t be better! They changed Lucas´s story of E7? There´s no chance we could end any better! :-))))))) He sayd they throw away what he wrote? Nooo, he didn´t mean that….af if he does, look how bad ideas he had in the past….I just have to laugh….no matter what, in this site there will be no criticism, no different point of view, they will blindly backup any new maker o makers of any new Star Wars stuff…Everything is brilliant, Rebels is best tv show ever, new names are great, new plot is great, new lightsabre is great….there´s nothing wrong in a slightest in the Disney Star Wars universe 🙂 well know what? I have a different oppinion. No one for the last 2 years ever told they call George from time to time for advice or to clarify things….anyone want to comment this??????

    • January 21, 2015 at 7:14 pm
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      If you think this site is bad, listen to the SWU, MSW.net podcasts……it’s all SW positivity 24/7, all the time.
      Very sickening really.

      • January 21, 2015 at 7:32 pm
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        And if you disagree with them, your clearly a “hater” trying to bring them down… and likely a racist.

        • January 21, 2015 at 8:15 pm
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          Sexist maybe, racist, nah.
          Too much positivity comes across generally as brown-nosing, and herd like. There’s no hate for the podcast.
          I would just like to have some objectivity and varying views on the topic of SW.

    • January 21, 2015 at 7:29 pm
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      Personally, I think Rebels is bland, uninspiring crap. Not everyone agrees with me on that, but that’s my opinion.

      Speaking for myself, I am not here to blow sunshine up anyone’s ass. My point in writing this article was simply to provide a perspective on this thing other than “the sky is falling!” because I’ve seen plenty of instances over the years where Lucas engages in hyperbole about something and we later find the facts to be rather different.

      Believe what you will, but for whatever it may be worth, that’s where I’m coming from on this.

      • January 21, 2015 at 7:45 pm
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        I also sometimes find that the twisted or false facts sometimes turn out to be true after all, but were taken out of context in the first place or we just didn’t have all the info yet.
        I for one believe Lucas likely had the idea of Vader as Luke’s father by the time he was making EP4. You can see how the father character shifts around and is merged with other characters until you have Vader representing almost all the aspects. And Rinzler found a note likely dating to around ’77 that mentions the possibility of Vader as Luke’s father.
        And it was revealed in the Making of Jedi that Lucas already had the idea for midichlorians (including the name) in ’77 as a reason for some having the Force while other didn’t or had it to lesser degrees. He even had the idea in ’77 of 3PO being built by a young slave in a junk shop as part of his backstory (it doesn’t say it is Anakin though, but that is pretty specific none the less).
        Some things like the Twelve films were also proven in the Making of books. He had lists for the films, but they were vague as to what they were about. As time went on he got rid of ideas or combined them, as is the case with the original idea for 7, 8, and 9 being compressed into ep6. He decided he could wrap it up in one film rather than drag it out, which is why he changed to saying there weren’t any ideas for sequels, because there weren’t at that time other than the old idea that Luke could come back some day and pass the torch to a new generation (which he said in ’77 while he still had the idea that there may be 12 films in all).
        And the idea of the films being about the fall and redemption of Anakin is true at least from Empire on as the basic ideas for the prequels were forming in his mind by then. He definitely had the prequels in mind during the writing of Jedi as he discussed the backstory with Kasdan, long before the prequels were drafted.

        • January 21, 2015 at 8:05 pm
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          That’s all well and good, but if he had been planning on Vader being Luke’s father all along, ever since making the original SW film, then it stands to reason that this is one of the guidelines he would have given to Leigh Brackett when he contracted her to write the first draft of ESB.

          Plus, Darth Vader in ANH is nothing more than a classic movie villain. That movie isn’t a chapter in some “Tragedy of Darth Vader” tale. Not even close. There’s not a shred of that concept there. Not one Vader scene that is any sort of character set-up for that idea.

          Might Lucas have idly toyed with the idea of eventually revealing Vader as Luke’s father? Possibly, yeah. He also toyed to a much greater degree with the idea of making Han Solo a green-skinned alien and making Luke a girl. None of which actually made it into the movie.

          And again, even at the beginning of the ESB screenwriting process, he clearly didn’t impart anything about “The Tragedy of Darth Vader” to Leigh Brackett. She kept the same relationship between Vader and Luke’s father that old Ben had told Luke about in the first film.

          Bottom line, Lucas sometimes makes shit up and passes it off as fact. And until we know what the TFA story is and what Lucas’ treatment was, I see no reason to take his word as gospel on this one. No disrespect intended to Lucas himself, but there’s ample precedent for his public statements to be, as Threepio might say, “not entirely stable.”

          • January 21, 2015 at 8:20 pm
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            “it stands to reason that this is one of the guidelines he would have given to Leigh Brackett when he contracted her to write the first draft of ESB.”

            I specifically said he withheld that info from her and others. He didn’t want it getting out as he wasn’t sure he would use it yet. He was planning on using her draft as a springboard and would change it where and if it contradicted his ideas.

            “Not one Vader scene that is any sort of character set-up for that idea.”

            That could be argued, but I don’t think it matters much as he wasn’t sure when he would use it. He wasn’t even sure he would be able to make a sequel. It may have been an idea he could give up if he changed his mind.

            “He also toyed to a much greater degree with the idea of making Han Solo a green-skinned alien and making Luke a girl. None of which actually made it into the movie.”

            And yet Vader as his father did. I don’t really see the point of bringing up abandoned ideas. My point is that it may have been an existing idea, which means he didn’t just make it up out of nothing during Empire.

            “And again, even at the beginning of the ESB screenwriting process, he clearly didn’t impart anything about “The Tragedy of Darth Vader” to Leigh Brackett.”

            And again, I say she was there to create a rough draft he could jump off of. He had no reason to give up a huge reveal that early in the process when he had no idea if he would even like what she produced.

          • January 21, 2015 at 8:31 pm
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            So he pissed away money on a script that he never intended to use? That sounds to me more like a bit of later revisionism on his part. Even if he didn’t want to let Brackett know about Vader being Luke’s father, I would assume that he’d at least have given her a few guidelines like “Don’t reference Luke’s father in this one.”

            Because why pay good money for a script that doesn’t have anything at all to do with your grand cohesive vision of “The Tragedy of Darth Vader”… unless that “cohesive vision” was something you hadn’t yet thought up?

          • January 21, 2015 at 8:42 pm
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            This post was made before your last one… Reply to that at the end of this one.

            When I said “that could be argued” I was really thinking about Ben’s hesitation before telling Luke what happened to his father, but I’m not saying there is any set-up scene for the reveal, just that there is at least a nice coincidence that opened the door. I still don’t think it needed a setup in the first film.
            And I see no problem in Lucas saying the saga was about Vader in retrospect, especially since only one movie would really contradict that. If you know where the exact quotes for the “tragedy of Darth Vader” come from I would like to read them again for context.

            “why pay good money for a script that doesn’t have anything at all to do with your grand cohesive vision of “The Tragedy of Darth Vader”… unless that “cohesive vision” was something you hadn’t yet thought up?”

            I never said it didn’t have anything to do with what he wanted or that he wasn’t going to use any of it. He was looking to flesh out what he had. Why does anyone hire a writer they may not end up liking? It happens all the time. He didn’t like writing and decided he would let someone else start the process rather than come on at the end after he struggled through many drafts. I said he wasn’t sure if he would like what she wrote, which is only logical for anyone who hires another writer to do work on their idea. This was the very early stages of writing and there is never a guarantee that the first draft will be exactly what you end up shooting, it almost never is. This is also the man who insisted on giving her credit for writing the script as a memorial to her rather than taking the credit as he very well could have.

          • January 21, 2015 at 8:54 pm
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            He also said this was a learning experience that taught him that no matter how hard it was for him to get his ideas into draft form, it worked out better for him to do it himself and then have others work on it.

            And to be clear, he wasn’t planning to ditch Brackett after she did her draft (she died shortly after she turned in the draft), but he would have likely worked with her to make it more like he wanted. Though he was smart enough to not reveal something huge to someone who might not continue working on the project. I think she went off into directions he never told her to go and it ended up far from anything like Star Wars.

  • January 21, 2015 at 7:04 pm
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    Let’s get real here. Lucas’ last good movie came out in 1989. Anyone who argues the prequels were good, tell me, whos the main character in The Phantom Menace? Because I can tell you its not the Jedi, its not the queen, and its not little yippee Ani.

    I for one am excited for this movie. Everyone is so ready to damn this movie without seeing. Its like a someone refusing to eat something without trying it first.

