Lucasfilm has announced that for the time being, its plans to release Star Wars Episodes II and III in 3D have been shelved. In their place will be increased focus on the new Episode VII, which will be directed by J.J. Abrams, whose credits include the latest Star Trek series. The movie is set to hit theaters in 2015.
While fans are sure to be a tad disappointed at the news that we won’t get to see episodes II and III in 3D for an indefinite period of time, there is a ray of light – this move allows Lucasfilm to focus 100-percent of its attention on the new movie, something that will (hopefully) be more satisfying in the long run. The company will announce when it has an update on its plans to release 3D versions of the two movies.
Last week, we reported that Abrams’ role as director had been confirmed on the official Star Wars website, with him being referred to as the perfect director for the job. No one knows if he’ll direct Star Wars movies after Episode VII, but it seems like a strong possibility, with George Lucas and others heaping praise on his past work and expressing enthusiasm about his involvement with the series.
Back on November 16, we reported that Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy has announced plans for 2-3 Star Wars movie releases per year following Episode VII. This followed Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm for over $4 billion. Disney has stated that it will be focusing on social and mobile Star Wars titles, more so than on console games.
While Lucasfilm originally planned to bring Star Wars Episode II and III back to theaters in 3D this fall, it’s just announced that will not happen. In a statement posted on the official site, it says “we will now focus 100 percent of our efforts on Star Wars: Episode VII.” Lucasfilm is now owned by Disney, which just announced last week that J.J. Abrams (director of Star Trek and creator of TV series including Lost and Fringe) would direct the seventh installment, which is scheduled to hit theaters in 2015. The original trilogy was also reportedly on deck for 3D rerelease, but there’s no word yet whether we’ll see those again before Episode VII, just a promise to post “further information” at a later date.
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J.J. Abrams to Direct Star Wars: Episode VII
J.J. Abrams will direct Star Wars: Episode VII, the first of a new series of Star Wars films to come from Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy. Abrams will be directing and Academy Award-winning writer Michael Arndt will write the screenplay.
“It’s very exciting to have J.J. aboard leading the charge as we set off to make a new Star Wars movie,” said Kennedy. “J.J. is the perfect director to helm this. Beyond having such great instincts as a filmmaker, he has an intuitive understanding of this franchise. He understands the essence of the Star Wars experience, and will bring that talent to create an unforgettable motion picture.”
George Lucas went on to say “I’ve consistently been impressed with J.J. as a filmmaker and storyteller. He’s an ideal choice to direct the new Star Wars film and the legacy couldn’t be in better hands.”
“To be a part of the next chapter of the Star Wars saga, to collaborate with Kathy Kennedy and this remarkable group of people, is an absolute honor,” J.J. Abrams said. “I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid.”
J.J., his longtime producing partner Bryan Burk, and Bad Robot are on board to produce along with Kathleen Kennedy under the Disney | Lucasfilm banner.
Also consulting on the project are Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg. Kasdan has a long history with Lucasfilm, as screenwriter on The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Return of the Jedi. Kinberg was writer on Sherlock Holmes and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Abrams and his production company Bad Robot have a proven track record of blockbuster movies that feature complex action, heartfelt drama, iconic heroes and fantastic production values with such credits as Star Trek, Super 8, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, and this year’s Star Trek Into Darkness. Abrams has worked with Lucasfilm’s preeminent postproduction facilities, Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, on all of the feature films he has directed, beginning with Mission: Impossible III. He also created or co-created such acclaimed television series as Felicity, Alias, Lost and Fringe.
What’s worse than the Star Wars prequels? The Star Wars prequels ramrodded in your face with an extra dimension. Lucasfilm was planning on subjecting idiots with loose wallets to re-released 3D Young Anakin, but Disney says no more bullshit. More »
After rumors that claimed as much started making the rounds, Disney and Lucasfilm have just confirmed J.J. Abrams as the director of Star Wars Episode VII. Given the director’s work on the Star Trek series, this is bound to get many Star Wars fans excited. The only problem now is that we’ll have to wait until 2015 to see what Abrams can do with Star Wars series.
