Lucas To Make New Live Action Star Wars Films

DrNASA writes "George Lucas says that he will make two more live-action films based in the "Star Wars" era. "But they won't have members of the Skywalker family as characters," he said."

Oh, boy!

[Black Parrot]

I'm already in line to miss them.

parts 3 and 4

[megacia]

of the ewok series! go wicket!

Re:parts 3 and 4

[techsoldaten]

Titles have already been leaked.

Star Wars 7: Return of the Ragnar

Star Wars 8: The Gammorean Strikes Back

M

Re:parts 3 and 4

[Curtman]

I guess we can assume the George Lucas To Quit Movie Business [slashdot.org] story is dead..

Re:parts 3 and 4

[anothy]

we should be so lucky. i'm expecting "Star Wars Episode 7: Jar Jar's Revenge" and "Star Wars Episode 8: Spawn of Jar Jar".

Re:parts 3 and 4

[simm1701]

Resevoir Jar Jar?

"Misa mistar Pink!"

"No no, yusa mistar blue!"

"No no Pink!! Misa Pink!!!"

Worth seeing for the seen where the cut BOTH of his ears off - otherwise I'd avoid it ;)

Re:

[Opportunist]

Hey, you want a blockbuster shocker splatter movie that every Star Wars fan will enjoy?

How about "Wookies and Ewoks on a Plane"?

Throw in Jar Jar (or rather, throw him out of that Plane and make that drop scene a reeeeeeally long one), and you have people lined up to see him in queues that you can see from the moon!

Re:Oh, boy!

[Anonymous Coward]

It is very likely that the piece simply refers to the two television series being put together, lucas calls them "live action films for tv". Try the dreaded aint-it-cool-news.com site for more details. (Nothing new to see here, move along or be pain-rayed...)

Re:Oh, boy!

[theNote]

I discounted the article as soon it compared Rush to Poison.

Re:Oh, boy!

[lastchance_000]

Good point, but he lost me when he called Lucas a genius.

Re:Oh, boy!

[StikyPad]

Well Lucas seems to think he's a genius, and if he thinks so, it must be true!

"Spider-Man 3." What did he think of it?

"It's silly. It's a silly movie," he said. "There just isn't much there. Once you take it all apart, there's not much story, is there?"

Well, it's not "Star Wars."

"People thought 'Star Wars' was silly, too," he added, with a wink. "But it wasn't."

He's such a genius that he's the only one who can see the brilliance in the new Star Wars.

Don't get me wrong, I thought Spidey 3 was by far the worst, but is was certainly no sillier than SW Episode 1 or 2.

Re:I discounted that bastard while parsing the hea

[miskatonic alumnus]

She's going play Empress Palpatine.

Re:Oh, boy!

[Paradise Pete]

Don't be so quick to laugh when someone calls a self-made millionaire a genius.

By that measure, Britney Spears is a genius.

Re:

[Hal_Porter]

"Undocumented MSDOS" once described MSDOS as being the most leveraged piece of code ever written because it was small (<100K) and licensed for a huge sum of money. So in terms of leveraging, if you had one talented person who earned a modest salary and one talentless one making millions, the talentless one is actually a genius at leveraging.

I'm sure all the slashdot elitists will whine about luck and marketing and so on, but consider the fact that there were lots of potential competitors to both DOS and

Re:Oh, boy!

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll probably go and watch them. In the cinema I will be screaming out implorations to merciful Allah for one thing, and one thing only. I don't care if Lucas plays all the parts, I don't care if he draws the lasers in crayon. All I want is the death of Jar Jar Binks.

Re:Oh, boy!

[techno-vampire]

All I want is the death of Jar Jar Binks.

I hates him, my Precious! Yes, I does. I hates that Binks for ever and ever, my Precious!

Re:Oh, boy!

[Jamu]

Jar Jar Binks was only added so we'd forget how much we hated the muppet from the Empire Strikes Back. I just don't want to think about what's in the new films that'll make me like Jar Jar Binks.

Re:

[Hal_Porter]

Yeah, the some of the audience cheered when Yoda did his athletic light saber fight in one of the prequels, but they still looked tired as they left the cinema.

I like to think that watching the same dire movie in the private cinema in his bunker, George Lucas got a little younger and thinner when that happened, as he sucked the life force out of them through the screen.

Re:

[nomadic]

I'll probably go and watch them. In the cinema I will be screaming out implorations

And people won't understand while you're screaming, because the movie won't be playing at the time you're there, since the article says they're going straight to TV.

what is that whoosing sound?

[Anonymous Coward]

It is the sound of a dead horse being well and truely flogged.