    This movie is going to come out, and it’ll be awesome I have feeling. And everyone sitting here saying they hate it already without really honestly knowing anything but rumors are going to eat their words.

    Lucas says one thing, then turns around and does the complete opposite. For example…People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians.. (Lucas, 1988). Then cut to a decade later, Lucas comes out with the special edition.

    Come on people, I thank Lucas for creating star wars, and expanding the visual aspect of what Star Wars is in the prequels. Bit, its hard to take what he says seriously anymore when he constantly contradicts himself.

    He might not be getting the movie he wrote to the t with episode 7, but I bet you there are still elements of his original story.

    Time will tell, until then keep complaining. I’ll be sitting here patiently waiting to welcome you back to the side of Star Wars fans that are excited someone new is at the helm.

    In JJ I trust.

    • January 21, 2015 at 7:20 pm
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      Who was the main character in Avengers? Answer quickly without thinking.

      Oh wait, that was a good movie?

      • January 21, 2015 at 7:23 pm
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        Anon @ 19:04,

        While we’re on the subject of contradictory statements, did you honestly diss Lucas and praise JJ Abrams, the guy who destroyed the continuity of Star Trek?

        You are a bi-polar jackass.

        • January 21, 2015 at 7:33 pm
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          Avengers was a bad movie, the stand alones are good. And I, personally, was never a huge fan of Star Trek until JJ redid them *gasp*

          • January 21, 2015 at 8:35 pm
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            Ok, understood why you will like TFA. No more questions. No way to talk with JJ fan. IQ fail detected.

          • January 21, 2015 at 9:19 pm
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            How about trying a real rebuttal, instead of trying to somehow convince yourself you have intellectual superiority to me. I’ve seen everything star trek has to offer. And well, let’s take your voyager show for example. Continuity wise, it’s garbage. Let’s upgrade the ship with Borg technology, and then in the next episode its completely gone.

            If you’re upset with the whole concept of time travel, then so be it. But to create a new universe in which a lot of new and different storys can be told, thats called a parallel universe. You still have your original universe.

            You must also not understand how comic books have lasted for so long either. They do the same thing. Its not a new concept. But for someone who isn’t open minded enough to understand how and why it was done. Well, I would call that an IQ inferiority.

        • January 21, 2015 at 7:48 pm
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          LOLOL i love when the trekkies bash abrams…even though abrams saved that dying peice of shit . he made the best star trek movies ever made….and people still cry about it. omg he made star trek more interesting to a much braoder audience and packed out theaters who would of had like 12 people itting in them if it would have just been a regular star trek shit movie, with shitty actors and shitty special effects.. The original star trek movies were trash made for tv movies put on the big screen. JJ put trek back on the map and you want to bash him? lolol..gtfo of here. you should be thanking him.the only thing that sucks about the new trek movies is the guy who plays kirk. he is a good actor but they should of got soeone who didnt have a face like the grand canyon. and the fact that spock is banging ohura.. the only original trek movie worth a shit was the wrath of kahn, the search for spock. and maybe on of the next gen movies…and honestly,..those were still kinda garbage and boring.. they are movies you watch when you are bored on a sunday afternoon. gtfo out of here with this JJ ruined Star Trek nonsense…your a tool

          • January 21, 2015 at 7:55 pm
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            Amen!

          • January 21, 2015 at 8:49 pm
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            “The best Star Trek movie ever made” for who? Certainly for the headless people who like headless movies. The best he had do would be left ST rest in peace. And make his own shit.

          • January 21, 2015 at 9:52 pm
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            You act as tho JJ came out of nowhere with the bright idea to reboot star trek himself..you act like he actually wrote the story himself..im a huge star trek fan, and i LOvED the new movies,….get off the trekkie bandwagon and think for yourself there buddy. if these are not the best star trek movies ever made and you can prove it…i will never post on here again….so tell me hotshot…which star trek movies would you say are better than these? please hurry with your response…i really need a good laugh today. NONE of the original movies hold a candle to JJ’s.. you base your opinion soley on Nostalgia and it has clouded your feeble mind….you must unlearn what you have learned and train yourself to let go of the things your afraid to lose.. my first response after seeing the first one was “HELL YES!!! it is about time they made a real star trek movie” your first reaction was ” man i cant beleive they are remaking the shittiest sci fi movie ever made” weak minded fool. i would even be up for them rebooting star wars completely from scratch and fixing all the script holes in the story and timeline, so it all finally tied together and made sense and there would be no more of the pt and ot bashing bs….someone like you though? i am pretty sure you would cry real tears over it…and when episode 7 comes out…you will go se, you will liek it alot…but then come home and jump right on the band wagon and post how much you think JJ ruined Star Wars jsut like he did Star Trek. i can already tell what you look like too..i cant really see your face though…because your stuffing a tripple quarter pounder with cheese in it.

      • January 21, 2015 at 11:21 pm
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        No

      • January 22, 2015 at 12:11 pm
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        The Avengers. Actually, it was mostly Tony Stark.

        I’ve never been a comic book movie fan though, my daughter dragged me out to see it.

    • January 21, 2015 at 10:03 pm
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      Qui-Gon was the main guy. With OB1 as sidekick and Annie/Amidala subplot. That´s it.

      • January 21, 2015 at 10:32 pm
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        Qui Gon was not the main character, because your main character is someone who is fresh to the world, and in which you can learn with as the movie progresses. Your main character has to have a new perspective on everything that’s happening. Not the wise Jedi that already knows everything. Please try again.

    • January 21, 2015 at 10:38 pm
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      Assuming that it’s even true that TPM doesn’t have a main character (which is false), who told you that it’s a requirement for a good story to have a single main protagonist? And why, more importantly, did you believe such an insipid assertion?

    • January 22, 2015 at 1:49 am
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      Everybody who bitches about the prequels are just voices in the echo chamber from what they heard from red letter media or from their friends’ hate for them. The Prequels are like Nickleback….Everybody hates on them but I have yet to hear an original answer as to why.

      • January 22, 2015 at 12:17 pm
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        I’ll give you a reason that Red Letter didn’t cover…

        “Watch your mouth kid, or you’re going to find yourself floating home.”

        “This is not going to work.” “Why didn’t you say so before?” “I DID say so before.”

        “We’re all fine down here… how are you?”

        “This is a great escape plan. You found a way to get in here, you didn’t think of a way to get out?”

        “You came in that thing? You’re braver than I thought.”

        Some pretty decent writing (mostly Han Solo) that made the chemistry between the characters great.

        The only line I can remember from TPM is “There’s always a bigger fish.” That was the first point I truly cringed during the film. That entire underwater scene was straight out of a video game.

  • January 21, 2015 at 7:09 pm
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    This film may be good or it may be bad. Whatever. What’s stupid is this “it’s still Lucas! It’s still Lucas! It’s still Lucas!” Non sense. It’s not Lucas. Let it go. It doesn’t mean these films can’t be great. DEKKA129, Stop pretending it’s Lucas.

    • January 21, 2015 at 8:15 pm
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      I don’t know that it is or is not Lucas’ story. I’m not really that caught up in the whole “the vision of the Maker” thing. I just want to see a good Star Wars movie this December.

      The reason I wrote this article was because this statement of Lucas’ had people in an instant uproar, and my first thought was, “But he’s got a history of bullshitting us – who’s to say he’s not bullshitting us a bit on this one?”

      As I’ve said, I suspect that we’ll see elements of Lucas’ original story idea in TFA. We’ve known for over a year that Arndt’s script was rewritten, so it’s no big revelation that J.J has strayed from “the Word of Lucas” (and given how the PT came out, I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing.)

      I don’t necessarily think Lucas is being entirely accurate with his statement. He MIGHT be, of course, but to me it just sounds like he’s overstating the situation. And it’s nothing to do with my having some vested interest in TFA being Lucas’ story. I honestly don’t care whose story it is, as long as it ends up being a good Star Wars movie. (And who knows if THAT’S even going to happen?) ;^)

  • January 21, 2015 at 7:10 pm
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    “might we be overreacting just a wee bit?”