Abrams’ role as director was confirmed in a post on the official Star Wars website earlier this evening, with Kathleen Kennedy saying he’s the “perfect director” for a new era of Star Wars. The announcement also confirmed that Academy Award-winning writer Michael Arndt will be penning the screenplay. Star Wars Episode VII, as many of you already know, will be the first in a new series of Star Wars movies that will be made under Disney‘s leadership, after Lucasfilm was sold to the company last year.
Abrams seems to have the blessings of many big names in the movie industry, including Dennis Muren from Industrial Light and Magic and the man who started it all, George Lucas. The creator of Star Wars says he’s “consistently been impressed” with the work that Abrams puts out, going onto say that the Star Wars legacy “couldn’t be in better hands.” Indeed, it seems that Disney and Lucasfilm could have done much worse when it came time to choose a director for the first Star Wars movie in a decade.
There’s no word on whether or not Abrams will direct more movies past Episode VII, but provided the movie performs well when it’s released in 2015, it isn’t hard to imagine Disney asking Abrams to return for more Star Wars films. More details will undoubtedly be revealed as we continue on through 2013, and we’re sure that plenty of fans have many burning questions about the direction Abrams is planning to take the series. What do you think of the choice of J.J. Abrams to direct the next Star Wars flick?
While it’s definitely not confirmed, we’re hearing a whopper of a rumor that claims none other than J.J. Abrams will direct Star Wars VII. Ever since Disney announced that it will continuing the Star Wars franchise after its buyout of LucasFilm, the Internet has been going crazy trying to figure out who the director will be. Names have been tossed around left and right, though Abrams is definitely one of the bigger directors to be mentioned.
There’s always a problem, though, and this time that problem comes in the form of an Entertainment Weekly interview with Abrams from late last year. In it, he claimed that he wasn’t going to be directing the next Star Wars movie, seemingly settling the case. He’s also got something of a conflict of interest with his Star Trek films, the latest of which will be releasing in May. If he does sign on to direct Star Wars VII, that could potentially cause some issues with the Star Trek series should Paramount decide it wants a third film.
In any case, The Wrap says that LucasFilm’s Kathleen Kennedy has been spending time trying to sway J.J. Abrams to the project, and if these rumors are to be believed, then it sounds like she’s convinced him. Deadline has run a report supporting The Wrap’s claim, supposedly speaking to an anonymous source close to the project who claims that “It’s done deal with J.J.”
Again, keep in mind that with no confirmation from Disney or LucasFilm, it’s impossible to tell whether these rumors are legitimate or false. It goes without saying that you should take a claim as big as this with more than a few grains of salt, so it probably isn’t the best idea to get your hopes up for an Abrams-led Star Wars movie just. We’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for new details, so stay here with SlashGear for more.
We’ve begun our long in-depth search through the waves of both legitimate and falsified information coming in surrounding Star Wars Episode VII, the first in a series of three films born of Disney’s recent acquisition of Lucasfilm. What we’re seeing here extremely early on in the game is very few solid details and an overflow of rumors the likes of which we’ve only come to see from the release of an iPhone – imagine that. At the outset, we’ve got this: Michael Arndt is attached as writer and George Lucas will indeed be involved.
As confirmed by StarWars.com and therefor Lucasfilm itself, film writer Michael Arndt will be writing the screenplay for Star Wars: Episode VII. Both Kennedy and Lucas have “begun story conferences” with Arndt, and from what we’ve heard from these heads of Lucasfilm, they’ve got some “blank spots” to fill.
Lucas: I just said that I would back her [Kathleen Kennedy] up and I would be there if – you know, especially with the script, in making sure the script, sort of… there’s a lot of blank spots in the story treatment that hopefully we can fill.
Kennedy: This is not like a series of books like Harry Potter where you’ve already got a template of what the stories might be. These are original stories and original ideas that come out of a world that, essentially, is inside George’s head. The beauty of the collaboration that can continue is that as we work our way through these scripts, if we stop and we say “hmmm, I wonder if this character can do that,” or “does this make sense within the rules of Star Wars.” He’s the keeper of the flame when it comes to that.