EWOKS!

[Jabbrwokk]

It's 1984 [imdb.com] and 1985 [imdb.com] all over again!

Re:Oh, boy!

[digitig]

"These are not the movies you are looking for."

Re:Oh, boy!

[trianglman]

Fortunately, its going right to TV, so all you have to do is set your Tivo/MythTV box to record something else.

Dramatic pause

[grasshoppa]

Nnnnooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Stupid lameness filter is causing issues

Re:Dramatic pause

[SpectreHiro]

I believe the Backstroke of the West [winterson.com] version is a little more appropriate.

Do not want!

Re:

[Rimbo]

Actually, that makes sense. For one thing, there's no literal equivalent to "no" or "yes" in Chinese. And for another, it sounds really good:

"BU YAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOO"

Excellent idea!

[Anonymous Coward]

Hopefully he will take a cue and make it similar to the "Holiday Special".

I can't wait to see the dynamics of Jar-Jar's family!

Re:Excellent idea!

[Robber Baron]

I can't wait to see the dynamics of Jar-Jar's family!

You got girlfriend in Naboo?
Meesa horny! Meesa horny!
Meesa love you longsa time!

Re:

[Rodness]

LOL!! I wish I had mod points for you! :)

Re:Excellent idea!

[hal2814]

That would be a most excellent twist of irony. After all, this is the same interview where he called Spiderman 3 silly. Spiderman 3 is a bit silly but for Lucas to call it that and then throw around the idea of doing two hour-long Star Wars movies without any Skywalkers in them?

Re:Excellent idea!

[nytes]

Personally, I'm holding out for him to finish his "Howard the Duck" trilogy.

I have always said

[geekoid]

the Star Wars universe would be a great setting for many different kinds of stories..then Timothy Zahn came along and proved me wrong.

Re:

[Harmonious Botch]

You still are correct: it is a great setting. All that Mr.Zahn has proven is that he can't write them.

Re:I have always said

[geekoid]

How cool would a Film Noir in Mos Eisley be?

Or a wandering Jedi, a'la Zatoichi?

The story of recovering the Death Star plans?

Re:

[TooMuchToDo]

.....all without George Lucas at the helm.

Re:

[Duhavid]

A blind Jedi wandering around, cutting people up?

It would not be unexpected that a Jedi could defend himself
without sight, so I dont think it would work. And the sword
slashing noises would be drowned out in the "woooz woooz"
noises. And no blood spurting everywhere. Nope.

Lana Turner and John Garfield in "The PostDroid always rings 2^32-1 times",
set on Tattoine? That works, sure.

Humphrey Bogart in "The Corusant Falcon"? Darth-Gutman searching
for a black bird? Wanted for the death of a furby?

Re:

[geekoid]

I was tlaking about the great story points, not the cutting people up points.
I know it's a little hard for some people to sit through the 'boring' no blood parts, much less relize there is a story there.

I also assumed the Jedi wouldn't be wearing a big fucking sign that says "I'm a Jedi, so never mind that I am blind".

gah. Your lack of vision is disturbing..or something

Re:

[Cervantes]

[quote]The story of recovering the Death Star plans?[/quote]

It's funny you should mention that... :)
"Star Wars: Secrets of the Rebellion" will deal with that very subject (amongst others)

Read more at www.xpressentertainment.ca

Re:I have always said

[Coryoth]

Zatoichi? Nah, Lucas should go back to ripping off Kurosawa. How about Seven samurai with six ex-jedi and one farmers son? Or perhaps a nice Star Wars version of Yojimbo and Sanjuro?

Re:

[Drooling Iguana]

They were also retrieved by the unnamed pilot in X-Wing. I think Dark Alliance also involved stealing the Death Star plans, although I haven't played the game.

Re:I have always said

[Schmiggy_JK]

You are kidding me right? Zahn's first three novels were probably better than most of george's scripts. George just cant do dialog. Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command aka the Thrawn trilogy is some of the best non cannon Star Wars works period.

Re:I have always said

[GrodinTierce]

I would have to emphatically disagree. I've always thought that the Thrawn trilogy was some of the best Star Wars writing out there, and it would have made a great conclusion to Lucas's original idea of a trilogy of trilogies if it had been done back in the 80s or 90s when it was still possible to use the original actors.

Re:

[ukemike]

The Continuing Adventures of Jar Jar Binks
or
The Star Wars Holiday Special, Special Edition
or
The Holiday Special Strikes Back
or
The Young Han Solo Adventures
or
Howard the Jedi Duck
or
Correllian Graffiti
or
Jar Jar Binks and the Temple of Dumb

Who here agrees that Lucas is just beating a dead bantha?