    I think the real question is “might George be overreacting?”
    “If” what he said is true, I am very disappointed as I have said before, but if he is just “being George” and re-writing his own history, that’s another story. Unlike some, I have no doubt that George made up the sequel trilogy stories only recently. If you look at the facts, 7, 8, and 9 involved Luke finding his sister (not Leia at the time) and training her so they could take down the Emperor (Vader was to be dealt with in 6). These ideas were compressed into 6 (which is one reason his original ideas were so sparse for 6). So he really didn’t have a strong idea of what more stories would be other than “passing on the lightsaber to the next generation.” He once told Spielberg that he had ideas for a series of Indiana Jones movies besides Raiders, then it turned out the “idea” was that there would be more films, not actual story ideas.
    Also, regarding Lucas’s ideas for Jedi, you are talking about the rough draft. His ideas always changed as he made newer drafts, that doesn’t mean that the core ideas were done away with, nor does it mean that those ideas were all from the other writers; many times their suggestions would push it too far, but Lucas would pull them back and come up with a new idea that fit more into his vision. Of course ideas have to change from treatments, but if they abandoned everything for a completely new storyline and characters, then it becomes a problem as it is no longer Lucas’s Sequels but “official” EU.

    Regarding Brackett’s draft, this was a special case. He said he only gave her some basics (holding onto the reveal that Vader was Luke’s father because he wasn’t sure yet whether he would do it in this or the next film). Brackett was very ill at the time (dying in fact) and hammered out a real stinker. The next draft was Lucas’ and is much, much closer to the final films from what I remember.

    • January 21, 2015 at 8:20 pm
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      “I think the real question is ‘might George be overreacting?'”

      Bingo!

      I think we’ve all seen that happen before too. And when all is said and done and we look back on the making of TFA and what was and wasn’t kept from Lucas’ treatment, I think it’ll be obvious that this “threw out my story” thing was the proverbial tempest in a teapot.

  • January 21, 2015 at 7:17 pm
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    There was the mark hamill interview from the early 80’s where he discuss’ GL talking to him about Episodes 7,8,9. So it may have been a part of his overall plan, and therefore the sale to Disney didn’t necessarily lead to him forming the story.

    • January 21, 2015 at 7:58 pm
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      He and Jett both said he was writing them before Disney approached him. He was going to make 7 and then pass Star Wars on to someone else, but the Disney deal came along and he decided to sell right then. The original idea for 7, 8, and 9 was Luke going to find his sister (not Leia at that point) and training her so they could take on the Emperor. He put those ideas into the already sparse ep6. He had vague notions of an older Luke training the next generation, but I think he gave that up by the time of Jedi as it was too vague. Then he recently got the bug again and came up with new ideas.

  • January 21, 2015 at 7:21 pm
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    I wonder if Lucas will get an end credit after everyone smiles and a certain tune starts up..

    • January 21, 2015 at 7:58 pm
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      I guarantee 7, 8, and 9 will all say “Story By George Lucas”

  • January 21, 2015 at 7:23 pm
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    http%3A%2F%2Fbigshinyrobot.com%2F58402%2Fdisney-still-using-lucass-star-wars-ideas%2F&h=JAQF8OIay

    Lucas was misquoted. They are largely using his story elements, just playing tweaking it up a bit. Not a huge deal.

    • January 21, 2015 at 7:25 pm
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      How do you misquote a video?

    • January 21, 2015 at 7:37 pm
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      Please, at least use your intellect and see the video.
      You will hear:

      “The ones that I sold to Disney, they came up to the decision that they didn’t really want to do those. So they made up their own. So it’s not the ones that I originally wrote.”

  • January 21, 2015 at 7:24 pm
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    I think that the treatment is probably relative based on personal perspective. Overblown, the reaction has been.

  • January 21, 2015 at 7:29 pm
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    Even though i love george lucas and appreciate everything he has given to the world. I cannot help but feel relieved that he has nothing to do with episode 7. after all the things he messed up story and timeline wise with the PT and the Clone Wars series, i was getting a little fed up with Star Wars, as there seemed to be no point in following it anymore because Lucas and Filoni kept changing everything. I only wish that he had done this before the PT was produced, and then there would have actually been balance to the force. instead of some jackass who just wanted to show off his new toys, so he could make a buck off of SW fans so he could sell the tech to other companies. George is doing now what he needs to be doing..and that is making movies and telling stories for Children. SW got away from him. it became something more than what he intended. it became more than just a childrens story, and he didnt grasp that.Although everyone bashes the PT and rightly so…i still enjoy watching them for the simple fact that it is star wars and it has lightsabers, jedi and sith.. the stories may suck and get boring…but….i would rather sith thru episode 3 than watch a bunch of teddy bears throwing rocks and killing heavily armored storm troopers. anywys…the point it…i am glad lucas is not doing these, and i dont understand why everyone i freaking out. Lucas was Lazy…all he cared about was $$ and he rushed thru the last 4 Star Wars movies he did.The best Star Wars movie ever made..Empire… george was sitting in the back seat during that one and look at the results. anyways…i think some of you put george on a higher throne than he belongs. him having nothing to do with SW is a good thing. he actually saved SW by doing this. get a grip people. the only thing that will turn me away is if they KILL luke Skywalker off…..if that happens…im out….fuck that

    • January 21, 2015 at 7:45 pm
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      Who is “freaking out”? Why are you telling people to “get a grip?” They are posting their responses to Lucas’s interview just like you are. Please define “freakihg out”. If they are worried that this film might not be good, they are “freaking out”? Isn’t that a reasonable concern? I always wonder what makes people post stuff like this. Is your reaction and more or less appropriate than the other reactions posted here?

      • January 21, 2015 at 8:12 pm
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        dude stfu/… “freaking out” is exactly what most people have been doing since they found out Lucas doesnt have anythign to do with the story.. and it is exactly why this article was written. ” the sky is falling!!!!” = freaking out….moron

    • January 21, 2015 at 8:57 pm
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      If they kill luke they arent lickslikking, unlike you

  • January 21, 2015 at 7:41 pm
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    Its just a script rewrite and the rumored difference was the role of the big three. Arndt was focused on the new cast, which is basically true since Disney is sayinig as much in the marketing of the movie they want to showcase the new characters. But you got an article out of its all that matters. 😛

  • January 21, 2015 at 7:50 pm
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    Lucas hates the way Empire ended up. I’ll leave it at that.

    And GL is the type of guy to generalize a lot. When he says that his scripts aren’t being used, its like saying his script for Empire Strikes Back wasn’t used. Because it wasn’t. Film is a collaboration. Harrison Ford changed a lot of Han’s lines. Irwin Kershner, knowing that Harrison Ford was a real star and knew the character more than Lucas did, allowed it to happen. And it was for the better. (See: who shot first???).

    We can argue about ROTJ, but honestly, the actors were on their third turn and performed spectacularly and we see Luke vs. Vader and Emperor, that’s all that mattered. They performed awesomely and that would have been enough for a great film, no need to get into the Ewoks.

    GL started production on the prequels without scripts. Its pretty much documented how he wasn’t really prepared to film all the scenes while they were already being compiled. Who knows how much would have been changed from the story in his head to a good filmmaker’s camera to the editing room (also remind yourself that ANH was a mess the way it was filmed, it needed Oscar-winning editors to create what we know today).

    GL is also the type of guy who dismisses actors in general. His advice to Ron Howard was to get into animation because you don’t have to deal with actors. Bottom line, as an incredibly strong adherent to auteur theory, ANYTHING that changes from his mind to the film, he would consider as ‘not my script/film/idea’. So, meep meep.

    His stories are fantastic. Translation of those stories to a great film, that’s where he gets things a bit wrong.

    • January 21, 2015 at 8:49 pm
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      George Lucas began prequel writing in 1993

      • January 21, 2015 at 9:35 pm
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        lol….no he did not

    • January 22, 2015 at 6:38 pm
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      “His stories are fantastic. Translation of those stories to a great film, that’s where he gets things a bit wrong.”

      If you believe that, why would you be happy that they’ve ditched his story outline? Lucas sold them story outlines (plot summaries, not complete scripts) they could base the script on, but instead they opted to write their own story and base their on that. Why on Earth is that good news?

      • January 23, 2015 at 1:39 am
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        Because I’m treating a ‘story’ as different than ‘script’.

        Two different things. A story treatment is very different from ‘script’ or ‘screenplay’. I wouldn’t trust GL one lick with the latter two (like I would Kasdan). And even further from a story treatment is what is actually filmed by the director and actors, and what is edited in and out. Similarly, I wouldn’t trust GL with the filming and editing.

        But I will maintain that his story ideas are probably reflected in the final product. But he will never accept that final product as his. Which makes sense and that’s what I really think he’s getting at.

