But this is what Disney does. Do you remember a little TV movie they made called High School Musical? It was successful enough to spawn a TV movie sequel and then a second, theatrical release sequel (along with a third, direct-to-video sequel). They also took the cast on a concert tour, made a stage musical based on the movie, an ice show, book series, reality series, book series, video games, etc. And of course there’s also all of the merchandise that they sell and the shows and rides at the theme parks.
Disney is the absolute master at exploiting a property.
You know, people accuse George Lucas of money grubbing (or related phrases) all the time, and I don’t really think it holds up.
The fundamental fact is that any time after the release of Return of the Jedi he could have made another Star Wars movie and been absolutely 100% guaranteed to make a ridiculous amount of money. Or he could have licensed the right to do so to anyone else (and, we might snidely say, its’ a shame he didn’t). And he didn’t do so until he felt that the technology and the time were right to tell the story he wanted to tell.
Sadly, that story ended up involving Jar Jar Binks, but it seems pretty clear to me that whatever motivated Lucas over that time period, it wasn’t just money.
What annoys me is the Star Wars universe is incredibly rich, and full of story telling opportunities, but they seem to be massively screwing it up. There should be a line drawn under what has happened in previous movies, because I don’t think anyone really wants to see a rehash of what we have already seen. Set the new movies 500 years after ROTJ, and it could be great.
I don’t have a lot of interest in seeing Han Solo and the kingdom of the crystal skull. Not a fan of JJ Abrahms either. There were so many interesting choices for director floating around at the moment (Duncan jones, Neil Blonkamp, Joe Cornish etc), and they went for the least interesting one they could find.
Star Wars has a very distinctive style it has to maintain. JJ Abrams is utilitarian enough to recognise and adhere to that, while also being excellent at casting and directing actors. That’s how Irvin Kirshner approached Empire Strikes Back, so that’s what we need if we want the movie we dream of.
More than likely it will be different directors for each of this upcoming trilogy, but you need to lay some groundwork and set the new standard, and JJ Abrams is perfect for all that. I still would’ve preferred Joe Johnston, as he fulfils that edict quite nicely, but there you go.
On the other hand, the spin-offs probably have the leeway and freedom to be presented in a more distinctive and idiosyncratic style, if that’s what you’re after.
They didn’t do that with the *Avengers *films, did they? Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth were basically unknowns, Mark Ruffalo was known for indie flicks and Robert Downey Junior was, at the time of casting, a washed-up former junkie and a huge risk. It seems as though Disney actively avoids casting big stars in their franchise movies.
And J.J. Abrams is hardly a fan of big stars, either.
Well, in all fairness, Disney wasn’t on board when RDJ was cast as Tony Stark in the first Iron Man movie.
But the rest is true. Disney did right by The Avengers.
Anyway, if you want a funny, tongue-in-cheek Star Wars dance-off, do a YouTube search for the dance-offs the Disney Studios theme park holds every year on Star Wars Weekend. (Like this one. ) They’re cute and rather clever. One of them–maybe the one I linked to–makes a reference to one of the Robot Chicken sketches!
Of course, that doesn’t stop some humorless, uptight SW fans from posting in the comments thread, things like “My childhood has been RAPED!” and “Nobody shits on MY Star Wars and gets away with it!”
Did you see the other video upthread? That’s comes very close to raping Star Wars, if not someone’s whole childhood. Nothing wrong with having a bit of fun, but there is a point where ironic detachment does take away from the experience if the original. Would you eat at a Silence of the Lambs themed restaurant? Lamb liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.
Disney didn’t acquire Marvel Entertainment until the end of August 2009. Downey was cast as Iron Man in 2007, and Hemsworth was cast in May/June 2009. Evans was cast after the acquisition, but the movie itself had been in development for some time prior, and Disney don’t seem to have had much influence on it.
I see your Chris Evans and raise you Natalie Portman, Gwyenth Paltrow, Sam Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders, Jeremy Renner, Hugo Weaving…
While some were good (Jackson and Paltrow) other were quite poor choices.
Either way, Lucas had an admitted knack for casting good actors, Ford, Peter Cushing, Ian MacDiarmid, James Earl Jones, Portman, Knightley, McGregor, Joel Edgerton, Rose Byrne,few of them were stars or even well known at the time of casting. EVen Hayden Christensen was/is not as bad as he is accused of being.
His “star” casting of Alec Guiness, Liam Nesson and Sam Jackson were good too. Hell he avoids casting people based on star power, he resisted the calls to cast Leonardo DiCaprio as Anakin for Attack of the Clones…which admittedly in retrospect would have been awesome, but at the time woiuld have been seen as a mistake.
Totally agree. If you’re a dedicated Star Wars fan, then it’s clear that the ONLY films you can enjoy and treat as canon are
[ul]
[li]Star Wars: A New Hope[/li][li]The Empire Strikes Back[/li][li]The Star Wars Holiday Special.[/li][/ul]
I’m a big sci-fi fan but almost nothing to me is sacred and untouchable. I loved the reboot of Star Trek even though they blew up Vulcan, and I have no intrinsic loyalty to Star Wars that I’m afraid Disney’s going to ruin it. Frankly, with such a huge universe and the fact that its been around for almost 40 years, it needs more media associated with it (and I don’t mean books, I don’t read those novels).
So I’m alright if they want to explore the Old Republic, the ancient days of the galaxy, spin-offs of what Boba Fett does all day, or just follow a biologist as he goes around categorizing all of the weird creatures in the movies.
I’m not disturbed, but I’m a special case. Despite being in the right age range to see the original trilogy when they were made, I never saw them till I was an adult, in the late 80s/early 90s, so even though I like the first two quite a bit, I’m not nostalgic for them. More importantly I have a long-standing, frequently irrational distaste for Disney (hell, the fact that the Avengers was a Disney movie might have kept me away if I’d given it any thought), so my first thought on hearing that they had acquired LucasFilm was “Hmmm. These movies will annoy me even more. Best avoid.”