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January 2013

January 29, 2013

1983 Nightline Clip Offers Critical Slapfight Nostalgia Over Star Wars

If the Internet chatter over Star Wars and Disney, J.J. Abrams, and the quality of everything from the Clone Wars series to Hasbro's latest Star Wars action figures has you down, you may appreciate this segment from a 1983 installment of Nightline, offered up by ABC's website today.

Watch Siskel and Ebert duke it out with a stodgy sourpuss with a vaguely foreign, wannabe erudite-souding accent in the wake of the release of Return of the Jedi. And while you baulk, appreciate that Star Wars nay-saying is as old as Star Wars itself. It might help you tune out some of the static going around 30 years later.

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January 28, 2013

Star Wars 3D Releases of Episodes II & III Postponed Indefinitely

After a quick burst of online rumors, the official Star Wars site confirmed today that the theatrical releases of Star Wars Episodes II & III, which had been slated for releases in the Fall of 2013 are being postponed. The short statement made no mention of a new time frame or strategy for the 3D releases of the two prequel films. The entire statement read:

"Lucasfilm has decided to postpone this fall's scheduled release of Star Wars Episodes II and III in 3D. Given the recent development that we are moving forward with a new Star Wars trilogy, we will now focus 100 percent of our efforts on Star Wars: Episode VII in order to ensure the best possible experience for our fans. We will post further information about our 3D release plans at a later date."

Could this postponement have anything to do with the acceptance of the director's job by J.J. Abrams? The announcement that he was officially on board was absent of any mention of the previously cited projected release year of 2015. As Abrams has a track record of pushing projects like "Star Trek", the 3D re-releases could have been tossed aside in a herculean effort to keep to the Disney plan for 2015 instead agreeing to a push. Time will tell. But one thing is becoming clearer each day lately - the way information about the future of Star Wars surfaces is changing as the decisions about the future Star Wars are moving from one place to another. As a result, it seems like rumors are leaking in new ways. And that's causing a bit of Internet "whack-a-mole" for the publicity folks at Lucasfilm, and presumably Disney.

It's such a promising time for Star Wars. Optimistic fans have to hope that the right hands (in the right number) will guide them into a fantastic new "Sequel Era" in the history of Star Wars. For the time being, anyone who got their green Attack of the Clones 3D glasses last summer at Celebration VI might have a real collector items on their hands.

January 25, 2013

Disney Confirms J.J. Abrams to Direct Star Wars 7, Lucasfilm Responds via Official Site

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.

The Official Star Wars site added the following reactions from past key Star Wars creatives:

Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren, ASC, whose credits include the original Star Wars trilogy as well as landmark films such as E.T. and Jurassic Park, also worked with Abrams on Super 8. "He puts everything he has into his work," said Muren. "He totally immerses himself. He's got such a visual eye, which is so important to the Star Wars films. It seems that a lot of the same things that were in George when he made the first Star Wars films are also in J.J. I think he's going to fit into the other movies perfectly, with the energy that J.J. has. We're kick-starting Star Wars again with dynamite. It will knock people out, including the people who get to work on it. I think it's a great choice."

Ben Burtt, responsible for such iconic Star Wars sounds as Darth Vader's breathing, R2-D2's beeps and the classic lightsaber, has worked with Abrams as sound designer and sound editor on Star Trek and Super 8. "J.J represents the next generation of filmmakers from those that were making Star Wars when I started," said Ben Burtt. "When he was a teen, he was a fan of Star Wars, and a great deal of his love for movies came out of his reaction of that first Star Wars film. You feel that he's already invested so many years in it, and he's going to propel it forward in a new way. In other words, you're having a fan who has grown up and developed tremendous directorial skills finding himself at the steering wheel to take the franchise into the next stage. I feel like I'm there watching history turn over from one era to another."

Matthew Wood, who served as supervising sound editor on Super 8, similarly grew up as a Star Wars fan before working on the films through the prequels. "Working with him, it was so obvious to me that J.J. and I have the same nostalgic love of that era. Now we have someone from that generation who is going to be at the helm of the Star Wars franchise that I've known and worked on, so it's a great circle. Just seeing what he did with Super 8 and capturing those moments, and knowing what was so special about that era, it's going to speak to a new generation of audience as well."