    • January 22, 2015 at 8:13 pm
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      Lucas was the real creative force behind Empire. If you read Jonathan Rinzler’s The Making of, you will find that most of the great ideas in the film were actually Lucas’. The book is objective and tells facts. Kershner did a better job with directing and Lawrence Kasdan helped Lucas tighten the dialogue. In fact, the book puts Kurtz in not a great position. Even Kershner himself has stated that he didn’t talk much to Kurtz on set, despite what Kurtz says.

      The special effects and art department have also said it was Lucas who designed and handled the special effects. Joe Johnston even said that in post, it was really Lucas in command and Kershner as the no. 2 guy.

      Disney will probably follow the essence of what Lucas’ treatment is. By going in a different direction, it doesn’t mean that they abandoned his treatment entirely. As you develop a film, the director and screenwriter will make changes. It doesn’t mean that they’re abandoning his concept for the new trilogy. That is what this article was trying to say.

      • January 23, 2015 at 1:36 am
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        That’s my point. I’m sure the general direction of the story is there.

        But GL wouldn’t really treat it like that because of his dogmatic approach to auteur theory.

        Kinda ironic.

  • January 21, 2015 at 7:56 pm
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    I think he has some input but is distancing himself from the production due to the largely negative fan reaction to the PT. If it sucks…”Well I did give them my treatments which they refused to use.” If it rocks…”I’m very happy with what these fine people have done with Star Wars. They took my original ideas and ran with it, adding their own ideas, yet holding to the mythos created in my own story treatments.” – It’s a win-win for Lucas (well, maybe more of a “not lose – win”). It doesn’t matter to me if they are true to his vision or not. To me the spirit of Star Wars lies in the story and the characters within, not in the man who envisioned it. Lucas got the ball rolling. If it follows up to the originals and has the same characters played by the same actors with the spirit of the original films – it’s Star Wars. Can’t wait.

  • January 21, 2015 at 7:58 pm
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    Shit, I’m relieved… Could you imagine another PT style trilogy? I like what I’ve seen from the mind of JJ (Star Trek reboot, Super 8) especially in how he handles casting. I believe the PT casting (aside from perhaps Obi-Wan) was horrible. The romance scenes were complete garbage, the green screen shoots were shit… I’m personally glad old man Lucas has his hands off this shit, and that JJ and Kasdan are working on it.

    • January 21, 2015 at 8:06 pm
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      The things you mentioned had nothing to do with the basic ideas, they are things that could have worked with a good script polish and director. I too am glad Lucas isn’t directing, but if his core ideas were completely abandoned, what is the point?

      • January 21, 2015 at 8:13 pm
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        Point = Making the best Star Wars films possible, with or without George Lucas

    • January 21, 2015 at 8:45 pm
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      Thanks for making sense in this thread of nincompoops

  • January 21, 2015 at 8:07 pm
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    I am not one to normally participate in these “gloom and doom” sessions regarding TFW. Still, I think I need to say something about this supposed “snub” of Lucas and his supposed brilliance.

    Having grown up with the original trilogy I am naturally biased as to its superiority to the prequels, but within that I believe that the best Star Wars movie to date is the Empire Strikes Back. Taking this statement in context of the other commentators, e.g. “Lucas is the greatest” and “Star Wars is dead to me.” I ask myself, as fan, why is my favorite movie one not written or directed by Lucas?

    I also thoroughly enjoyed the various iterations of The Clone Wars cartoons. Also not written or directed by Lucas. I found that the story telling and development by other people of Lucas’s characters to be superb, and what was essentially lacking in the prequels.

    Also, and I know this will make some people mad, I believe that George Lucas is essentially what Gene Roddenberry would have become if the networks hadn’t reigned him in. Both men had brilliant ideas, but their finest “work” has been the successful development of those brilliant ideas by other people, whether it is writers, directors or artists. Unfortunately for Lucas, he was caught in the bubble of his own ego and couldn’t hear the fans over the sound of how awesome he was. That is why we have Jar Jar Binks.

    Still, Star Trek (and the Bond franchise as well) can be a cautionary tale to Star Wars fans. The removal of the man from the work and turning it into a commodity to churn out crap every 3 years for, as Lucas put it, “a 100 years” is not a good idea either. Paramount milked the Star Trek franchise so hard it died on the job (Bond died too after Brosnan).

    What hope we can take from this is that the man who is personally responsible for resurrecting the moribund Star Trek franchise now has control of the Star Wars universe, and is a fan. Looking at what he did for Star Trek, and not being as big of a fan of that as he is for Star Wars gives me great hope that TFW will be amazing.

    As for the actual comments by Lucas they do not bother me from the standpoint of a fan wanting to see this film. Like I said before, his removal from the process encourages me and makes me believe that we will not have anything like pod racing, poo-doo jokes, or stupid phrases like “that’s wizard!”

    These comments do bother me on another level however.

    For a man to complain about what people are doing with something he sold to them is ridiculous.

    If George Lucas felt that Disney was not going to respect his universe, and his ideas, then he should not have accepted $4 billion for them. He should have found a likeminded buyer or to not have sold out at all. The only way for him to keep the “integrity” of his creative vision intact would have been to make these movies himself.

    So Lucas is finished with counting his billions, and he has made a stupid animated film that no one cares about. He is bristling at the fact that no one is asking him questions about the animated film, so he throws a tantrum about the meanies at Disney and how they didn’t like his ideas. Guess what George? There is a reason why it took you 20 years to get your animated film made. If it was good enough Disney would have taken it on as part of the deal. They kind of have a track record of making successful animated movies and can recognize good ideas when they see them.

    Also, for all of the defenders of George, doesn’t it seem a bit odd that first he didn’t care enough about TFW to even see the teaser trailer but now that he has been dismissed by many as a disinterested party he is out there complaining about what they are doing to his baby?

    And for anyone who thinks his ideas haven’t been used I would refer you to the horrible character names, the soccer ball droid, and the cheesy light saber.

    Lucas’s comments are nothing more than pettiness and jealousy. He is acting like a small child who is not getting enough attention.

    • January 21, 2015 at 8:53 pm
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      tool

      • January 22, 2015 at 2:39 am
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        A well thought out and educated response to something you disagree with. I bow to your superior eloquence.

        • January 22, 2015 at 12:19 pm
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          You nailed it.

    • January 21, 2015 at 9:12 pm
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      To be fair, it was co-written by Lucas. Kasdan basically polished and helped expanded what Lucas already had, though that polishing along with the directing made it far better than it could have been.

    • January 21, 2015 at 11:45 pm
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      “why is my favorite movie one not written or directed by Lucas?”

      Lucas wrote ESB’s story. Not anyone else.

      • January 22, 2015 at 2:40 am
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        Leigh Brackett wrote the original, Lucas tweaked that, and then the final script was written by Lawrence Kasdan and Irvin Kershner with heavy input from producer Gary Kurtz. Sounds like a few more people than George had a hand in this.

        • January 22, 2015 at 2:52 am
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          “Leigh Brackett wrote the original, Lucas tweaked that, and then the final script was written by Lawrence Kasdan and Irvin Kershner with heavy input from producer Gary Kurtz.”

          Wrong. Brackett’s story had nothing to do with Lucas’, it was totally different. Lucas discarded Brackett’s draft and wrote his own, which is the story we know today. Then Kasdan did some dialogue revisions (no story revisions). Kershner and Kurtz didn’t have any input in the story.

    • January 22, 2015 at 6:24 pm
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      “he throws a tantrum about the meanies at Disney and how they didn’t like his ideas.”

      Tantrum? Haven’t you watched the video? In what fantasy universe can his response be called a tantrum?

      “And for anyone who thinks his ideas haven’t been used I would refer you to the horrible character names, the soccer ball droid, and the cheesy light saber.”

      Those are exactly the things a script writer and a production team come up with–those details aren’t in a story outline.

    • January 22, 2015 at 7:28 pm
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      I agree with your sentiments. I think in the case of Star Trek/Bond, you almost have to die/go away with any franchise, to make yourself new and fashionable again. Case in point, JJ’s Star Trek reboots have been enormously popular. And the new Bond movies are by far the best.

      I tell people all the time, that the SW universe, is far greater than just the movies… There are great authors involved in some of the novels written, award winning novels at that. Marc Thompson is an amazing narrator, and narrates a majority of the audio books.

      Some of the stories, characters created outside of Lucas (case in point, the interview with drew karpyshyn, ie Old Republic).

      Lucas created a concept. And it’s pleasing, that now, it’s in the hands of modern thinkers, better writers, etc.

