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If there was ever a project that shouldn't be rushed, this is it.

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Definitely agree with this. I hope they don't get greedy! (Or is that too much to ask of Disney?)

Just FYI, there's a lot of talk lately that it's going to be a female protagonist this go around. Would be a welcomed change of pace, as far as I'm concerned...

Lara Croft Jedi Knight

Would you rather see yet another male Skywalker? And if not a Skywalker, it would likely be in the same mold as Luke / Anakin. J.J. has tons of experience / is great with female protagonists. Felicity, Alias, etc. I agree that they could do better than a Lara Croft-ish take, but I doubt that's the road they'd go down.

I admit as a full grown male, I would enjoy some eye candy as the lead role, but I don't want a female lead for the sake of PCness or ratings.

I don't think they'd be doing it out of PCness, but ratings probably, yeah. Especially with the popularity of The Hunger Games, etc. Though, I really do think that the main reason would have to do with just simply not wanting to follow yet another male protagonist in his late-teens, early-20s. We've seen that particular coming-of-age story twice now - over two generations - throughout six movies. It'd almost have to be a female this go around. Plus, they'll have plenty of opportunities for male protagonists in the other Star Wars movies they're developing, like the one Zack Snyder is rumored to be making.

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I remember the guy I knew on FR that wrote for TheForce he went by Darth Sidious but I can't remember his real name.

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The discussion of theForce.net got me thinking about the PM and EU. I swear it was on theForce.net message boards and the Darth Sidious tag reminded me of some fan who wrote a mocking script combining characters from PM and EU. His username was Darth "??" can't remember. It was funny as hell and pages and pages long.

I c&p the text to Word and saved it but I have no idea where it is now. Had me falling out of my chair when I read it.

A lot of EU nerds got really upset about it and complained and threatened the original poster but he hit so many home runs with it.

The Emperor was a tired old man frustrated with all the incompetance around him. He had a 'long lost son' (based on EU Character?) who was basically a whiny teenager. Mara Jade was a bimbo but he "hand" (again, EU reference).

I can't remember it all anymore. I'm sure it's out there on the internet somewhere.



[This message has been edited by agracer (edited 1/28/2013 1:55p).]

What is Episode VII supposed to be about and what period does it cover?

What's EU?

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What is Episode VII supposed to be about and what period does it cover?

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No one has any idea yet what it's about. That information hasn't leaked, and probably won't for quite some time. However, it has been all but confirmed that Mark Hamill will have a potentially decent-sized role, his (much older) Luke Skywalker likely serving as the Obi-Wan type of at least this first new film. Both Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford are heavily rumored to have cameo-type roles as well, if not slightly more significant roles than just cameos. So that tells you what period it'll cover. Basically, it's "the next generation," we just don't know whose kid or kids it'll be focused on. Like I said above, the rumor is that it's a female protagonist this go around, but whether or not she's Luke's kid, Leia & Han's kid, or isn't related to the Skywalkers at all is yet to be determined. My guess is the later.

[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 1/28/2013 2:15p).]

I wonder if they will use fiction from the volumes of books that were written after the original trilogy as a base of naything they use in this movie.

In the books, Luke was running a Jedi Training camp in Yavin and I read somewhere that it was rumored that some of the shooting was going to take place in Honduras, where parts of Ep IV were shot.

Mark Hamill will need to get himself back into shape...he does not look good now.

I hope Carrie Fisher doesn't try to get into that bikini this time around.

I wonder if they'd adapt an EU story to a new trilogy on a later timeline. A heavily adapted Thrawn trilogy told through the eyes of Mara Jade might be cool.

I would love to see Thrawn in the new movie. Talk about a fantastic villian.

They are going to have to set this movie, what, 30 years in the future in the Star Wars universe? That could present some problems with portraying the Empire as the villian again.

I think the hardest part will be the connection the fans feel with a new set of characters. There was literally no rooting for any of the characters in the prequels, even with the long Padme funeral scene (at least for me).

J.J. Abrams has worked wonders for Star Trek (different problem set) but I fear Disney might be going back to the inkwell one too many times for Star Wars.

sorry... from the first page.

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Intriguing ... Abrams is hit or miss

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Directing/Writing/Producing credits

MI: Ghost Protocol
Super 8
Morning Glory
Star Trek
Cloverfield
MI3
Armageddon
Forever Young

That's a solid list of movies that don't really suck in my opinion. I guess you could debate Armageddon though.

