Gareth Edwards’s Spin-Off Gets New Writer: Chris Weitz!

Chris Weitz

Following Gary Whitta’s completion of the first draft of the first Star Wars Spin-Off movie (to be directed by Gareth Edwards), he left the project to work on the script to the film adaptation of Mark Millar’s limited comic book series, Starlight. Now, a new writer has been signed on to revise and edit the script: Chris Weitz.

 

 

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the latest scribe headed to a galaxy far, far away is Chris Weitz, whose credits include the 2002 film About A Boy and Disney’s upcoming Cinderella.

 

He will replace Gary Whitta, who exited the Lucasfilm/Disney project earlier this month after he completed a first draft.

 

Weitz is both a screenwriter and a director, not to mention an author. He received an Oscar nomination for his adapted screenplay for About A Boy, which he also co-directed. His other directing credits include the Oscar-nominated Demian Bichir drama A Better Life, The Golden Compass (he also wrote the script adapting the Philip Pulman YA fantasy) and — perhaps most notably — The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

 

Chris Weitz has a fairly diverse array of films under his belt, but he is best known for his writing and directing work on the critically-acclaimed About A Boy with his brother, Paul – and the pair also co-directed the original American Pie movie. Given that he wrote the script to this March’s Cinderella, he has some degree of experience of answering to the House Of Mouse.

 

It also appears that the rumors that Simon Kinberg would be taking over writing duties for the film seem to have been greatly exaggerated; he will continuously serve as an executive producer to various Star Wars projects until the spin-off that he will be writing begins production.

 

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Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

Grant Davis (Pomojema)

Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

98 thoughts on “Gareth Edwards’s Spin-Off Gets New Writer: Chris Weitz!

    • January 27, 2015 at 9:56 pm
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      Gary Whitta was rather arrogant and insulting in his comments as to the writing of the Prequals, so I’m glad his work is being reworked.
      All scripts for Star Wars have be rewritten or tweeked by other writers even Lucas’s treatments.
      This is expected and will continue on all scripts in film.
      It is how continuity is scrutinized and better ideas are injected, thus adding to a strong story that has the pace that is better for a film than on a written page.

  • January 27, 2015 at 5:33 am
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    One terrible writer after another! I’ll avoid these standalones at all costs.

    • January 27, 2015 at 6:24 am
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      Yeah, who are these guys?

    • January 27, 2015 at 9:33 am
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      Yeah, sure you will…

  • January 27, 2015 at 5:52 am
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    I may eat these words, but…
    “How bad could it be?”

  • January 27, 2015 at 5:59 am
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    Twilight saga.

    TWILIGHT

    • January 27, 2015 at 2:12 pm
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      Yeah, but the Twilight saga was designed to be cheesy in the first place.

  • January 27, 2015 at 6:13 am
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    I was wondering when we would get some news about the new writer. Still waiting for cast.

    • January 27, 2015 at 6:10 pm
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      At this time last year we had a gazillion actor rumors and story leaks from Episode VII. Is this spinoff going to be even more secretive than VII?

      • January 27, 2015 at 7:40 pm
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        It’s turning out that way strangely enough.

  • January 27, 2015 at 6:19 am
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    Cinderella, Twilight Saga: New Moon, his Brother was involved in the first American Pie Movie?
    Don’t get me wrong People, but this doesn’t sound any good. About a Boy was not a good film either and their mention it in the article like it was pure gold. Where are they getting all this bad writers from? Is there a second hand shop in a basement in Hollywood
    for has been and pseudo writers? First Whitta, now this guy. Holy Sh*t what a ride this crapola will be! The first Spin off Movie sounds like a fast “Cash in” for Disney, it will benefit from the Hype that Episode 7 started.

    • January 27, 2015 at 6:24 am
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      They must work cheap and will do exactly what Disney corporate tells them to do.

      • January 27, 2015 at 6:31 am
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        I have bad feeling about this

    • January 27, 2015 at 7:34 am
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      About a Boy was a great movie.

    • January 27, 2015 at 2:14 pm
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      $4 Billion investment…I think they want quality…give them a chance…we have not seen one feature film yet from the six in development…give them a chance.