  • January 21, 2015 at 8:08 pm
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    I’m glad Disney decided not to roll with Lucas’ bad ideas. If they’re not good enough for Star Wars, then they should honor their 4-billion dollar brand over Lucas’ feelings. Too much is riding on this to mess around.

    To all you whiners, I say suck it up and quit crying in the blue milk. Like it or not, Lucas gave Disney licence to create OFFICIAL Star Wars films and content when he willingly sold it to them. Stomp your feet all you want. We all know you’re going to watch VII like the rest of us.

    And who knows, you might even be embarrassed to admit that it’s great. <8^O

  • January 21, 2015 at 8:17 pm
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    Who knows, perhaps Lucas’s story treatments were on the verge of being revealed and all of this is clever subterfuge between himself, JJ and Disney to throw us off the scent.

  • January 21, 2015 at 8:23 pm
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    i think it is possible he just letting them have their moment in the sun. Not to mention the hate he received after the PT, he may just want to steer clear for awhile.

    • January 21, 2015 at 8:39 pm
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      Then he shouldn’t have made ‘Red Tails’.

      Which is way worse than the prequels, and my, my is that saying something.

      • January 22, 2015 at 12:21 pm
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        Or Strange Magic. My brother saw an advanced screening, said it was terrible.

  • January 21, 2015 at 9:17 pm
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    $4bn says Disney can do what he hell it likes

  • January 21, 2015 at 9:41 pm
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    People shouldnt be so much bothered about what Lucas says because he constantly lies to his silly fans. Hes probably saying that just so haters will stop complaing and go see the movie and enjoy them.

  • January 21, 2015 at 10:21 pm
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    As I said before, the ultimate goal to achieve for Disney is to make as much money as possible, a good story is always secondary. If I´m Disney, I paid a lot of money for a cow, what would I do in the first place to squeeze more and faster the milk? Exactly – I´ll take the cow to the old familiar pasture land…in other words – I´ll show the Oscar writer the finger and do my own story with more space for the Legacy characters. Why? Well of course not because old script was trash, not for the improvement of the story. It´s because the Holy Trinity attracts more audience and makes more money, that´s why. Beceuse money is all that matters. (And if you don´t believe me, just look at the sequels of Pirates)

    • January 23, 2015 at 1:34 am
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      Do you really think they would actually have to put effort in for this film to make money.

      They could have just taken the script he wrote and ran with it. It would still make them TRILLIONS.

  • January 21, 2015 at 10:44 pm
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    To all the fans moaning about Disney disrespecting Lucas’ “artistic vision” and all that jazz, put your money where your mouth is and support George’s newest baby out in theaters, Strange Magic.

    Or at least check out the reviews first, lol.

    • January 21, 2015 at 11:22 pm
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      ^ Hater logic. o_O

      • January 21, 2015 at 11:35 pm
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        Nope. Just regular logic.

        The vast majority of Lucas’ ideas over the last few decades have been bad. The Prequels, Indy 4, Red Tails, The Special Editions, Strange Magic, etc. … all mixed or negative audience reaction.

        It appears Disney wanted to avoid more of the same.

        • January 21, 2015 at 11:47 pm
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          And, with more hater logic, we get a non sequitur.

  • January 21, 2015 at 11:01 pm
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    “I think we all knew long ago that the story was being changed, with the news that Michael Arndt was out and that Abrams and Kasdan were reworking the script.”

    Lucas, as far as we know, wrote synopses for the ST; basically, story summaries. These were developed into treatments with Michael Arndt.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_treatment
    and subsequently a script. Abrams and Kasdan then revised Arndt’s script.

    Obviously, one can write very different scripts that still adhere to the same basic story, the same basic *outline*. People can even write very different scripts that still adhere to the same basic *treatment*. But now we have learned that Abrams and Kasdan, either by their own invention or by instruction from TPTB, have abandoned Lucas’ basic story and invented their own. That is not “something we knew long ago,” it’s completely new information.

    We can be fairly certain that this is not a case of simply increasing how dominant the big three are in the story. You can do that while still sticking to the same plot outline. In other words, if Kasdan and Abrams simply increased the importance of Han, Luke, and Leia in the plot, this would not be a case of “they didn’t really want to do those [plot outlines]. So they made up their own.”

    I’d actually be curious to learn whether it was Abrams and/or Kasdan who had the nerve to believe they’re a better story writer than Lucas, or whether it’s someone higher up.

  • January 21, 2015 at 11:59 pm
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    This was a good article, thanks DEKKA for saying what needed to be said. There is so much to take into account!

  • January 22, 2015 at 12:14 am
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    Too much stupidity to read through so I apologize if this is mentioned earlier:

    You people need to wake up and realize that its very likely George Lucas is using spin here to keep people off the mark on the story lines.

    The truth is simply that a few years back there were leaked treatments of Episode VII, VIII and IX’s story lines. I know because I read them, and there is ZERO doubt those story lines were from Lucas. The site they were on is now down, out of commission, kaput. Has been for years.

    Lucas knows that there are people who have read those treatments, and can recreate them, or even those who may have copied or saved them. They could come out any day. Obviously if Disney did use large parts, even lots of small parts of those story lines and they got out onto the net, it would be a huge spoiler issue.

    So instead lets just say none of it was used, just in case.

    The pace in which the script for TFA was written and the story put together tells me that they did IN FACT use elements of Lucas’s story.

    • January 22, 2015 at 12:33 am
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      If you don´t describe here the basic story each of the scripts (which I´m pretty sure you copied and saved), than all I can hear is blah blah blah….

      • January 22, 2015 at 8:02 am
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        I can. From memory I can definitely get you through the gist of VII and part of VIII. Do you really want me to do that? And dont listen to the haters..this was the real deal. It had the original treatments for the OT’s and at the time they were not fully known. When they did finally come out they matched word for word.

        These WERE the ST treatments.

    • January 22, 2015 at 1:10 am
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      “there is ZERO doubt those story lines were from Lucas.”

      Wrong.

    • January 22, 2015 at 5:05 am
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      Let me guess, they came from SuperShadow?

      • January 22, 2015 at 8:04 am
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        I can see where you would think that, but no this was a site that was solely dedicated to Star Wars and the movie scripts.

        I looked for it shortly after the PT’s again as my Star Wars appetite was wet and found the site was no longer in existence. My guess is they were forced off the net.

        I remember reading the treatments while I was working at Time Warner Cable so this would have been 2001. So I guess my “a few years ago” is a bit deceiving.

        No doubt though they WERE Lucas’s breakdown of his vision of the ST…

        • January 22, 2015 at 12:24 pm
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          Are you talking about the breakdown of the 9 movies? Because almost none of the films match that. Luke wasn’t supposed to meet the Emperor until episode 8 I believe.

  • January 22, 2015 at 1:42 am
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    To be honest I don’t think they will have thrown out all of Lucas’ original ideas…a lot could have happened in the 30 years since ROTJ so I’d imagine they would’ve needed some kind of starting point – for example, where the original characters find themselves, their relationships to each other, etc. Also general ideas like having two lead characters and one of them being female may have come from Lucas’ original ideas. But to be honest, even if they have scrapped everything, I don’t think it really matters.

    I’ve seen many people saying that if it’s not Lucas’ story, then it just isn’t Star Wars. But I would argue that it is, for the following reasons:
    1. George Lucas has chosen to hand it over to someone else, and he obviously trusts them (otherwise why would he sell it?) – it’s not some unofficial version being made against his will
    2. It is based in the universe which Lucas created, and follows on from the story and situations he created in ROTJ
    3. It features all of the main original characters (played by the original actors) – characters created by Lucas
    4. It’s not a ‘re-boot’, they are not remaking or ‘re-imagining’ anything, it’s just a continuation of the story
    5. It is still being made by Lucasfilm, and many of the people working on it will have worked on SW movies in the past
    6. The story has been written by the scriptwriter who (co-)wrote TESB and ROTJ

    It’s simplistic and slightly insulting to those involved to say it’s now just ‘fan fiction’ – JJ Abrams is a competent and successful director, Kasdan a competent and successful scriptwriter, and it’s being made by Lucasfilm, a pretty successful film company.

    Some of the reactions I’ve seen have been melodramatic in the extreme. Some people talk as though Lucas is some sort of infallible God – in reality he’s someone who had some brilliant ideas over 30 years ago, and worked very hard to bring those ideas to reality – but in the years since has shown himself to be all too fallible, and to have lost whatever magic touch he had in coming up with storylines and characters. There are many people out there who could write and direct a better Star Wars film than George Lucas – as long as they stay true to the spirit of the original I don’t see a problem. As long as it’s still all based on his original ideas (as in the universe and the original stories) then it is Star Wars.