MI: Ghost Protocol - meh
Super 8 - sucked
Morning Glory - never heard of it
Star Trek - ok, not great
Cloverfield - my ass on the screen for 2 hours would have been better. only movie I have ever been to where people boo'd
MI3 - ok, not great
Armageddon - terrible
Forever Young - never heard of it.

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Forever Young - never heard of it.

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aaaaand this is why your opinion means pretty much nothing.

Super 8 was pretty damn good btw. Just ended poorly.

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MI: Ghost Protocol - meh
Super 8 - sucked
Morning Glory - never heard of it
Star Trek - ok, not great
Cloverfield - my ass on the screen for 2 hours would have been better. only movie I have ever been to where people boo'd
MI3 - ok, not great
Armageddon - terrible
Forever Young - never heard of it.

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So what movies do you like, exactly?

And how have you never heard of Forever Young?

Ghost Protocol and MI3 were heads and tails above the first 2...Not even close.

The only movie on that list that (IMO) was below average was Morning Glory and it was funny.

Morning Glory is one of the few chick flicks I truly don't mind watcing one iota.

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What's EU?

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Extended Universe. The litany of books that came after the original trilogy and before Eps 1-3 (some came after as well).

I haven't seen Morning Glory, but of all his other movies, I thought they were all good. Star Trek was the only one I thought was great. His tv shows have really taken a nosedive though. Even Fringe, which I loved, really tanked for me the last two seasons. The last season was like pulling teeth trying to get through it. The Undercovers was beyond dumb, Alcatraz took forever to figure out where it was going and I stopped watching Revolution after 3-4 episodes.

Honestly we really need to look at directing. Several of those movies listed are movies he produced or wrote. He was brought onto Star Wars to direct, and someone else is writing the script.

So what's his movie directing credits?

MI3
Star Trek
Super 8
Star Trek 2

As far a directing, you have to admit that while the list is short, he is quite capable of directing a very good Star Wars movie.

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So what movies do you like, exactly? The list is too long and diverse to really mention.

And how have you never heard of Forever Young? I was pretty much drunk for 1992.

Ghost Protocol and MI3 were heads and tails above the first 2...Not even close. not very impressive bar setting. I will say that the directing was good in MI3

The only movie on that list that (IMO) was below average was Morning Glory and it was funny.

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Star trek was good but the lens flare annoyed me.

So there is a diverse list of movies that JJ Abrams has worked on (Sci Fi, RomCom, Action) and you can't list any movies in those genres that you like?

If you didn't like Ghost Protocol and MI3, what action movies did you like? I am not a Mission Impossible fan by any means but the two listed above didn't fail by any standards and had some pretty good action scenes.

obviously not Oscar winners by any stretch of the imagination but the original Star Wars didn't exactly have the most amazing dialogue out there.

If you didn't think Star Wars was great, which recent Sci Fi movies do you think are better?

And if you are not pleased by this news, who would you prefer direct a new Star Wars Movie?

I guess I should ask, what don't you like about J. J. Abrams directing this movie other than lens flare?

[This message has been edited by Lestat02 (edited 1/29/2013 3:17p).]

I never understood the lens flare gripe. I never really even noticed until everyone starting *****ing about it.

Mara Jade would be awesome, but would be difficult to do without messing with the canon (A) you would have to show her involvement as Emperor's Hand, (B) unless you went early Mara, would have to increase Hamill's role since she marries Luke, and (C) would be boxed into the EU events since she is dead.

On the other hand, I would be tempted to go with Jaina Solo as a lead. Play up the whole "Sword of the Jedi" thing whether you go with an already written storyline or one that has not been written yet.

The nice thing with Jaina is you get a female Jedi with attitude (a Jedi with the Han Solo rogue personality), you have the natural tie-in with Han, Leia, and Luke (affords for cameos and continuity), and it gives you the opportunity to make a movie that does not contradict or violate the EU but also is completely new (instead of adapting a novel into a screenplay).

That would be my vote. As awesome as I think it would be to put the Thrawn trilogy on film, I think they want to go into uncharted territory here, which means not something already written. Yet to do so, you have to be careful not to mess up the EU canon. A completely new character could work (a grown up Allana Solo would also be a possibility), but I think Jaina Solo is the way to go.