Lucas: It’s the same as the first three films. That’s all my job is, is to be the keeper of the flame.
After this one singular confirmation, everyone and their mother has been tipped as on or off of the project here well before they’d actually be called up to join in on the party. The two most important people up for the job thus far have been Steven Spielberg and Conan O’Brien, neither of whom have actually been asked or intend to audition for such a role. Conan has begun a collection of audition tapes – not his own – that parody what it might be like if prominent directors keep with their own genre and move into the Star Wars universe. One example is Wes Anderson, as seen here:
Meanwhile Access Hollywood has point-blank asked Steven Spielberg if he’d be up for directing a Star Wars movie.
“Would you direct one of the Star Wars movies?” – AH
“No. No because it’s not my genre. It’s my best friend George’s genre.” – Spielberg
Then there’s the inevitable questions asked of Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford about the next films. If you take a peek at what Fisher says, you’ll get a terrible lump in your stomach because the only word comes from celebrity tabloids invading her privacy while she’s walking her dog – shame on them – to the point where her answers really don’t confirm anything. So we’ll be waiting on that one, even though TheForce.net did re-report it.
UPDATE: Leslie Gornstein of E! Online has been contacted by a representative of Carrie Fisher who notes: “She hasn’t confirmed anything. Everything you’ve seen has been tongue-in-cheek.” Extremely likely considering miss Fisher’s sense of humor. And the fact that the other “confirmation” she made at a book signing where a fan asked if she’ll be in Star Wars 7, saying “Yes… I thought it was already common knowledge!”
Harrison Ford, on the other hand, has been reported by Entertainment Weekly as being open to the idea of joining the films – or just the first one – and is “upbeat” about it, too.
“Harrison is open to the idea of doing the movie and he’s upbeat about it, all three of them are.” – EW Source
The writer Geoff Boucher reports this information as coming from a “highly placed source” and we’re inclined to believe it as legitimate. On the other hand, he recalls being a moderator for a 30th anniversary screening of The Empire Strikes Back (in the year 2010) where Ford spoke shortly of the franchise’s “ascension in popular culture”:
“I don’t know that I understood it very well. I’m not sure I understand it yet…I was very happy to be involved. I was pleased to be a part of an ensemble.” – Harrison Ford
Boucher also spoke with Mark Hamill about the possibility of Han, Luke, and Leia returning to the series. Hamill noted that Lucas actually “summoned” he and Fisher to a lunch in August (2012) and they “learned about the idea” back then. Whether or not this means that they considered the idea of coming back to the films in-person is not entirely clear. Hamill was frank about the perspective of the fans, on the other hand:
“I can see both sides of it. Because in a way, there was a beginning, a middle, and an end and we all lived happily ever after and that’s the way it should be — and it’s great that people have fond memories, if they do have fond memories. But on the other hand, there’s this ravenous desire on the part of the true believers to have more and more and more material.” – Mark Hamill
Stay tuned to SlashGear as we continue to keep our nose to the grindstone and eyes on the Star Wars universe for more information about the 2015 launch of Star Wars: Episode VII as it appears. At the same time, please feel free to continue to send us all the information you’ve got on the subject, be it a secret tip or an official news blast you’ve seen from your favorite odd source!
This week the upcoming president of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, has made it clear to employess that she intended them to release 2-3 Star Wars films a year starting in 2015 with Episode VII. After the announcement was made by George Lucas himself that Lucasfilm and the rights to the Star Wars industry had been sold to Disney, it was just as giant a news flash that this meant a sequel to the 6th film in the series Return of the Jedi. Just about the only blast that could possibly have topped such an announcement is this: it’s just the beginning!
Speaking this week with Entertainment Weekly in their cover story surrounding The Future of Star Wars, Kennedy made dreams come true and shattered many mind-grapes at the same time with a 2-3 movie releases a year announcement. The comment was apparently made first inside Lucasfilm not long after Kennedy was announced to be taking over for Lucas once the $4 billion Disney deal was complete.