    • January 27, 2015 at 6:11 pm
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      The Golden Compass was considered THE bad fantasy franchise before Twilight came along. What is Disney thnking???

      At least get the guy who wrote Divergent!!!

  • January 27, 2015 at 6:20 am
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    Good god, I usually don’t have much of an opinion about these spinoff directors & writers… but this resume is AWFUL!

    It would have been bad enough if it was the Nutty Professor… but this is the Nutty Professor *2* we are talking about here.

    UGH.

    Though I did enjoy American Pie. When I was like… 18. My guess is he’s someone’s relative of friend of a friend.

    What’s annoying about it is that I’ll probably see the movie anyway (cuz you know… Star Wars.)

  • January 27, 2015 at 6:41 am
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    Who knows maybe this new Writer will be the New King of Pimps, maybe he get his breakthrough, maybe Disney was so overly pleased with his work on Cinderella so they decided give him a opportunity, maybe they think it will make money if the movie is good or bad, maybe they need just an random guy to blame if the movie will be a flop. I’am looking forward to RedLetterMedia Plinkett’s review when he compare it to the PT and sink it like them.

  • January 27, 2015 at 6:47 am
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    Damn this guy has a rat face, what about a RATMAN movie, I could see him at the helm, Director, scriptwriter and as the leading actor. Sorry I know it wasn’t nice but couldn’t resist, pardon me.
    Maybe he is a cool dude who knows, we should give him a Chance, we can verbal rip him off later if needed.

  • January 27, 2015 at 6:47 am
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    I’m looking forward to hating these movies too.

  • January 27, 2015 at 6:51 am
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    Generic writers, generic directors, the only vision now is Disney’s corporate vision.

    • January 27, 2015 at 7:04 am
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      To me it looks like a overall problem, all major studios seems to have a shortage in good writers. Nowadays movies have often many plot holes and they feel rushed not well thought out, like someone said: “yeah enough worked on it, now lets get money out of it. I miss the days were movie makers loved to entertain people and liked their own product. Magic is gone, but I have high hopes for Ep VII maybe it can bring back that feeling.

      • January 27, 2015 at 4:57 pm
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        While I agree that movies used to be much more entertaining than they are now, they had a good amount of plot holes as well. Take a look at Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, Terminator, Alien and other adventure classics. They’re great films, but they weren’t entirely perfect.

        • January 27, 2015 at 6:13 pm
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          ^I still consider those new movies.

          • January 27, 2015 at 10:10 pm
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            Really? 20-40 or so years is quite a long time for movies to be around… Reality check: it’s now the year 2015.

        • January 27, 2015 at 9:09 pm
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          I agree, but they have a good feeling, so I can overlook some minor mistakes/plot holes.

          • January 27, 2015 at 10:10 pm
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            I’m with you there.

  • January 27, 2015 at 7:19 am
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    Everyone here must be a compete expert regarding the film industry. I hope that people realize that it takes lots of creative voices to complete a feature film. It is almost impossible to judge the merits of a film solely on the screenwriter. Everyone here jizzs all of Joss Whedon, but remember how shitty Alien Resurrection was? Was it entirely his fact? Probably not. Shit happens and most writers who have been working consistently for over 15 years are pretty talented.

    • January 27, 2015 at 9:14 am
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      Alien resurrection: great writer, great director, great cast, great crew. Not so great movie.

      • January 27, 2015 at 10:03 pm
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        Alien 3 great writer, great director, great film from a ILM alumni. Yet it bombed and was panned by critics.

  • January 27, 2015 at 7:20 am
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    what is interesting is about a boy is a very human story, very character driven, with emotions and so is American Pie. What many people disliked about the prequels was they were the opposite of that. So if you want to find something optimistic to think about – that would be it.

  • January 27, 2015 at 7:55 am
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    I know most people are going to see “Twilight” and run screaming, but just to balance that out – About A Boy has tons of heart. I think he’ll be able to inject some of those quirky and relational elements from About A boy into his draft. And if it sucks, they’ll get another screenwriter. I don’t see the doom and gloom that others do, I suppose.