No Skywalkers?!?!

[Sponge Bath]

I guess that just leaves Jar Jar and the Ewoks.

TV not theaters

[Dr. Eggman]

He said they will be for TV, similar to the Clone Wars series, and about 1 hour long each. He's already said he resigned from making [theater] films and Indy 4 will be his last involvement.

Re:TV not theaters

[Original Replica]

Leaving film and going to TV makes me think Lucas doesn't know his own strengths. He definitely has a gift for grand scale epic imagery, but his interpersonal, small close scene kind of stuff sucks. Or to put it another way: his battle scenes are great, the emotional progress of Anakin into Vadar was crap.

Re:TV not theaters

[flanksteak]

Format is irrelevant. He can target them at IMAX or video cell phones, expectations will be low. Very low.

Re:

[malsdavis]

I couldn't agree more. Cut out all the emotional bullsh!t from the 3 recent movies and they would probably be quite good.

Well, the 2nd and 3rd ones at least, I don't think anything could save the Phantom Menace!

Re:

[Carnildo]

The Phantom Edit wasn't too bad.

Re:

[zippthorne]

And how do we know that Lucas hasn't been replaced by a sophisticated animatronic to fulfil the will of the com..mit..ee. The only facts we can be certain of is that

A) in light of the ET "guns->walkie talkies" incident and the "Greedo is an exceedingly bad shot" controversy and the "Let's include some comic relief that coincidentally is a derogatory racial reference that we obviously didn't intend" fiasco, his actions have been indistinguishable from those of a committee.

B) His most recent body appears

Re: TV not theaters

[Black Parrot]

Indy 4 will be his last involvement

Hopefully the plot involves finding and destroying the Hell Gate whence bad sequels are colonizing our universe.

Cool!

[__aaclcg7560]

"The Return Of Jar-Jar" and "The Children of Jar-Jar" will probably kill Star Wars this time around.

Re:

[BaldingByMicrosoft]

How about "The Making of The Children of Jar-Jar"... OMG no, wait...

Re:

[ipb]

'Jar-Jar the Next Generation' ?

Re:Cool!

[owlnation]

Me-sa love you long time, Mii-stah Jedi?

That tongue is just crying out for a porn movie. Might finally give him credibility.

I checked TFA...

[glittalogik]

...but there was no mention of Lucas laughing maniacally as lightning crashed behind him. It would havce seemed appropriate.

Best Headline Ever!!

[rlp]

On Topic: Best headline ever [wjla.com].

Re:Best Headline Ever!!

[gardyloo]

From the article:

Some in the crowd screamed as he splashed loudly into the Han, followed about a second later by his pole.

If ever there was a place for a disturbance in the Force, that's it.

A bold new direction from Lucas

[l0ungeb0y]

He's gone from mere milking the franchise to raping it. There's little doubt now (in my mind at least) that he has no new ideas, can't be bothered to push himself to come up with something new, so he's gonna fuck his legacy in the ass till it's seen as nothing more than some cheap little whore.

And there's nothing anyone can do to stop it, because it wont matter how bad it sucks (and it WILL suck), it will make mountains of money.

Re:

[geekoid]

I thought the Clone wars animated series was really good.

Re:A bold new direction from Lucas

[ArsonSmith]

luckily Lucas did little more than sign off on The Clone Wars cartoon of which was really good. I'm not a rabid Lucas molested my inner child type, but I do see that EpI was horrible, EpII was slightly less horrible, EpIII improved upon that to be merely bad. He is improving, and I did really enjoy 2 & 3 despite the warts.

And that's the point...all he did was OK it.

[MsGeek]

The "Clone Wars" shorts gave me back my love of Star Wars. Unfortunately Genndy Tartakovsky is not involved in the upcoming CGI series but from what I understand the people at the helm of that (no, not Lucas, Lucas is just bankrolling it) are similarly SW fans with a major love of animation as a form of cinema.

If these movies have a prayer of being good, he should pay Lawrence Kasdan silly money to write the screenplay, point him in the direction he wants him to write, and stand back and let him do it. Or m

Re:

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"I thought the Clone wars animated series was really good."

True, but look at the 3 recent movies Lucas had a lot more involvement with.

Re:A bold new direction from Lucas

[geekoid]

I am still optimistic...of course I am also George Lucas's bitch.

The one thing it has going with it is no attachment to previous films.

If epI/II/III* were the first in the filming series they would be considered kick ass, but week on story.

A new character in the universe might be less restraining..OTOH we may have another Wookie Christmas on our hands.

