Star Wars: Episodes VII – IX: Why They Will Probably Get Made, And Why They Don’t Have To Suck
Over the weekend, a rumor surfaced over the internets that George Lucas was secretly plotting a new Star Wars sequel trilogy for the latter half of this decade. Almost instantly, geek anger/elation/confusion happened, and talkbacks and message boards were filled with the usual mix of anger, joy, and cynicism that only Star Wars can cause among our kind. Of course, within 24 hours, a Lucasfilm representative chimed in and said the whole thing was bunk. No new Star Wars films were currently being planned. But some people, like Geek Godfather Harry Knowles of Aint It Cool News, swear up and down that their same sources at Lucasfilm are telling them that yes indeed, there is a new Star Wars trilogy planned, but no work has even started yet, so there is no real news to report. YET. They don’t want a near decade of anticipation and build up for something that may or may not happen. But that doesn’t mean no one at Skywalker Ranch isn’t talking about it, because it appears they are indeed.
The idea of an Episodes VII-X is not a new idea. Way back in the day, during the making of the original trilogy, the idea was to do Episodes I-III, and then do a sequel trilogy to the original films, Episodes VII –IX (there was even talk once of episodes X-XII, although that was very quickly discarded). Once George Lucas started making the prequels in the late 90’s though, he started backtracking on the earlier statements made about a nine episode saga. Back in 1999, when asked about sequels to Return of the Jedi, Lucas said “When you see it in six parts, you’ll understand. It really ends at part six.” This makes sense when you realize that at an earlier juncture, the events of Jedi would not have ended with a nice tiny bow and an Ewok party the way they did. Gary Kurtz, producer of A New Hope and The Empire Stikes Back, stated that at one time, Han Solo would have died in Episode VI, Leia would have become “Queen of her people” (um, weren’t they all space dust at that point?) and Luke’s search for his twin sister, who was not Leia, would have taken up the bulk of the Episodes VII-IX. Luke would not have even faced the Emperor until Episode IX, the very last one. Obviously, without Kurtz in the picture anymore, Lucas decided to wrap up everything in Return of the Jedi and call it a day, rendering the story ideas for Episodes VII-IX moot. So maybe what Lucas said was true….from a certain point of view. Sorry, I had to do that.
THE EVIDENCE FOR A NEW TRILOGY:
Despite any Lucasfilm denial, all the evidence is pointing to some kind of new Star Wars movies coming to the big screen. After all, Star Wars remains George Lucas’ main source of income. Sure, the cartoons and video games and toys generate revenue, but they generate way MORE revenue when there is a movie in the theaters. No matter how much money the other stuff makes, it always comes to down to the movies. Add to that the proposed Star Wars live action series doesn’t seem to be happening anymore; back in 2005, Lucas announced a live action Star Wars television series, set during the period following Episode III but before Episode IV. Five years later, and nothing has come of it, mostly due to Lucas realizing there is simply no cheap way to make Star Wars in live action on a weekly basis. If he abandons the live action tv idea, which would have required other writers and directors to play in his sandbox anyway, why not just do it for the big screen instead and make WAY more money that way?
Lucas has already announced his intentions of making 3D versions of the entire saga starting in 2012 with The Phantom Menace, and releasing one a year. That means Return of the Jedi will be released in 2017, which also happens to be the 40th Anniversary of the original Star Wars. The perfect time to release a new chapter in the saga, after a new generation has been introduced to it on the big screen over the past six years. The evidence is circumstantial, but eyebrow raising.
WHAT WE CAN EXPECT IF IT HAPPENS:
Fans can breathe a sigh of relief, because George Lucas almost certainly won’t direct it or write it. That you can count on. Lucas hates directing. He had a minor stress related heart attack on the set of the original Star Wars, which was one of the main reasons he didn’t direct Empire or Jedi. Over a decade later when he started work on the prequels, it was his BFF Steven Spielberg who essentially challenged ol’ George to get back in the saddle and write and direct the films himself (yeah, thanks for that one Stevie). Besides, when work starts on these, he is gonna be 70+ years in age. He is simply not going to want to do it himself anymore, especially since the main story he wanted to tell, the rise and fall and redemption of Darth Vader, is over and done with. With The Clone Wars animated series, Lucas has learned to throw out story ideas and concepts, and let others write and direct. If he can do that for the small screen, why not for the big screen?