    • January 27, 2015 at 9:28 am
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      He rest on Nick Hornbys laurels…

  • January 27, 2015 at 9:03 am
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    Why you people complain? since George and Arndt went out of the window it is pretty much clear that Disney has full confidence in its ability to create greqt movies. They want to do it their way. Let’s give them a chance!

    • January 27, 2015 at 5:02 pm
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      So, I guess Lawrence Kasdan has no reputation as an incredible writer, eh?
      What’re you some kinda idiot?

      • January 27, 2015 at 10:09 pm
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        I loved Dreamcatcher, he was in charge of that, but most I talk about it with, feel it is not his best work or it sucked. And he adapted that from a bestselling novel by Stephen King.

  • January 27, 2015 at 9:35 am
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    Bla, negative, bla….4 or 5 positive comments out of 25 today. Thanks Pomojema for another informative article…pity every article seems to set the whingers going lately…nobody here knows if the film will be good or not…This forum has a bad case of tall poppy syndrome..

    • January 27, 2015 at 10:25 am
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      What do you expect? The writer’s resume is bantha fodder!

    • January 28, 2015 at 1:04 am
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      Thanks, doc.

  • January 27, 2015 at 10:23 am
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    Miss me yet?

    • January 27, 2015 at 3:18 pm
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      Nope.

  • January 27, 2015 at 10:29 am
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    Well…. at least it isn’t Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof.

    Then again, do midi-chlorians count as magic blood? ^_-

  • January 27, 2015 at 10:43 am
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    I hate to say it, but looking back to the last 2 years, there is no one single element that I appreciated in the ways how Disney has managed Lucasfilm and Star Wars.

    • January 27, 2015 at 11:48 am
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      Are you serious? Nothing at all?

      Not the focus on characters and story, using all the tools in the toolbox, the decision to shoot in a lot of locations and sets or use lots of props and practical effects, bringing back the original cast, John Williams, Ben Burtt, Lawrence Kasdan, drawing from Ralph McQuarrie as inspiration for the overall look of the film, stormtroopers are costumed instead of CGI, etc.?

      • January 27, 2015 at 12:43 pm
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        So what? Who cares.

        • January 27, 2015 at 1:19 pm
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          More people than you could possibly imagine.. The prequels did A LOT of damage!

        • January 27, 2015 at 2:16 pm
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          “I care”

          • January 27, 2015 at 4:05 pm
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            That’s really sweet, Luke, but it’s never going to happen. You’re more… like a brother to me. Haven’t you felt it?

          • January 27, 2015 at 9:13 pm
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            I care too.

        • January 27, 2015 at 4:09 pm
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          “So what? Who cares.”

          So… apparently anything you’re indifferent about excites me to no end. Sweet. I’m good. q;B

  • January 27, 2015 at 10:47 am
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    About a boy was a very good movie. I also liked AntZ (also written by Weitz). All the other movies written by him kind of sucked.

    • January 27, 2015 at 11:07 am
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      About a Boy is from Nick Hornby.
      A very good book. That was easy for him…

      • January 27, 2015 at 11:36 am
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        Not necessarily. A good book in itself will not guarantee a good film, there have been many failed adaptations in the past.

  • January 27, 2015 at 11:40 am
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    They hired Weitz to write the spin-off. He only directed Twilight: New Moon.

  • January 27, 2015 at 12:06 pm
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    Pull the plug Disney, spinoffs are a bad idea.

    • January 27, 2015 at 4:58 pm
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      No they aren’t. They will be the thing that really expands the Star Wars universe. They can go in a lot of different directions that they couldn’t do in the sequel trilogy.

  • January 27, 2015 at 12:08 pm
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    Altogether Weitz has written five screenplays so far. Out of these five, we have not seen Cinderella yet.
    The other four are:

    The Golden Compass
    About a Boy
    The Nutty Professor 2
    AntZ

    This is a mixed bag, but all in all it seems that things are not as gloomy as some people might think.

    • January 27, 2015 at 12:12 pm
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      And keep in mind that he wrote The Nutty Proffesor 2 together with 6 other writers. So I wouldn’t count it as his credit (thankfully).

      • January 27, 2015 at 12:26 pm
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        In this case his screenwriting skills might be above average.