    I get that some people think that if it’s not come from the imagination of George Lucas, it’s just not ‘authentic’. But I’d like to ask these people, theoretically, would they rather see a bad Star Wars movie based on Lucas’ story, or a good one based on someone else’s?

    • January 22, 2015 at 2:49 am
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      “It’s simplistic and slightly insulting to those involved to say it’s now just ‘fan fiction’ ”

      Why would that be “insulting”? It was their decision after all to ditch Lucas’ story to begin with, in favor of their own–they are the ones arrogant enough to believe themselves better storytellers than Lucas. If they’re so adamant on telling their story, why can’t they think of their own universe and their own characters?

      • January 22, 2015 at 11:39 am
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        It’s insulting because ‘fan fiction’ implies an amateur effort made by someone with little or no experience of writing stories and making films. This film is being made by experienced and talented writers and film-makers, and some of them actually worked on previous Star Wars movies. It’s perfectly possible for them to make a very good Star Wars movie, given their abilities and experience. It’s not arrogant to think they could come up with a better story than Lucas – without getting into a debate about the Prequels, the storylines of those films were not great – maybe Lucas’ ideas for this film weren’t great either? Or maybe they were only a few basic outlines? Ultimately if a director and screenwriter are working on a film (which isn’t based on an already-established story or book), I’d rather they were able to work with freedom and tell the story in a way that they want to, rather than being restricted to using someone else’s ideas, that way you just end up with a compromise of a film that they won’t fully believe in.

        • January 22, 2015 at 6:13 pm
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          “It’s not arrogant to think they could come up with a better story than Lucas”

          Of course that’s arrogant. Lucas is a master storyteller, neither Kasdan nor Abrams has ever written an even halfway decent story. Kasdan has never even shown he’s a competent writer without Lucas’ guidance.

          “the storylines of those films were not great”

          Wrong.

          “I’d rather they were able to work with freedom and tell the story in a way that they want to, rather than being restricted to using someone else’s ideas, that way you just end up with a compromise of a film that they won’t fully believe in.”

          Then why don’t they think of their own universe, instead of using someone else’s?

          The nice thing about Star Wars, unlike pretty much every other genre movie franchise, is that it actually had some depth. Those days are over. I hope you enjoy your undoubtedly generic popcorn action flick.

          • January 23, 2015 at 12:26 am
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            I’m not going to get into a debate about the merits of the prequels, as it could go on forever – but do you honestly believe that they are an example of ‘master storytelling’? You don’t believe it would be possible for them to have been written any better? I respect that people have different opinions about the prequels, but surely even those people who like them would admit that the stories and characters are not as good as the original trilogy. As for Kasdan and Abrams, would you honestly expect two people who are experienced and successful in their fields to have so little confidence in themselves that they would think they were not capable of writing a decent story? Do you actually think a Star Wars film can only be any good if it’s been written by Lucas, or that there is no-one else out there capable of writing a decent story for a Star Wars movie?

            ‘neither Kasdan nor Abrams has ever written an even halfway decent story. Kasdan has never even shown he’s a competent writer without Lucas’ guidance’.

            Where is your evidence for this? Just hyperbolic nonsense.

            As I said previously, if a director and screenwriter are working together to produce a script, the best chance of them producing a decent one is if they are given the freedom to tell the story the way they want, that works best for them and they believe in. Obviously in this case there are certain parameters – it has to be set in the same universe, it has to follow on from ROTJ, it has to be true to the spirit of, and more or less in the same style as, the originals, and pitched at a similar audience – but other than that they are (and should be) free to create their own story. If they were restricted at every turn by how someone else thought the story should be told, they would produce a mish-mash of a film that they didn’t believe in and just wouldn’t work.

            ‘Then why don’t they think of their own universe, instead of using someone else’s?’

            Because they’ve been hired to produce a Star Wars film, in the Star Wars universe! If they created their own universe they would not be doing the job they’ve been hired to do.

            ‘The nice thing about Star Wars, unlike pretty much every other genre movie franchise, is that it actually had some depth. Those days are over’.

            The pomposity is strong with this one. How can you possibly say the new film has no depth when you haven’t seen it, don’t know what the story is, and know virtually nothing about the characters? The originals had ‘depth’ because they drew on themes from history and mythology, and because we cared about the characters and what happened to them. Lucas did a good job in creating all of that – but you seem to think that there is no-one else in the world who is capable of creating good characters and a story with depth.

            I really don’t understand this need to write off a film before you’ve even seen a proper trailer, let alone the film itself.

          • January 23, 2015 at 1:32 am
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            Kasdan has had a great career outside of SW.

            Google it.

  • January 22, 2015 at 1:46 am
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    I have read this website’s articles for a long time. I have never posted anything, but I enjoy reading the news and responses. I have read many speculations about The Force Awakens and other Star Wars news and have loved every bit of it. I have also read a lot of comments, many nice, others boldly stated, and more where people enthusiastically express their opinions (whether against or for another response).
    Now some fans seem to be stuck in a dilemma because George Lucas has stated that Disney and JJ Abrams did not use any of his treatments for the sequel trilogy. Some may feel that because “all” of his ideas were not used that the story is just a way for Disney to put more money in their pockets (from an economical view point it could be), but, in my opinion and experiences reading the EU novels, it doesn’t matter who tells the story. George Lucas started this thing a long time ago in a past that I wish I could have lived in, but why should the story die with him. He created two amazing trilogies that have blown our minds. I feel that he decided to pass it on for us. The story has a sound foundation to keep growing in our lives for “100 years.”
    The Force Awakens will be a true awakening for me and I hope everyone else because it will be the first in a long list of movies that will honor what George Lucas created. I cannot wait until December so that I can have the experience of seeing where a new generation will take our galaxy that is so far away but not really. I hope people can look past how the movie was made and enjoy that we are finally getting our new Trilogies!!!!!!! 😉

    • January 22, 2015 at 8:09 am
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      Brilliant response. All other comments should be deleted and your should be alone as a glorious and well thought out truth.

      Thank you and great job!

    • January 22, 2015 at 12:02 pm
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      This reasoning could somehow stand if there were no more original stories to tell that came directly from the creator of the saga.

      The truth is that we all know that there was a treatment, an original piece coming from the original source, the maker himself of SW. Written down by oscar winner M.A.

      For the respect of this saga, for what SW means for the movie history and entertainment and pop culture more in general, Disney, at least, had the moral obligation to respect the source & original material for this third trilogy that long time fans await for almost 40 years.

      Then Disney could have done a 4-5 more trilogies after this one and 3 spin off movies per year. As they are doing with Marvel.

      But Disney should have paid a deep respect to the Story (possibly the last one) that came directly form the man that has create all this long time ago.
      They should have closed the saga – the 3 trilogies – in the way that its creator has envisioned it, or at least paying a deep respect to it as much as they can.

      And my worst fear is that Disney made this choice for pure business reason.

      We all know that Disney worked (pre production, casting etc..) for almost a year on Michael Arndt treatment. Everyone seems very pleased with the story GL sold them.
      JJ Abrams himself change his mind about directing after reading the Arndt treatment.

      Then come the will to capitalize as much as possible the investment.

      Honestly I have lost my interest in TFA. Probably I’ll watch it as I ‘ll watch any new good Sci-Fi movie.

      And somehow I am very angry with Disney and JJ, and this new Disney Star Wars fan fiction movement has completely lost me.

      Because now on, all we will get will be just fanfiction.

      • January 26, 2015 at 9:05 pm
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        JJ really is a spoiled brat, isn’t he?

  • January 22, 2015 at 2:42 am
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    “why should the story die with him.”

    I don’t know. Ask Abrams or Kasdan or whoever at Disney was responsible for the decision not to base the story on Lucas’ story.

