Movie News: Disney Buys Star Wars
Last weekend, I wavered on whether or not to see Cloud Atlas. It seemed intriguing, but got mixed reviews and it's three hours long. Ultimately, I decided to hold off on it until it comes out on DVD. This weekend will start a string of movie weekends for me (starting with Denzel Washington's Flight). Not having a film to review worked out OK because possibly the biggest non-product-release entertainment news in many years broke this week: George Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney.
Disney Buys Star Wars:
I think the enormous news that broke last Tuesday was best summed up by a Huffington blog post titled: "Disney Buys Lucas, Star Wars Saga Continues, and Internet Breaks in Half." If you are somehow unfamiliar with at least the basics of the deal at this point, just Google "star wars disney" and you should find a few things. Being a huge fan of the franchise, I wanted to share my thoughts on the news, especially when it's so early and the possibilities seem virtually endless.
First, I should state that I share in the (minority?) view that the prequels were a triumph. Were they perfect? No. Probably my biggest gripe with them is the actors they got for the pivotal role of Anakin Skywalker. Both Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen were terrible. But come on, Jar Jar wasn't that bad (more bearable than the Ewoks, IMO). And let's look at the positives: Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan, Liam Neeson as Quin-Gon, Sam Jackson as Mace Windu, Yoda: the Jedi just kicked ass. Emperor Palpatine's scheming. Cool world designs (esp. in Attack of the Clones). Natalie Portman. Powerful emotional sequences created not just by what we know occurs in Episodes 4-6, but also by the way they are set up in the prequels themselves. Point being: I found far, far more to enjoy in the prequels than to complain about.
Still, Disney has a mixed record in dealing with big franchises. Coming to my mind, I see one good, one bad, and one mixed result. The bad: Pirates of the Caribbean. The first was a lot of fun, and I also enjoyed the second quite a bit. But things just went overboard in the third film, and the fourth was purely a money grab by the studio. Despite the fourth still making buckets of money, I think it's clear that the bad taste in the collective mouths of the public will have to fade a bit before another could be made. The good: Disney purchased Pixar, and the studio has essentially been left alone to do its thing, ie, be today's highest-quality studio. Sure, there was the Cars 2 dud and I hope they steer away from more sequels and back to originals, but the phenomenal films WALL-E and Up! were made in the Disney era. And then there's the mixed: Marvel. I loved The Avengers about as much as anyone else, but the film's success has resulted in a flood of green-lit spinoffs: Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man will probably have five films each before long (they're even making a film for someone called Ant-Man for crying out loud!). Having found a super-successful formula, Disney risks overextending with the Marvel roster of superheroes.
The Disney plans for Star Wars that I know so far are: A) there will be an Episode 7, 8, and 9; B) Lucas will not write or direct any of them; C) they will not be based on existing "Expanded Universe" literature; D) Disney hopes to release a SW film "every two to three years"; and E) there will likely be SW TV show(s) on Disney's TV network soon. Hearing about B made me rather disappointed - here I'm admitting, yes, I've read several SW books - because there are some really good stories to tell (including a ready-made, fan favorite known as the Thrawn trilogy). The good news is that while Lucas will be a creative consultant, he will not have a direct role in the making of the films - we'll thus be spared Lucas' occasionally cringeworthy dialogue. There already is a SW TV show - The Clone Wars - and, based on a few episodes I've seen, it's not bad. Any new series would likely follow a similar formula.
Lucas made billions with this deal, but overall it was a bold and selfless decision, particularly based on his history. SW has been Lucas' baby for 35 years - he had the final say on everything that went on in that universe, from the merchandise and other peripherals to, of course, all the films. Now, in the hope of creating a smooth transition, he is passing the franchise into the hands of one of the world's oldest, biggest, and best-loved entertainment companies so that SW not only remains relevant for generations to come, but also grows and evolves. Lucas will still be around, one would hope, for the release of the coming trilogy, and he has accepted a far more passive role in their creation - essentially a grandfatherly role. Now the ball is in Disney's court to live up to the trust Lucas has put in them.
Will Disney try to quickly cash in on SW, creating a mindless factory that saps the franchise of its creative force? Or will it rely heavily on the experience of the LucasFilm people and nurture it as an intergenerational franchise? Right off the bat, Episodes 7, 8, and 9 present challenges: they ought to be centered on the Skywalker arc again, yet Hamill and his buddies are too old to be the featured players. Even should Disney find the right story to pursue for that trilogy, and get the right directors, writers, and actors, there is their goal of releasing a SW film "every two to three years". What will that look like? Fortunately, the SW films have sketched out the foundations of a rich, wide universe. Star Wars is already the king of film franchises (with all due respect to 007); it being passed on to Disney creates a huge range of outcomes for it. Will it be remolded into an unmanageable behemoth that gets sent off course then left to float adrift until nostalgia for the first films can return? Or will Disney support those who have worked with the franchise for years and give them the resources to carefully grow it into something even better, something that the entertainment world has never seen before?
May the Force be with you, Disney.
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