Star Wars Episode 7

[Gaz]

Disney have bought Lucasfilm and announced Star Wars Episode 7.

This just seems like some kind of weird joke. I'm not completely against this and it could lead to something good but it just seems a bit pointless. Still, if Disney own the rights now maybe they will release the unaltered versions of the original trilogy.

[Brazillian Cara]

First they buy Marvel, now they bought Lucasfilm, and in-between they started making decent original cartoons. Just what the hell is going on.

[Radrappy]

It's pretty creepy how much stuff Disney is snapping up but on the other hand it's not as if the franchise was improving independently. I think if the prequels are any indication, it can't possibly get much worse.

[Tsuyoshi-kun]

I think if the prequels are any indication, it can't possibly get much worse.

This is exactly what I thought when I read this news. I would also lump in Stars Wars: The Clone Wars (the CG series, not the 2D one, though I don't care for either) into the crap pile, too.

[Sniffnoy]

They haven't just announced episode 7, nor just 7, 8, and 9 -- they stated that they intend to make a new one every two to three years.

On the one hand, these might actually be good. On the other hand, having no particular end in sight is a quick way to make me stop caring.

(Interestingly, this plan actually resembles an old idea of George Lucas -- once Star Wars was successful and it was clear there would be big-budget sequels, but before Empire Strikes Back was made and he said there would be three trilogies, his intention was to have the series be a James Bond-sort-of-thing.)

[Dr. BUGMAN]

And Disney owns Henson Company. Sounds like a happy reunion! I never liked--among many other things about the prequels--the shiny, souless, overused CGI.

Not that I was much a SW fan to start with.

*I assume HC wasn't involed at all with I-III, and I cannot find any sources refuting it.

[Wombatwarlord777]

Gah! How appropriately scary!

Though seriously, given the wide reach Disney has, I'm sure they can arrange to have the best possible talent when making a major film. I haven't even registered the thought that there could be more Star Wars movies, but if that's going to happen I think the current scenario is about as good as can be hoped for.

I really do hope that Disney commits to a new trilogy, with an overarching storyline and unifying elements and so forth. Given the success of superhero movies as of late and the vast amount of material that the Star Wars expanded universe possesses, it must be awfully tempting to make standalone films that can be summed up as "Luke and Co. battle another different Imperial/Sith villain this time". It may work for Indiana Jones but I just don't think it would work for Star Wars.

[Majestic Joey]

I think if the prequels are any indication, it can't possibly get much worse.

This is exactly what I thought when I read this news. I would also lump in Stars Wars: The Clone Wars (the CG series, not the 2D one, though I don't care for either) into the crap pile, too.

I was just thinking it's interesting how similar Star Wars and Sonic the hedgehog are in terms of their history/declining quality. They both started out being phenomenal then slowly got worse over time and their respective fans go on and on about the "glory days" of the series. Though in my opinion, Sonic games have been turning it around and if these new Star Wars movies do the same thing then they will be almost the same.

[Yami CJMErl]

First they buy Marvel, now they bought Lucasfilm, and in-between they started making decent original cartoons. Just what the hell is going on.

This. Just...this.

[Crisis]

I was just thinking it's interesting how similar Star Wars and Sonic the hedgehog are in terms of their history/declining quality. They both started out being phenomenal then slowly got worse over time and their respective fans go on and on about the "glory days" of the series. Though in my opinion, Sonic games have been turning it around and if these new Star Wars movies do the same thing then they will be almost the same.

To a certain extent this is inevitable, though. The original Star Wars trilogy was a collection of the most acclaimed and iconic sci-fi movies ever. Any follow-up was bound to be worse purely on that basis alone. Same goes for Sonic and the original game trilogy.

Similarly, the new films are bound to be better (or at least perceived as better) purely because the prequel trilogy has been universally panned. You literally couldn't make a movie that was more disappointing. Same goes for post-Sonic 06 titles.

This is actually true of all franchises, just to greater or lesser degrees. For example: Mario 64 -> Sunshine -> Galaxy. Or, to use another film example: Casino Royale -> Quantum of Solace -> Skyfall. It actually applies to all human endeavour - when someone does exceptionally well, they are likely to do worse on the next attempt. When someone does exceptionally badly, they are likely to improve on their next attempt.

Sonic and Star Wars are only notable because the fluctuation in quality is so extreme.