  • January 22, 2015 at 3:10 am
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    I will tell you this much. I’m a screenwriter. Have been at it for a long time. Some of would probobly know my work. When Disney dropped Michael Arndt’s script and went with JJ’s instead, that was a big red flag. That is always a bad sign that the project is going to be plauged with issues, I’ve been through it several times. I can tell you right know that they got so worried after they dropped Lucas’s treatment that they had to bring Larry Kasdan aboard to fix it, but, Empire, Jedi and Raiders were a one two punch of Lucas and Kasdan.Come December all the people will turn on JJ and say he has tainted and ruined Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, that Disney has raped star wars yada yada yada. You all know it’s coming. Sorry guys, but It’s just not going to be the same. After all, there would be none of this without George Lucas.One last thing. Come on guys! TPM wasn’t that bad!! It was Attack of the Clones that was the real bummer. TPM and ROTS were in line with the style of the original 3. A New Hope and Menace were very similar as was Sith and Jedi, but Attack of the Clones hardly even resembled a Star Wars movie!! What a flying dud that was. The black sheep of the Star Wars Saga

    • January 22, 2015 at 5:11 am
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      Red flag? You are so full of it. Any screenwriter would know the first writer on the job isn’t always there through the whole project, especially if it wasn’t his idea in the first place. You keep claiming to be a writer, but have constantly shown you know very little about the business.

      • January 25, 2015 at 11:53 pm
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        What? You’re going to tell me about my own profession? Yes, it is a red flag. When the entire screenplay is finished and they clean house of writers and do a complete re-write, yes, that means there is or was trouble. I’m not, by far, the only one who brought this up. They bought his treatments, said they liked it and then about a month after J.J. came on board and they scrapped everything and that’s why we are getting it in December instead of May.The point is, the script was finished and ready to shoot, then, for reasons they will not disclose it was thrown out. Yes!! when that happens there was or is trouble. I’m sure the film will speak for itself. You can watch the trailer, take a look at the characters names and realize there is plenty of stuff that feels un-star wars like about all of this.

        • January 26, 2015 at 9:06 pm
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          You’re right. Spoiled brat, JJ Abrams, screwed Lucas over.

    • January 22, 2015 at 8:12 am
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      Ha ha yeah and im an astronaut. In fact im commenting right now from the International Space Station….

      Dude give it a rest. I mean fine you want to state your pessimism about the film due to your own reasons, fine. State it then let it go. Otherwise why are you here? Most of us are here because we fucking love Star Wars and are unbelievably excited about a new film coming out that actually follows ROTJ. Why the fuck are you still here?

    • January 22, 2015 at 9:01 am
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      I couldn’t agree more. TPM and ROTS were good movies. AOTC was the stinker of the PT just as ROTJ was the stinker of the OT.

    • January 23, 2015 at 1:30 am
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      Dude, we’ve already admitted that GL himself raped SW. Not only the quality of the PT movies but his entire creative process was screwed up. He barely wrote the damn things prior to filming them in useless fashion.

    • January 26, 2015 at 2:58 am
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      “When Disney dropped Michael Arndt’s script and went with JJ’s instead, that was a big red flag. That is always a bad sign that the project is going to be plauged with issues”

      Two words for you, compadre…

      Leigh Brackett.

      The idea that dropping a film’s initial script automatically indicates that a production is to be “plagued with issues” is nonsense. It can just as easily indicate that the initial script just didn’t cut it.

      I mean, I thought Little Miss Sunshine was a really good movie, but does that mean that I can’t envision Arndt turning out a less-than-stellar script? Hell no.

      I’m not saying that this is necessarily what happened on TFA. But neither you nor I nor anyone here have seen Arndt’s script, Kasdan and Abrams’ rewrite, or Lucas’ original treatment/notes. All we’ve seen is a statement from George Lucas in which he claims that Disney threw out his story and made up one of their own.

      This is the same guy who hollered at Irvin Kershner for “wrecking my movie!” when Kersh and company made improvements to that script during production. Now, I’ve been a fan of George Lucas’ work since I was nine and Dad took us to see Star Wars that first year it was out. But I can’t sit here and pretend that ol’ George doesn’t have a bit of a penchant for hyperbole, especially when he’s feeling a bit territorial.

      Bottom line is, we don’t know what TFA even is yet, storywise, and we have absolutely zero idea of what kind of changes were made (or not made) to Arndt’s script.

      But no, script changes don’t always mean that a production is in trouble. Sometimes, as was the case with Leigh Brackett’s ESB draft, it just means that the original script wasn’t up to snuff.

      IMHO, this is the sort of thing that’s far more appropriate to delve into as a post-mortum after we’ve all actually seen TFA and have heard the whole “making of” story.

  • January 22, 2015 at 6:33 am
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    George Lucas is now in Singapore. I will see if I can get his comments and clarifications on this.

  • January 22, 2015 at 9:44 am
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    Personally, I’m really looking forward to Arndt’s script being released to the public the same way the others in the article have been. It’s going to be really interesting to compare them and see exactly what changes have actually been made.

    • January 26, 2015 at 3:06 am
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      Absolutely! That’s when this conversation really needs to happen – when we’ve all got actual scripts to look at, and have seen TFA and know whether or not it works as a film.

      Ever read Darabont’s script for Indy 4? Now, there was a perfect example of a situation where a perfectly good script was cocked up beyond belief by somebody else doing a rewrite on it.

      In that particular case, it was George Lucas himself who ruined that script in favor of a “vision” of his that resulted in a half-baked, often embarrassing movie. IMHO, Darabont’s story, dialogue and characters were far better than the big-screen “reunion TV show” that Lucas’ rewrite gave us.

      But as you point out, only a side-by-side reading of the scripts can really show us something like that.

  • January 22, 2015 at 11:57 am
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    Being a Star Wars fan from the beginning, I am personally fed up with Lucas’ contradictory comments regarding his plans. It is common knowledge that Vader was never intended to be Luke’s father, that Leia was never intended to be Luke’s sister and that Palpatine would be defeated at the end of episode 9.

    The guy changes his mind every five minutes and tries to pass it off as if it is all part of some master plan that he thought of all along. If it wasn’t for the people around him during the making of the OT, they would probably have been as average as the prequels (as he was only surrounded by scared yes men for those)

    Because of the grief he got over the PT, he NEVER would have proceeded with TFA etc. He very much had an ‘I’m not playing anymore and I’m taking my ball with me’ attitude. Thankfully, he saw sense, listened to his wife’s advice and sold to Disney.

    He was probably out of ideas, and definitely unmotivated when he created his ‘treatments’ for the ST. Hopefully, out of respect, a couple of his ideas are used (and to prevent it just becoming EU), but personally I am glad that exciting new filmakers are getting their chance to keep us fans happy.

    2 more points:

    1. This statement has created a LOT of publicity for ‘Strange Magic’…coincidence?

    2. Who would like to bet that if TFA is a huge success, then Lucas comes out again (when it suits him) and says ‘I’m so glaaaaad that they decided to use my ideas after all…oh yes, the film is only good because of ME’

  • January 22, 2015 at 12:49 pm
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    Get a date, buy a ticket, watch the movie, and live a life.

    • January 22, 2015 at 2:09 pm
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      You are right.
      Something that could have been an unique event in the movie history – the end of a saga begun 40 years ago – has now just simply turned into watching a movie as many, just the next JJ movie or Marvel movie.

  • January 22, 2015 at 1:22 pm
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    George should keep quiet, it would be more dignified and professional.

  • January 22, 2015 at 1:34 pm
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    In 2013, Michale Arndt stayed in Tokyo and spilled the bean regarding the script that the empire does not collapse only because of fall of Emperor and destruction of Death Star. He also touched upon the spaceship dogfight in the stratosphere as we saw in the trailer.
    So some element has been saved in Kasdan script.

  • January 22, 2015 at 7:19 pm
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    THEY’RE JUST MOVIES, PEOPLE. Holy f#!$. Go outside and get some air, and maybe try to interact with some actual humans that aren’t just words typed on a screen.

    • January 26, 2015 at 7:07 am
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      He did, the name Darth Vader proves it to me.
      Translation of Darth Vader is Dark Father. He had said (Lucas) in an early interview that Vader was like invader. It was the first thing we see Vader do, invade a ship. Perhaps he said this just to throw people off. Yet Dark Father is there, just as Obi Wan was the good one. A tale of a dark father and a good one. Star Wars was defiantly about mentors and making decisions. Either staying on the farm, going to the academy, following Obi wan, or even when faced with shutting off his computer in the attack run.
      Love the link by the way, thanks.

  • January 22, 2015 at 8:13 pm
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    I think Geirge is a nice enough guy, but he has proved time and again to be an unreliable source when it comes to anything to do with the franchise he created. He’s been contradicting himself since the late 70s. Again and again. Let’s just ignore him and wait for the movies.

    • February 2, 2015 at 12:15 pm
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      Yeah, unlike JJ “it’s not Khan” Abrams.

  • January 22, 2015 at 8:55 pm
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    Well if george lucas is concearned its a little simple he Should have made this trilogy himself rather than selling the entire lot.