  • January 27, 2015 at 12:27 pm
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    Poor Gareth Edwards. How great was Monsters, how awful was Godzilla due to pretty bad screenwriting, and now he has to deal with Cinderella’s writer.

    Damn it.

  • January 27, 2015 at 12:31 pm
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    There are worse choises than Weitz.

  • January 27, 2015 at 1:01 pm
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    I feel so immensely sorry for that little group of people that are so hurt and come to whine on forums. Yet so funny, because they don’t realize that the normal people mostly just enjoy reading and such instead of writing about it so they (the whiners) also got that weird feeling that they are in the majority. So I want to do somethinh about it..What can we do for you guys, does it help if we say we understand your feelings? Do you want like a hug maybe? I don’t know, I am not a psychologist, maybe you should find one, because the way you are dealing with this is unhealthy, because this thing, Starwars, is about having fun…And you are so unhappy..What you also could do is maybe find a movie or set of movies that you do enjoy? That way your life is less miserable?

    • January 27, 2015 at 1:27 pm
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      What do you expect? These whiners are obsessed with children’s movies (prequels) and think they know better than successful producers. (While they have no production expertise or experience)

      • January 27, 2015 at 6:08 pm
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        But they pay to see the movies so if thy flop don’t blame the fans but the writers.

    • January 27, 2015 at 4:16 pm
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      S.Raw Rats

      Why do you sound like a whiner?

    • January 27, 2015 at 2:53 pm
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      Welcome to the internets. Where have you been?

    • January 27, 2015 at 5:00 pm
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      Let’s please comment on the article…

      … forget it, I’ve never heard of this guy…
      The Spin-Offs will probably be cheesy and generic based on what they’re doing so far… but you never know!!

  • January 27, 2015 at 2:46 pm
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    Its teh prequel dudez, deal with it.

  • January 27, 2015 at 3:44 pm
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    IMO, many SW have great imaginations…allow the fans submit screenplays then let Disney pic and clean up the best one.

    I must rather read/see something written by someone who truly loves it rather than some hired gun looking for his next paycheck

  • January 27, 2015 at 4:37 pm
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    While I’m more than willing to take a wait-and-see approach to the whole thing, I must admit to being just a tad apprehensive about the rather thin resumes I’m seeing connected with these spin-off films so far.

    Here’s hoping that Chris Weitz is up to the task.

  • January 27, 2015 at 4:53 pm
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    This is just a trick. All starwars movies will be written by JJ Abrams. There will be plenty of cliffhanger after each movie, twisted and unpredictable (because generated by a random number generator) plot lines, smoke monsters and in the very end if all money is drained from you, it will be revealed that the galaxy far far away is just a sort of burgatory.

  • January 27, 2015 at 5:03 pm
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    If they hire “Man of Action” {a group containing more than one man} to write Spin-Off #2, I’ll… I don’t know… a child in Africa will cry… or… I’ll think of some better threat in the morning…

  • January 27, 2015 at 5:05 pm
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    The Force Awakens will kick these spin-offs right through the teeth, I’m sure of it.

  • January 27, 2015 at 6:05 pm
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    Why don’t they hire the writers for first the Pirates movies?

    Hire guys who know how to do an adventure movie.

  • January 27, 2015 at 7:13 pm
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    in this movie vader’s will put his saber in a pie and we will find out that chewie is jacob and mace windu is aline in a wheelchair looking for his yin yang in a airplane…
    “i had it with these motherfucking ewoks in this motherfucking death star”

    • January 27, 2015 at 9:25 pm
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      bahaha yes, this is what it has come to.

  • January 27, 2015 at 8:27 pm
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    I already had a bad feeling about these spin off’s. I don’t want some bullshit about Han Solo and Boba Fett. Give us something NEW, FRESH AND ORIGINAL (all caps makes everything better, yes im yelling at you)

    • January 28, 2015 at 7:52 am
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      Give it time, man. We’ve already gotten a bunch of new characters in Rebels and VII.

  • January 27, 2015 at 8:46 pm
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    The spinoff has to start shooting in what, June?

    What’s weird is the total lack of casting rumors. Except for the 4 women who tested for it last week.

    No short list for the new Han Solo.

