Couple of random thoughts I had while browsing reddit this morning...

I hope this is a detail I've forgotten in the movie (planning a full marathon next week), but -- in TPM, what was Maul's actual mission on Tatooine? To capture Padme? Or to attack/intimidate but not kill the Jedi?

Furthermore, how did Palpatine even know they were on Tatooine? I believe there might be one quick line about tracking Padme's ship, but I can't remember very well.

His mission was to capture the queen and return her to Naboo to sign the treaty. I'm not sure on the 2nd ?.

They were not supposed to send out or receive any communication, but they did anyway on the ship, so Maul knew they were on the planet but not where on the planet.

Yes, true. I remember the treaty but thought this only came in once she was on Coruscant.

They receive Sio Bibble's message, but we are to assume that Sio Bibble is sending it under the command of the Trade Federation since he's already been captured. Probably had a tracer on it so that when the ship read it, they were close enough to Tatooine for the Sith to guess that's where they were headed.

It's great to watch TPM again through the lens of the Darth Plagueis novel.

Here is the scene.


Move against the Jedi first. Take the queen to Naboo to sign the treaty.

Thanks.

wait, I thought Luke died in The Last Jedi

Luke's force ghost is gonna punch the emo out of Kylo.

https://www.indiewire.com/2019/12/star-wars-george-lucas-cut-prequel-trilogy-best-lightsaber-fight-1202196635/

This is a great point. Basically, I wonder if it would have worked better if the roles were switched; the original three front and center with the new characters in the background (as opposed to what we got/vice versa). That approach might have very well brought its own problems, but all I know for sure is that we needed more of the original three, and more of them together. I've said it a dozen times before, but I still can't believe we didn't get even a single scene of them all together. As weird as it'd be now, I wonder if there's any way to retcon that in TROS?

TCTTS said:

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https://www.indiewire.com/2019/12/star-wars-george-lucas-cut-prequel-trilogy-best-lightsaber-fight-1202196635/

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I was prepared to be angry about this, then read it was a fight with droids. Meh.

On the 5th day till Sithmas, my true love gave to me...

Eight Lukes a-milking,
Seven porgs a-roasting,
Six buns of Leia,
Five Golden Rods,
Four falling Sheevs,
Three hench of Ren,
Two crystal foxes,
And a Baby Yoda in a force tree.

That's about right.

I'm still not sure if that's Hayden's worst scene or his best.

On the 4th day till Sithmas, my true love gave to me...

Nine Tauntauns freezing (before they reach the first marker),
Eight Lukes a-milking,
Seven porgs a-roasting,
Six buns of Leia,
Five Golden Rods,
Four falling Sheevs,
Three hench of Ren,
Two crystal foxes,
And a Baby Yoda in a force tree.

Not only does this week mark the end of the Skywalker Saga, it might very well mark the end of the trilogy format in the Star Wars franchise going forward...

Quote:

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The next "Star Wars" film is expected to arrive in 2022, and that's essentially all that's known about it. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has an idea for a "Star Wars" movie, but it's in the early stages, according to Kennedy. Rian Johnson, who wrote and directed "The Last Jedi," is also developing more "Star Wars" films.

Kennedy said she plans to make key decisions about the direction of the franchise in the coming weeks. But some things she already knows. While the "Skywalker" saga is ending, the company won't abandon the characters created in the most recent trilogy. Additionally, she said, the plan is to move beyond trilogies, which can be restricting.

"I think it gives us a more open-ended view of storytelling and doesn't lock us into this three-act structure," she said. "We're not going to have some finite number and fit it into a box. We're really going to let the story dictate that."

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https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2019-12-15/kathleen-kennedy-lucasfilm-the-last-jedi-the-mandalorian

That's not to say there won't be trilogies going forward, just that they're not outright planning them from get-go, it sounds like.

Thoughts?

Is Lucasfilm setting itself up for even more unmapped-in-advance arcs going forward (a la the sequel trilogy), and thus more fan frustration, or does their openness to whatever sticks signal a Marvel-esque strategy, and thus more potential for success?

I think this will be a refreshing change of pace. Gives more opportunity for one-off, riskier, and possibly darker movies going forward. It's much easier to do that when you don't have the weight of a trilogy on your shoulders.

I also think this will open up the gates for more spec scripts being brought to Lucasfilm, which can only be a good thing.

Question for TC, how do writers go about getting their scripts into the right hands, ie Kathy Kennedy? I suppose you need to have the right connections or have a solid resume under your belt?

The thought of that gives me a raging nerd boner.

We already have Coruscant, which might as well be LA in Blade Runner.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Question for TC, how do writers go about getting their scripts into the right hands, ie Kathy Kennedy? I suppose you need to have the right connections or have a solid resume under your belt?

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Basically, it doesn't happen. Most sane, professional writers wouldn't waste their time (and thus money) writing Star Wars spec scripts. Right now, as I understand it, Kennedy & co set up "general" meetings with writers whom Kennedy & co reach out to. These meetings are mainly to gauge compatibility/interest/etc. Maybe Kennedy & co have an idea they're trying to pair with a writer, or the writer happens to have an idea for a pitch in the meeting, and Kennedy then gives the okay to develop it a bit more and come back and officially pitch. But yeah, unless you're a big-name writer or have inner-circle Lucasfilm connections, it's rare that the writer initiates the meeting/interest and not vice versa.

That said, if a professional writer was stupid enough (or bold enough, depending on how you look at it) to waste their time writing a Star Wars spec script, and it happened to be amazing, I'm sure that writer's agency would find a way to get it to Lucasfilm. It's not *that* hard to get it to them. I'm just saying, I seriously doubt that's ever happened mostly because a professional writer usually can't afford to waste that much time developing something that literally only one company could buy.

As an amateur writer, with the SW idea I'm thinking of developing, for instance, it would have to be a situation in which I spent minimal time - like four or five hours a week - developing it over the next year and a half or so. Then hope that one of my other scripts I take out over the next couple of years catches the attention of Lucasfilm, the chances of which are obviously astronomically low. So then it comes down to whether I'd be dumb enough to then waste the time it would take to actually write on my own time (thus taking away time from another script I was either paid to write or had a better chance of selling), and then hope it was good enough for my agency to send it to Lucasfilm, the chances of which are also astronomically low.

In other words, I'd be shocked if any serious/legit writer in history has ever decided to spend six-ish months developing and writing a Star Wars script in hopes of selling it to only *one* possible company (Lucasfilm) vs either getting paid to write something for another company, or writing something that could potentially sell to *dozens* of companies.