An entire generation of film makers, specifically genre film makers, are doing what they do because Star Wars inspired them. When James Cameron saw the original movie, he quit his job as a trucker and decided to make movies for a living. People like Peter Jackson, Chris Nolan, JJ Abrams, Joss Whedon, Ronald D. Moore and countless others have all cited the classic films as part of the reason they became filmmakers. Most of them would jump at the chance to write and direct their own Star Wars movie. I don’t care how much you hated the prequels, don’t say that the notion of a Star Wars movie written and directed by Joss Whedon or Neil Blonkamp or JJ Abrams or any talented geek film maker out there doesn’t get you excited. The notion of any of these guys getting the chance to make kick ass Star Wars films should make you wanna get in line right now.
So What The Hell Would These Movies Even Be About?
The events immediately following Return of the Jedi have been well chronicled in the novels, comics and video games, known to geeks as the “Expanded Universe”. If Lucas had any intention of revisiting the characters of Leia, Han and Lando, he would of kept those characters off limits to writers, but he didn’t. I think it is safe to say any new Star Wars movie will not feature those characters and focus on a new group of younger characters in the galaxy far, far away (all except for one: Luke Skywalker. And the droids… but I’ll get to them in a moment). I imagine this new trilogy will take place at least fifty to a hundred years (or more) after Jedi, leaving the majority of the old characters dead from old age, so no explanation needed. So no senile Harrison Ford, not fat bitter Carrie Fisher in a gold bikini, and no Chewie either.
I believe the major exception to this is Luke Skywalker, who will likely be the wise old hermit wizard that Obi Wan and Yoda were. After re-establishing the Jedi Order and the New Republic, maybe Master Skywalker went into seclusion, becoming something a galactic myth? Maybe he is very long lived now, like Yoda, due to his strong connection to the force? None of that would render any novels or comics non-canon, but this could take place far enough ahead of them that the events in those books, official or not, would in no way need to be mentioned. Everybody wins.
This is even backed up by Luke himself; In a 2004 interview, Mark Hamill said that Lucas admitted as much to him back when they were making the original movie – “You know, when I first did this, it was four trilogies. 12 movies! And out on the desert, any time between setups…lots of free time. And George was talking about this whole thing. I said, ‘Why are you starting with IV, V and VI? It’s crazy.’ Lucas said ‘It’s the most commercial section of the movie.’ He said the first trilogy’s darker, more serious. And the impression I got, he said, ‘Um, how’d you like to be in Episode IX?’ This is 1976. ‘When is that going to be?’ ‘2011.’ I defy anyone to add 36 years to their lives and not be stunned. Even an eight year old is like, ‘No, I’ll never be 47.’ So I did the math and figured out how old I’d be. I said, ‘Well, what do you want me to do?’ He said, ‘You’ll just be like a cameo. You’ll be like Obi-Wan handing the lightsaber down to the next new hope.” George Lucas has later said this was just an off-hand comment. But I think there was more to it than that.
Cut to the near future; Mark Hammil will be just the right age at that point to play Luke again and be the “Crazy Old Ben” of this new episode. As Lucas said to Mark Hamill, I imagine he will pass on his lightsaber and knowledge (and probably his droids too, what would Star Wars be without R2 and 3PO?) to a new young pupil, and then will no doubt die while the new young pupil looks on, shades of Obi Wan Kenobi in A New Hope and Qui Gon Jinn in Phantom Menace. As for what the rest of the story could be, aside from adhering to the classic Joseph Campbell “Hero’s Journey” motif that Lucas so loves, it could be about almost anything. And that is what makes the prospect so damned cool….there is no “connecting of the dots” that bogged down so much of the prequels. This time, it would be a blank slate.
Star Wars is part of our culture in a way no other movie or movie series has ever been. Just in the last couple of years, how many Star Wars inspired youtube videos have you seen? Or Yoda backpacks on the street? Or Boba Fett hoodies? Star Wars is never, ever going to go away in our lifetimes, so I say this to George Lucas: why not let younger (better) filmmaker’s imaginations run wild in the galaxy you created, and the people who grew up with your movies and loved them might stop blaming you for raping their childhoods. Stranger things have happened.