This has gigantic implications for the Star Wars universe, especially considering what Disney has done with Marvel Comics since they acquired that massive environment several years ago. Since Disney got to work with Marvel, they made it possible for a knock-out combination of films to be released, including Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and The Avengers.
The future of the Star Wars industry has been commented on by everyone from Robert Rodriguez to Jon Favreau, who captured it all very nicely with a simple: “I want so bad for it to be good.” With the Marvel universe expanding at a rather rapid rate in the film industry, chances are that Disney isn’t going to let an opportunity such as the one they’ve got here and now with Star Wars get away from them. Now we’ve just to hope they go with the Thrawn Trilogy like a good, sensible film production group would.
Now that Disney has purchased Lucasfilm, you might be wondering what sort of stuff we might expect from this $4 billion marriage. While there’s word of Episode VII (and possibly VIII and IX) finally going into production, there are also some less-than-exciting possibilities – like these reimagined, Disnified versions of Star Wars characters by illustrator John Martz.
Though I do think the R2-D2/Wall-E and Ewok/Poo concepts could actually be improvements upon the original characters, I’m not too keen on Yoda with Mickey Mouse ears, or Slave Ariel. And I’m not even going to mention Jar-Jar Goofy.
Oh, and I know you’re thinking it. Han slurped first.
It’s time for the directors and writers to chime in on the idea that Star Wars Episode 7, that taking place in the storyline after the first 6, will be made and released in 2015. This news came this week concurrently with the fact that George Lucas had sold the entirety of LucasFilm (his own production company) to Disney along with the rights to Star Wars itself. Lucas will remain part of the universe as a creative consultant, and the 7th, 8th, and 9th movies have been confirmed all at once – several big names in the film industry have commented in the short time since this announcement was made.
It was none other than Robert Rodriguez who made the comment about how quickly the film needed to be made. The excitement that many current big-names in directing and writing are feeling is a direct result of them having been draw into the industry originally by the first trilogy of Star Wars films. Rodriguez is certainly of age to remember the explosive nature of the first time Star Wars came into our universe.
“What an amazing world and legacy George Lucas has created — and it needs to continue in capable hands. I do think Disney is the best studio for the job and the fact that they brought in Kathleen Kennedy? I can’t imagine a better scenario. And 2015 can’t get here fast enough.” – Rodriguez
Kathleen Kennedy was up until now second in command at LucasFilm, and she’ll be in charge of operations now once the company is owned by Disney. Director J.J. Abrams had similar feelings about the situation, having once noted that it was difficult to pull Star Trek out into a major motion picture now in the present while Star Wars was still big, saying now that he’s pumped: “Part of me? Thrilled. Part of me? Terrified. Most of me? Thrillified.”
Disney also acquired Marvel Comics back in 2008, and since its acquisition made several films possible: Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and The Avengers. Director of Iron Man Jon Favreau spoke up about the situation as well, noting that “The idea of another trilogy that further shrouds the Force in mystery as its secrets are lost to time – that’s extremely compelling. “I want so bad for it to be good. Can you imagine?”
We’ll be waiting too – and SlashGear will be running with no lack of insight on the goings-on inside LucasFilm and Disney as the next three years pass before Star Wars Episode 7 – prepare yourselves, readers!
NOTE: The image at the head of this post is a section of the cover art for Heir to the Empire, one of many possible next-episode storylines that will be followed by the ongoing Star Wars saga. Read it today!
Disney is already one of the biggest media companies around, and it’s now set to become even bigger. The company announced late today that it’s acquiring Lucasfilm Ltd., currently 100 percent owned by founder George Lucas, for $4.05 billion in a cash and stock deal. That of course includes the rights to both the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film franchises, as well as Lucasfilm properties like Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound. What’s more, the press release announcing the deal also confirmed that Disney is now targeting 2015 for a release of Star Wars: Episode 7, and that its “long term plan is to release a new Star Wars feature film every two to three years.” No word yet on a proper release of the original, original trilogy.
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