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"The Rise and Fall of Star Wars" (former Lucasfilm historian J.W. Rinzler's blog)


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Sweet! Really hope he'll be able to sneak in a little something about what happened with Lucas and Disney, although I'm guessing a lot is covered by NDAs. 

 

From what I can tell of his recent tweets and such, he's decidedly on Team Lucas, not Team Disney, and, yeah, Disco Stu, calling it the "fall" of Star Wars is an even bigger statement in that direction, seemingly. 

 

If you remember, he co-wrote a TFA making-of book, but its release was delayed and then cancelled. 

 

---------------

 

Oooooh man, after reading that first post, I'm hooked. These posts can't come quickly enough. 

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5 hours ago, Will said:

If you remember, he co-wrote a TFA making-of book, but its release was delayed and then cancelled. 

 

Got something to hide, Disney??

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There was a lot of early behind-the-scenes drama, but I don't see why Lucasfilm couldn't have just edited that out and released the book. Very strange! Too bad; I really wanted to read it. 

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Guy's done a service with his Making of books, amongst other things, but this reeks of petty whining. I'd be curious to see if any actually interesting BTS stuff comes out (though I tend to think that TFA book was scrapped because of spoilers), but otherwise I couldn't care less about "The Fall of Star Wars." That's just some melodramatic asshattery which I can't help but find pretty obnoxious. 

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8 minutes ago, Sally Spectra said:

The release the bloody novelisation at about the same time as the movie too.

 

Yeah, ebook comes out day and date with the print edition following a few weeks later.

 

it was definitely scrapped because of BTS friction. It'll be awhile before we learn the extent of it but TFA, Josh Trank, Rogue One, and now Han Solo have had a tonne of crap, with changes late in the game in both film released.

 

I would hate to see what would happen if one of these films under performed.

 

If listened to Rinzler speak a few times and I don't think he'll be any more biased in this than you'd expect.

 

He gets asked questions about his time at Lucasfilm constantly so this is a good idea to put the record straight from his point of view

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The only reason he is talking because he is one of them, spouting lies and hatred only to mask his true allegiance!

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Or maybe the book was cancelled because Disney refocused their business model towards younger audience? They certainly did that with the fiction novels. I doesn't have to be as dramatic. Maybe they're just not that interested in projects like this anymore.

 

Either way, I'm interested in what he has to say. His making of books were excellent. In fact they are the best books of this sort out there.

 

Karol

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15 hours ago, Will said:

From what I can tell of his recent tweets and such, he's decidedly on Team Lucas, not Team Disney, and, yeah, Disco Stu, calling it the "fall" of Star Wars is an even bigger statement in that direction, seemingly. 

 

 

Meh, that'd be disappointing then. I was hoping this would only be covering the Lucas years, and had assumed 'The Fall' referred to the prequel trilogy. 

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49 minutes ago, crocodile said:

Or maybe the book was cancelled because Disney refocused their business model towards younger audience? They certainly did that with the fiction novels. I doesn't have to be as dramatic. Maybe they're just not that interested in projects like this anymore.

 

Either way, I'm interested in what he has to say. His making of books were excellent. In fact they are the best books of this sort out there.

 

Karol

 

They haven't changed their fiction model at all. They're still releasing adult novels. They're releasing more kids books than before but they're still publishing 5-6 adult novels every year. 

 

The still release non-Fiction books for films. The Art of Books for example.

 

A Making of RO was planned (even after TFA's cancellation) but because of the trouble there this has been changed to a photo book of the BTS process.

 

 

1 minute ago, BloodBoal said:

 

So did we all. So did we all...

 

People who worked at Lucasfilm and worked for Lucas tend to actually like the man having gotten to know him. 

 

 

Obviously the butt hurt fanboys on the interwebs know the real Lucas though 

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6 minutes ago, Bilbo Skywalker said:

People who worked at Lucasfilm and worked for Lucas tend to actually like the man having gotten to know him. 

 

Obviously the butt hurt fanboys on the interwebs know the real Lucas though 

 

Liking the man is one thing. Liking his films is another!

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3 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

 

Liking the man is one thing. Liking his films is another!

 

I think you can admire his intentions even if you aren't satisfied with their execution I think. 

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Attack of the Clones invaded Polish cinemas, no? 

50 minutes ago, Bilbo Skywalker said:

He made Attack of the Clones.

 

He didn't invade Poland. 

 

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3 hours ago, Quintus said:

 

Meh, that'd be disappointing then. I was hoping this would only be covering the Lucas years, and had assumed 'The Fall' referred to the prequel trilogy. 

 

If you consider his timeframe (2001-2015), the prequel trilogy is actually what he's calling "The Rise." So........ yeah.....

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4 hours ago, Bilbo Skywalker said:

Obviously the butt hurt fanboys on the interwebs know the real Lucas though 

 

Just because dumbasses exist doesn't invalidate the underlying viewpoint.  We all share views with a lot of really stupid people.  Also, why should I care if Lucas is a nice guy?  That has nothing to do with the quality of his work.  And yes, I can admire his ambition while thinking he made real shitty movies that I don't want to watch ever again.  Conversely, I can recognize that Episode VII lacked ambition but think that it more than made up for that in other aspects.

 

There's gray area!  There's nuance!  We don't have to be constrained by the "us vs. them" mentality of morons!

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1 hour ago, DominicCobb said:

 

If you consider his timeframe (2001-2015), the prequel trilogy is actually what he's calling "The Rise." So........ yeah.....

 

If you actually read his blog posts, it covers a period of time much broader than his personal association with LucasFilm. Post #2 for instance, is entirely about the 1970s. So........ yeah.....