  • January 27, 2015 at 9:45 pm
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    I wish they could get someone like Chris Nolan, one of the Harry Potter directors, or perhaps Indie SW fans like Spike Jonze to work on the spinoffs.

  • January 27, 2015 at 10:11 pm
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    WONDERFUL
    How about a Star Wars spinoff written by our very own Ratface McGee? This should be swell…

  • January 28, 2015 at 12:35 am
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    The day starwars movies try to bee something else than stories that awake my inner 10year old boy i will bee sad. Im so tired of how some people seem to think that starwars is meant to be superserious. I afraid that it will be like batman, -hey lets do a uberviolent film that does NOT suit the ordinary comicreader CHILDREN! I very much hope we will se a new Jar jar or som ewoks or something so very silly that me and my children can enjoy the movies like me end my dad did in the early 80s. Laughing at javas and so on.

    • January 28, 2015 at 12:37 am
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      Reality check: IT’S 2015! You’re average comic book reader is from the ages of 18-35 in the 21st century, my friend.

      • January 29, 2015 at 5:57 pm
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        Star Wars is about fulfilling the dreams of 10-year-olds, who happened to have comic books suitable for them to read back in ’77.
        Nowadays comic books are an adult thing, SO WHAT??
        Star Wars should STILL be about the dreams of 10-year-olds, regardless of how much sex and drugs and rock’n’roll comic publishers put out.

        I think the thing, and really the ONLY thing that sets Star Wars on a pedestal away from normal movie-judging criteria is the fact that it successfully makes you feel like a kid again [even with the mass genocide, torture, sex slavery, racism, droid-ism, etc.]. The childlike spirit is present and that’s why kids like it, it’s why adult cherish it.

        To forsake that most vital aspect is to make Star Wars just another dumb sci-fi thing. There is a lot of competition and Star Wars really needs to stick to it’s guns and just blow the crap out of the film-industry with it’s stupid, brilliant, plot-hole ridden, cheer-inducing, grounded awesomeness.

    • January 28, 2015 at 1:13 am
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      Really? The good movies didn’t have Jar Jar or ewoks.

  • January 28, 2015 at 2:08 am
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    To the Reality check! Yea i know and im so sad that its like that. My son loves my old 80s and late 90comics reads them all the time. I guess that every time has its thing.

    And to retrotek Its funny that the two movies my children love the most is Ep1 and 6. So the defenition of a good movie seems to depends on how old you are. I hope you still can enjoy the fun and the adventures in all the starwars film and not take it to serious…………it´s just for fun! Jar jar for president!

    • January 28, 2015 at 4:56 am
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      Ha! Well, I have read enough comments from parents reporting which of the movies their kids like most often enough for me to know that their opinions vary just as much as the parents do.

      I’m with you on SW not targeting adult tastes of gray vs grey, just that the most beloved and enduring of the movies went more for a teenager’s sensibility rather then a six year old’s (which was actually my age when I first saw Star Wars).

    • January 28, 2015 at 3:55 pm
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      Ep1 and 6 were specifically made to pander to children. Therefore they’re some of the weaker movies of the franchise

  • January 28, 2015 at 4:44 am
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    Seriously… WTF!?!?!?

  • January 28, 2015 at 9:53 pm
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    Abrams is the only person hired so far with any real experience. Every writer and Director for the stand alone films and Episodes 8 and 9 have maybe 1 professional credit. This guy wrote Cinderella and now Star Wars? Johnson did Looper and now Star Wars? I have a bad feeling about this.

    • January 29, 2015 at 6:08 pm
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      Well George Lucas did – TWO movies before Star Wars, but then again, one was groundbreaking and the other was an instant classic but that’s besides the point.

      Now the big question is this: Will these directors successfully come into they’re own career after their part in the galaxy far away is over and done?

      Kasdan has done some stuff, but not much.
      Irvin Kershner also didn’t do stuff in the mainstream after that, but that’s understandable given his interests and background, he was Lucas’ film teacher.
      Marquand died rather soon after ROTJ.

      There is actually little to no precedent for a film maker to successfully make a Star Wars thing, and walk away to pick up a successful independent career. Curious what will happen to the new guys when all’s said and done…

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