*hey look perl code! ;)

Re:A bold new direction from Lucas

[Original Replica]

of course I am also George Lucas's bitch.

If you were a whiney bitch, you could be a lead character.

Re:

[maxwell demon]

Would people please stop using the term "rape" in totally inappropriate and inapplicable situations?

You mean, because it's raping the language? :-)

I feel a disturbance in the force...

[Anonymous Coward]

as if millions of Star Wars fans cried out in horror and fainted.

Re:

[ScrewMaster]

I'd say more as if "millions of ex-Star Wars fans yawned and went back to watching Stargate."

The Mandalorian Armor

[malsdavis]

I'm hoping it's an adaptation of "The Mandalorian Armor". I was always told this was be the natural next progression after Return of the Jedi.

Re:The Mandalorian Armor

[BaldingByMicrosoft]

Maybe close. But it'll probably come out more like "The Mandalorian Armior", featuring the life and times of force-sensitive furniture. Beware the Sith folding chair...

Help me here...

[iknownuttin]

FTF: Gathered at Jazz at Lincoln Center for this spectacular annual event were: "Star Wars" director Lucas with his lady-friend Melody Hobson; presidential hopeful John Edwards with his wife Elizabeth; Queen Raina of Jordan,

and...

But of course, we were most interested in talking with George Lucas, the affable genius film director who occasionally graces us in New York with an appearance. Lucas is absolutely one of my favorite people, a lovely guy who seems unaffected by his enormous success. Lucas is curr

Re:

[geekoid]

It is a typical celeb piece.

Not PR. There is a difference.

If you have never been involved in 'the industry'(be 'the industry' I mean 'The business':) then it makes little sense. Seems like a list of names.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[Darundal]

I mean when he picked good actors (which he DID DO with all of the star wars movies, just look at ANYTHING ELSE they have been in) and didn't direct his movies in such a way that all the characters deliver all the lines with the passion and infliction of a soggy cardboard box. Regarding the new "movies" he is making, the only line I can come up with is "DO NOT WANT!!!!!!"

Hmm

[Reality Master 101]

Before I tell you what George Lucas said at the all-star Time magazine dinner for the 100 most influential people, let's cut to the chase: Cate Blanchett arrived and looked gorgeous. She looked completely unlike the picture that ran everywhere Tuesday that depicted her as an anorexic skeleton.

To paraphrase The Princess Bride, I don't think 'gorgeous' and 'anorexic' mean what you think they mean.

-shudder- That is one seriously disturbing picture.

Re:

[Doctor Faustus]

It took me a minute, but I think that was the bad picture that appeared in the article.

Re:

[alphaseven]

That distrubing picture shown is the one where she looked anorexic (and it was probably just bad makeup and lighting). Linked below are the photos from the Time magazine party where she looked "gorgeous". They ran the wrong picture with the story.

http://justjared.buzznet.com/2007/05/09/cate-blanc hett-skinny/ [buzznet.com]

Just one word:

[mobby_6kl]

Do not want.

Well, it was supposed to be one word.

Poll Topic!

[raehl]

Next two Star Wars films:

Valentine's Day Special
St. Patrick's Day Special
Easter Special
Memorial Day Special
Independence Day Special
Labor Day Special
Halloween Special
Thanksgiving Special

Re: Poll Topic!

[Black Parrot]

Don't forget the "George Needs a New Yacht Special".

I admit being cautiously optimistic....until...

[Karl Cocknozzle]

The two extra films will also be made for TV and probably be an hour long each.

...and then you lost me.

Penny Arcade

[Gamefreak99]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2004/20040922l. jpg [penny-arcade.com]

Solo and Chewbacca

[camperdave]

I have always thought that Pat Mastroianni [sprawlmagazine.com] would make a good Han Solo (since Harrison Ford is getting a little on the old side). A few rollicking Solo and Chewbacca adventures (and I mean adventures, not soap operas) geared more for the grown up crowd might just hit the spot. George just needs to get a competent author to put together the right script and he could conceivably get the Star Wars train wreck back on the tracks.

Why?

[MeanderingMind]

George Lucas: You don't know how hard I found it, signing the order to make TV movies.
Fans: We're surprised that you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself.
George Lucas: My fandom, before you're penniless, you will join me in television mediocrity that will make this universal desecration (and my wallet) complete. No Star Wars fan will dare oppose my Canon now.
Fans: The more you tighten your grip, George, the more fan boys will slip through your fingers.

Oblig...

[ebbomega]

That's the worst fucking idea I've heard since I was a padawan!

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Skywalkers irrelevent

[Repton]

Everyone knows that R2D2 is the true hero of Star Wars..