[This message has been edited by aggiebame (edited 1/29/2013 3:39p).]

Is EU considered official Canon by Lucas?

Just FYI, Lucasfilm has explicitly stated that the new films will not take from, or adapt in any way, the EU. There may be inevitable similarities here and there, but it's going to be a completely fresh / new story.

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I never understood the lens flare gripe. I never really even noticed until everyone starting *****ing about it.

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Don't feel bad man, I feel the same way.

Duncan Idaho just seems like the type of person you don't want to hang out with. Let me guess, you're favorite movies are Dr. Strangelove, The Godfather Part II, 2001: A space Odyssey, and Citizen Kane.

Some people are hating on Abrams way too freaking hard. The guy makes movies people want to see and enjoy watching. Are they Oscar worthy? No; but most movies are not. Hell, every year all but 1 best picture nominee looks like a steaming pile of boring and not something I want to waste my time with.

I go to the movies to get lost in a different world and be entertained as do the VAST majority of people. We are not all elitist movie intellectuals who dissect scripts and hate them if they are not the single greatest pieces of writing in the history of cinema.

with the exception of lost, i've enjoyed most of his TV work

out of the names I saw bantered about for this gig, the one that intrigued me the most was Brad Bird.

Granted he has been primarily doing animation but he hasn't missed yet.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

2007 Ratatouille

2005 Jack-Jack Attack (video short)

2004 The Incredibles

1999 The Iron Giant

1990-1991 The Simpsons (TV series)
– Like Father, Like Clown (1991)
– Krusty Gets Busted (1990)

as far as my favorite scifi:

I will just be lazy and go down this list. http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/09/14/top-25-sci-fi-movies-of-all-time
district 9 was good
Moon was great
avatar was good for what it was
jurasic park was fun, the later ones sucked
close encounters was great
brazil was great for what it is but then I love pretty much everything Gilliam has done
bttf was fun
I would love to see an entire print of metropolis
the original body snatchers was good
kahn was the best star trek
wouldn't call Clockwork scifi but it was awesome
et was meh
alien great. aliens greater
t2 really good
road warrior was great, all of the others sucked ass
the matrix was a very important movie. all the others were bigger abortions than the last 3 star wars movies made.
planet of the apes was incrediable for titstime and still holds up today.
I loved Empire. Hated Return.
2001 was worth a watch and is one of the most visually stunning movies
Blade runner was fantastic but I wouldn't put it at number one

Stuff not listed

The new battlestar was greatness
Primer was awesome
firefly was great

Interesting list. Thanks for posting.

Sounds like you like movies that have more plot than action. Other than avatar.

Not going to fault your list because of the whole different strokes thing, but it really doesn't sound like you have a good reason for not wanting abrams to direct this. Star Wars was supposed to be a campy space opera, not a Magnus opus.

[This message has been edited by Lestat02 (edited 1/29/2013 6:36p).]

One thing that I really liked about Star Wars that Lucas did, and even in the 3 prequels is the multi front battle.

IMO, RotJ pulls this off the best. The deathstar space battle which hinged on the Endor battle happening at the same time all while the Emperor/Darth/Luke battle overshadowed them both.

The pacing was perfect. The perfect amount of seriousness mixed in with the right amount of comic relief.

Other than the outright feel of the story as far as the director goes, I think this is something that I really want to experience again in the upcoming sequels.

Everyone is looking at this as a "Star Wars doesn't need another teenage boy coming of age story" and saying they should do a female coming of age story, but I kind of think that is the wrong variable to flip. I'd like to see a Star Wars movie that isn't a coming of age story. It's a dirty universe; have a mature hero, or even anti-hero. I know that Star Wars isn't exactly an action movie, but it has action elements and I've never found females particularly convincing in action roles. Always comes off feeling like girl power BS, and it would be a shame to do that to Star Wars.

...and if Luke is going to be a significant character, to do it in the EU they will have to do NJO or later to use Mark Hamill so Thrawn is off the table. That said, it sounds like they have no intention of using EU material.

And someone mentioned EU being produced predominantly pre-prequels, but that is far from true. Star Wars stuff has been churning out at a ridiculous pace over the last 10 years.