  • January 22, 2015 at 10:28 pm
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    Take everything George says with the tiniest grain of salt. He has a history of being, how shall we say, not entirely forthcoming about Star Wars related information.

    Most likely Disney is indeed using the framework of George’s original story and the flanneled one is simply playing his cards close to the chest.

    So the people who are fretting about this not being a genuine SW script, should probably relax.

    There are other more pressing issues to be concerned about. Like how will the new cast pan out? Can JJ Abrams pull it off?

  • January 22, 2015 at 10:43 pm
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    Yeah, it’s no secret Lucas’s original vision for Empire was very different then the final product. On record George said Empire is his least favorite Episode from the original trilogy. And in the minds of many fans is THE BEST Episode. If that is not enough, should I remind everyone of Jar Jar Binks?

  • January 22, 2015 at 11:01 pm
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    We shouldn’t get too upset with the fact that J.J and friends have possibly reworked/ rewritten/disguarded some, or all of George’s ideas . As I’m guessing that at best what George presented was a rough draft and if we look at George’s 1st rough draft for ‘A New Hope’ , and how much George then reworked/ rewrote/ disguarded his own ideas until he was mostly happy with it, then it seems like commen sense that a little or a lot of things will change until a final story is agreed on. I’m pretty sure disney are not going to pay as much as they did for the rights just to rush out any old rubbish to make a fast short lived buck. I’ve enjoyed both trilogy’s , but I must admit I have to go back over 30 years to feel as excited as I do now for a new STAR WARS movie. BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!

  • January 23, 2015 at 1:59 am
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    I wish People would stop ripping on the Prequels. They are Canon and they are Good. If you saw any of the Prequel Trilogy in 1977 you would have liked it. How does he know that they threw it all away? Did they give him the new script? If this movie Does not have the element of the Sith Zombie returning to take the world he bought and paid for than, yes, it will fail to catch the True meaning of Star Wars. If it has that Resurrected Evil Doer in it than it will be pure Gold. One Idea came from Revenge of The Sith which could save this Galaxy and this world. I doubt Disney would ignore this Plot Point, no matter what their interests are and all rumours suggest they did not.

    • January 23, 2015 at 2:47 am
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      The PT may be cannon, but they are definitely not good.

      They will always be the red-headed step child of the SW saga.

      Trying to convince people otherwise is a waste of time.

      • January 26, 2015 at 9:00 pm
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        Just like trying to convince Miley Cyrus fans that they have bad taste is impossible, so is it impossible to convince JJ Abrams fans that they too have bad taste. Miley Cyrus fans also hate classical music. George Lucas is like classical music. An acquired taste. You just don’t get it.

  • January 23, 2015 at 11:22 am
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    I suppose PT hater still admit that Revenge of the Sith i
    is integral for the OT , since a lot of the loose ends , such as extinction of Jedi, were explained in that film. I believe ST will be further departure from the feeling of New Hope,under the creative influence from Disney, and Kasdon , who prefers dark storytelling.

  • January 23, 2015 at 4:20 pm
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    I was in denial for a long time but I now accept that we won’t be getting GL’s story of what happened next to Han, Luke etc. This is basically more EU. Disney froze GL out at the earliest opportunity. I think that which has been so obvious – and which I have been reluctant to accept – has finally been revealed by GL himself: he’s had zero to do with the new SW movies. He’s long gone. My interest level has dropped significantly. I’m a GL fan not a JJA fan.

  • January 23, 2015 at 7:38 pm
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    Agreed. Compared with GL, JJA s capability of story telling remains to be seen. He is good at casting though.
    It is no brainer that JJA would like to refrain from producing another TPM, so he heavily depend on the Big3 Roles s beef up and abolishing GL treatment.

  • January 23, 2015 at 10:32 pm
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    Bob iger issued issued the following statement: “look folks it had to be done! George’s version was a two hour senate meeting hosted by Gungans! It was to be his version of the movie the big chill set in space!”

    And all the Star Wars fans were relieved. THE END.

  • January 24, 2015 at 12:24 am
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    For me, Trek’s finest era was DS9. A series created and developed by a whole slew of talented people not named Gene Roddenberry.

    Maybe growing up with that in mind has effectively shielded me from overreactions to these kinds of articles, but frankly, I don’t give a damn. I’m not surprised the fandom does not share my lack of concern, but I don’t. Give a damn.

    Abrams and Kasdan and all their hundreds of helpers will either make a movie I enjoy… or they won’t. George Lucas crafted a fictional universe and now they get to continue in that playground. He is not some Holy Prophetic Imperial Dynast-King God-Emperor of All Time. He is a talented storyteller and keen businessman. And he was surrounded by similar bodies every step of the way. And now he’s gone, and many of his co-developers are gone, but a few remain, and a separate group of clever lads and lasses have filled in all the vacancies.

    That’s life. That’s how the world works. TFA is a product and I am hopeful it will be a solid one and I’m utterly unfazed by any of this. I will also remain hopeful some of the more melodramatically “gutted” members of the Star Wars fandom manage to come around before December 2015 in time to positively anticipate what is just as likely now as a week ago to be a thrilling picture.

    Sheesh.

  • January 24, 2015 at 6:30 pm
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    Unbelievable !
    I still can’t believe that Disney has really choose to create a completely new and unofficial version of the sequel trilogy.

    I agree with many other before me, without George Lucas storyline, TFA is just a EU material.

    • January 25, 2015 at 6:04 pm
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      I’ve been a fan of Star Wars since A New Hope. My favorite Star Wars movie is Empire by far. The Prequels, while I try to re-watch them all the time, just don’t jive well with me. I can never get pass the wooden acting, odd pacing and those damned green “Asian” nemoidians. But the art direction in the Prequels is second to none! But hey what do I know? I’m sure someone will just put a convenient label on me and what I say and move on. It’s so much easier to do that in life rather then take the time to have good back and forth/ point/counterpoint.

      Anyways, I’ve read all of the comments here and it’s interesting to see that so many people have already made up their minds about Episode VII BEFORE it’s even in the theaters or finished at all for that matter.

      It’s sad that some Star Wars fans seem to have loss that wide-eyed, open-minded, youthful enthusiasm that was part of the original Star Wars experience in the first place. I have A New Hope that the Stars Wars Empire will Strike Back and we all will experience The Return of the Jedi and the Force will Awaken!

  • January 26, 2015 at 6:59 am
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    Whaddya got to say now?!!?!?! BAHAHAHAHAA! I told you!! Arguing with me over the fact that George Lucas will have zero, ZERO input on this film. Thank God. JJ hates the prequels, I hate the prequels, everyone hates them. Thank God this finally got released to shut all of the prequel dorks up. The originals are all that matters.

  • January 26, 2015 at 8:45 pm
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    Whatever. With Lucas saying this, I’m no longer interested. I just saw Strange Magic, and it was excellent. Just what you would expect from the man who brought us Star Wars and Indiana Jones, in terms of imagination, timelessness, themes and emotion. I really don’t expect much from Episode 7. I’m looking forward to the spin-offs more, but not much. At least they’re separate stories and not replacements for the real thing. I’ll just buy the Episode 7 soundtrack and watch it on Netflix or something. Not gonna pay a dime for them throwing Lucas’ ideas under the bus like this.

    History will look upon Lucas as a Tolkien, and they’re treating him like nothing. And just because they paid him means nothing. It’s how they treat his work that matters. Of course they paid him, but true fans expected them to use his remaining stories, because they love his stories.

    Disney even killed his new movie in marketing and release date. No doubt they hate him because of what he says in the press, but he’s right. Probably paid off the critics to slam it as well. They all say the same thing, like talking points. “Go see Paddington!” “Straight to DVD!” “All strange, no magic!” “Too much singing!” “Plot doesn’t make sense”. Are these people morons, or just shills? Both.

  • January 28, 2015 at 10:39 pm
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    If I remember correctly George originally had plans to make this a 9 or 12 film saga. Those treatments were probably reworked some and those were the ones given to Disney. If that is the case then when Mark Hamill was approached soon after the release of ROTJ, to possibly reprise his role as an Obi-Won type character in a sequel, his character would have been a lot younger then he would be now. What I’m trying to say is that in terms of time George’s treatments would not have worked anyway. Beyond that of course JJ, Kathleen and Kasdan are going to change things. I really wonder what Lucas’ version of the story looked like.

  • November 12, 2015 at 2:56 am
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    Well said. This was very reassuring for me!

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