Hopeful!

[josteos]

Wouldn't this make it better?

"George Lucas says that he will make two more live-action films based in the "Star Wars" era. "But they won't have members of the Lucas family as writers, directors, or producers," he said."

How about the story of the contractors ...

[soupinpa]

who worked on the death star. Tell us the story of how those contracts came in, and follow these contractors through to the destruction of the second death star. Perhaps Randall will stop ranting about how they were innocent bystanders in this conflict.

Asbestos underwear on

[ObiWanStevobi]

A big middle finger in the air to all those Lucas haters out there.

There are alot of stories in the Star Wars universe that can be done and done well. The KOTOR games created some really good stories. There are lots of possibilities with the old republic, Mandalorian wars, Sith Lore, etc. that would make great stories.

Lucas wrote and directed some of the best movies ever made. Only in comparison to the Original trilogy can the new Star Wars movies be considered somehow weak. Lucas still makes great movies.

For those out there griping and complaining, all I can say is save your money and go watch Delta Farce 2, or whatever else it is you are going to be watching that is so darn great.

can be done and done well

[nurb432]

Sure of course there is potential, but Lucas wont do it. Hes proven his time has come and gone and needs to turn over control to a new generation.

Re:Asbestos underwear on

[GaryPatterson]

Visually, all of the Star Wars movies are great. The writing in episodes 4, 5 and 6 was pretty good too. While the visuals have only gone from strength to strength and the overal plot of the rise of Palpatine is impressive, the writing has plummeted in quality.

Anyone who expects Natalie Portman to deliver the line "Hold me like you did on Naboo" without the entire audience laughing at the absurdity of it, or gives Ewan Macgregor the immortal line "He killed the younglings!" has to face facts: writing is not their forte. Lucas should let better authors write and stick to directing.

I've seen them all in the cinemas, played some games, enjoy the backstory and own the DVDs, but I try to skip the dialogue as much as possible in the new films. It's Lucas' Achilles Heel.

Oh you mean...

[OakLEE]

Great non-Skywalker family films like this one. [wikipedia.org] Or maybe this masterpiece [wikipedia.org].

OMG Lucas, you just like to jab that knife in and keep on twisting, don't you? What do we have to look forward to now, a story about the Gungans? I might actually see that... if they use the Death Star to blow Naboo up in the first five minutes of the film. Or better yet, how about a story about Wookies? We could expand upon the great festive celebration that is Life Day [wikipedia.org]! Oh how I would love to see Itchy, Mala, and Lumpy (yes, L

He's still going to be short by one.

[argent]

He needs to make *three* more, to complete the nine episodes he originally promised.

"Well, is this the end of the flick?! Hey! Is it a "wrap"?"

"Not quite, Luke. I have six more "Star Wars" chapters to go. We should get to them all by... oh, 1998."

"1998, Mr. Lucas?"

"Yes... yes, I think so..."

Fx: *FOOSH* (lightsaber whacking Lucas' head off)

"Jedi knights don't wait 15 years for a sequel."

Optimist.

Something doesn't jive...

[jcuervo]

Lucas, by the way, says he is readying "Clone Wars," an animated series for TV that's derived from "Star Wars." Many "Star Wars" characters appear in "Clone Wars," but voiced by other actors.

Okay, so, Spiderman 3 is out, but he's "readying" Clone Wars? Is there a new version of the toon coming out, or what?

Let me be the first to suggest

[muellerr1]

'A Gungan Christmas'

Jedi battles on speed

[LoudMusic]

I'd like to see masses of Jedi and Sith battling over territory and the minds of the weak. It could actually be good. Jedi and Sith from all the familiar species and a bunch of new ones.

http://starwars.carrotnetwork.com/jediepisode2.jpg [carrotnetwork.com]

You know you want it too.

Re:Just what I dreamed of!

[teslar]

I've got a bad feeling about this....

Re:Just what I dreamed of!

[cashman73]

The only plot of a successful Jar Jar Binks-based movie might be something like, Gungans on a Plane! They could re-cast Samuel L. Jackson back into his role as Mace Windu. It would be an epic tale of the Jedi Master in his early days battling the evil Gungans on the planet Naboo, ultimatel forcing their whole civilization into exile to live beneath the waters of the planet forever, hoping they'd be forgotten (until discovered in ep. 1 by Qui Gon and Obi Wan).

"I am sick and tired of these mother-f**king Gungans . . . on this mother-f**king starship!"

Hmm, come to think if it, I might actually pay to see this movie! ;-)

Gungan Babies

[Telepathetic Man]

Kinda like the muppet babies, only more Rastafarian influence.