 

8 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

 

If it was the case, wouldn't they have simply pushed back the release date after the film's release?

 

Maybe it contained spoilers for VIII and IX.

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14 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

Just because dumbasses exist doesn't invalidate the underlying viewpoint.  We all share views with a lot of really stupid people.  Also, why should I care if Lucas is a nice guy?  That has nothing to do with the quality of his work.  And yes, I can admire his ambition while thinking he made real shitty movies that I don't want to watch ever again.  Conversely, I can recognize that Episode VII lacked ambition but think that it more than made up for that in other aspects.

 

There's gray area!  There's nuance!  We don't have to be constrained by the "us vs. them" mentality of morons!

 

Even if you don't like his films surely you can admire ILM, Skywalker Sound, Digital cinema (even if you think he overdid the whole digital thing himself, Lucasfilm saw levels of innovation and ambition under Lucas that simply won't be seen again. To dismiss Rinzler's opinions on Disney just because of your own feelings on the prequels or calling him a "yes man" isn't very nuanced. 

 

 

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Just now, Bilbo Skywalker said:

 

Even if you don't like his films surely you can admire ILM, Skywalker Sound, Digital cinema (even if you think he overdid the whole digital thing himself, Lucasfilm saw levels of innovation and ambition under Lucas that simply won't be seen again.

 

Yes, of course!  Lucas is a visionary in the truest sense.  He and James Cameron both actually push the medium forward.

 

Quote

To dismiss Rinzler's opinions on Disney just because of your own feelings on the prequels or calling him a "yes man" isn't very nuanced. 

 

I didn't do that....

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2 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

Yes, of course!  Lucas is a visionary in the truest sense.  He and James Cameron both actually push the medium forward.

 

 

I didn't do that....

 

Of course you didn't, and sorry, it looks like I made out that you did. It was more in reaction to what some others are saying. 

 

Good point re: James Cameron though. 

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11 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

I will say that conversely, people who over-demonize Kathleen Kennedy are just as annoying.

 

I suspect that while Lucasfilm has a certain amount of independence, Disney shareholders still call the shots. Keeping them is the priority and Kennedy's hands are tied. She, unfairly, gets the flack because of the position she's in. 

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7 minutes ago, Bilbo Skywalker said:

 

I suspect that while Lucasfilm has a certain amount of independence, Disney shareholders still call the shots. Keeping them is the priority and Kennedy's hands are tied. She, unfairly, gets the flack because of the position she's in. 

 

Agreed.  She has shown through her deeds and words that she is a producer who genuinely wants to help creative people do their best work.  But being both president of Lucasfilm and the primary producer of all the films is a crazy position to be in.  Answering to Disney and trying produce the best films possible.

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13 hours ago, DominicCobb said:

Guy's done a service with his Making of books, amongst other things, but this reeks of petty whining. I'd be curious to see if any actually interesting BTS stuff comes out (though I tend to think that TFA book was scrapped because of spoilers), but otherwise I couldn't care less about "The Fall of Star Wars." That's just some melodramatic asshattery which I can't help but find pretty obnoxious. 

 

I don't think it would be that hard to edit out the spoilers. I know I'm not the only one who doubts that's the real reason. 

 

Although, to your second point, yeah, "The Fall of Star Wars" does sound overdramatic. :lol:

 

6 hours ago, Bilbo Skywalker said:

A Making of RO was planned (even after TFA's cancellation) but because of the trouble there this has been changed to a photo book of the BTS process.

 

Oh wow. I hadn't seen that change.  

 

-----------------------

 

As a side note: Rinzler said a couple interesting things in the comments of his first blog entry (not actually spoilers, just saving space):

 

Spoiler
 
REPL
YANCY EVANS
6/22/2017 01:02:07 PM
 

I've long suspected Lucas intended to finish the sequel trilogy himself (with other directors), and most of those plans were dependant on completion of the Grady Ranch project. Unfortunately, when Marin County blocked those plans it forced George's retirement a little early.

Grady Ranch would have afforded him the opportunity to supervise Star Wars from his own backyard, while allowing him to still spend time with his family... the best of both worlds.

Looking forward to your next entry J.W.

REPLY
 
JWR
6/22/2017 01:10:59 PM
 

Agreed and will discuss Grady Ranch later--have to work up to it chronologically...

 

Spoiler
ROB MCFARLANE
6/23/2017 06:10:57 AM
 

I saw the original SW opening day at the Chinese Theater, and have been a huge fan ever since. I recently had a chance to tour the Ranch again after many years (having worked for ILM for a time in the 90's). Although the grounds of SR remains as beautiful as ever, I was somewhat saddened to find the formerly bustling buildings to be largely empty. Standing in the deserted yet still breathtaking library of the Main House, I couldn't help but wonder: Who is this for now? Who will use this? What will become of this place? Having read each of your books cover to cover I very much look forward to following your new blog.

REPLY
 
JWR
6/23/2017 08:00:26 AM
 

Yep, the ranch is ghost town, except for Sky Sound. Blog will mention briefly, but later.

 

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1 hour ago, Bilbo Skywalker said:

 

Even if you don't like his films surely you can admire ILM, Skywalker Sound, Digital cinema (even if you think he overdid the whole digital thing himself, Lucasfilm saw levels of innovation and ambition under Lucas that simply won't be seen again. To dismiss Rinzler's opinions on Disney just because of your own feelings on the prequels or calling him a "yes man" isn't very nuanced. 

 

 

 

Although I wish Lucas was a better writer, I can't deny his storytelling / visual skills. Now if only his CGI lovefest had happened later as opposed to earlier. 

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