Will a cerebral science fiction Star Wars film ever be made?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Since the announcement of the production of individual stand-alone Star Wars films that are independent from the 'Episode' continuity, we've all speculated on what kind of films they could be.

 

Rogue One turned out okay, but it's really just another big blockbuster of the modern era. It was cool to see some of the grittier side of the Rebellion, but it doesn't offer much more than that.

 

And the line up of future stand-alones all look as boring and fan wanky as the next. I mean, a young Han Solo comedy? A Yoda flick? An Obi-Wan bore-a-thon? These all sound like some pre-Avengers superhero "cinematic universe" crap - which is probably what they're going for anyway.

 

It was probably naive of me to think the stand-alones would be opportunities for filmmakers to leave their unique stamp on SW. The R1 music debacle left us with a safe, JW retread, and the Han Solo directors got the sack because they dared to defy the Mouse and decided to make their own movie with their own voice that they were hired for.

 

So what of any smart, cerebral science fiction in SW? If the blockbuster formula wears thin and is no longer profitable, will LFL decide to take a gamble and make something that attempts to provoke some thinking power?

 

Or would that just anger lightsabre/AT-AT/It's-a-trap fanbase zealots and they'll dismiss it as too Star Treky? Because we know how desperate SW wants to be seen as "cool".

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

While I agree about the abysmal fan service spinoff lineup and really don't care about Disney Star Wars, I would see an Obi-Wan movie with Ewan. I think that's pretty much the only way they could get my ass in the seat at this point.

[A24 4,326]

1 hour ago, Evil-Lyn said:

I would see an Obi-Wan movie with Ewan. I think that's pretty much the only way they could get my ass in the seat at this point.

 

It would still be a Disney Star Wars movie.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No, of course not.

[A24 4,326]

Yes, it will. Ewan doesn't outpower Disney. Ewan is just an actor, Disney is the showrunner (so to speak), and they seem to know what the audience wants. Sadly, it's not what I want. 

[Quintus 5,399]

McGregor wasn't great as Obi Wan anyway.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

2 hours ago, Sally Spectra said:

So what of any smart, cerebral science fiction in SW? If the blockbuster formula wears thin and is no longer profitable, will LFL decide to take a gamble and make something that attempts to provoke some thinking power?

 

No.

 

[Bilbo 3,709]

Star Wars has never really been sci fi.

 

 

so no. 

[Romão 2,274]

Star Wars is not sci fi nor is it cerebral. It really wouldn't be star wars

[Naïve Old Fart 9,497]

Agreed. I don't think its in SW's remit, to be cerebral.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Why not? Why must it always be big, formulaic, fantasy-based action movies every time? Wasn't the whole point of the stand alone films to try different things? Does every film need to be another 'Hero's Journey' retread? Or is that just asking for too much?

 

Shouldn't the idea of droid sentience be explored? The impacts of light speed engines on the galactic environment? The human colonisation of worlds across the galaxy? Cultural and societal clashes between civilisations on different planets? A satirical look at a war from the stormtroopers'/clonetoopers' perspective, while exploring their genetically designed conformity and one's desire to defy? There's heaps that SW could do!

[A24 4,326]

I agree! You don't need to throw away action, the spectacular or the fantastic to have some kind of deeper theme playing under the surface. But more than anything, I would love to see a different vision (or different visions) because Disney's idea of Star Wars is dull. Bond changed so why not Star Wars?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,497]

Interesting, Jerry, but I think that the SWU is too established to change.

The idea of A.I. has been explored in many fine films, and I'm not sure if the SWU could add anything.

A more cerebral approach would be good, but The Mouse has $ in its eyes, and that's all it gives a flying fuck about.

In the end, and as far as Disney is concerned, money will win out.

[A24 4,326]

Ever since Drax saw Woody Allen's Manhattan, it's like he said goodbye to his childhood. Good!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Well I did say Star Trek is better than everything. It always had greater potential for more juicy stories, but I think it would be a shame if Star Wars became so tunnel visioned, refuses to reinvent itself and cycle through the same style, elements and story over and over. Audiences will only tolerate it for so long.

[A24 4,326]

Bravo! Well said!

[Bespin 8,479]

Star Wars with his characters controling the Force, the light side and the dark side, makes the possible plotlines to inevitably turn around it... After that, everything is a matter of balance... At some periods the dark side ruled, at some parts there was balance.

 

When you give such powers to a character, after that, we don't really want to see stories about "normal" ones.

 

Star Wars is all about Good against Evil.

 

Well, the current spinoffs will try to change that, but I don't think they will succeed.

 

All the storylines have to relate, from near or far, to a Jedi or a Sith. Everytime.

 

Hey, that's Star WARS.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Bespin 8,479]

1 minute ago, BloodBoal said:

That's a pretty narrow-minded view of the Star Wars universe and what it has to offer/could offer.

 

Star Wars will never be Star Trek. Don't expect the impossible.

[Quintus 5,399]

7 hours ago, Sally Spectra said:

Since the announcement of the production of individual stand-alone Star Wars films that are independent from the 'Episode' continuity, we've all speculated on what kind of films they could be.

 

Rogue One turned out okay, but it's really just another big blockbuster of the modern era. It was cool to see some of the grittier side of the Rebellion, but it doesn't offer much more than that.

 

And the line up of future stand-alones all look as boring and fan wanky as the next. I mean, a young Han Solo comedy? A Yoda flick? An Obi-Wan bore-a-thon? These all sound like some pre-Avengers superhero "cinematic universe" crap - which is probably what they're going for anyway.

 

It was probably naive of me to think the stand-alones would be opportunities for filmmakers to leave their unique stamp on SW. The R1 music debacle left us with a safe, JW retread, and the Han Solo directors got the sack because they dared to defy the Mouse and decided to make their own movie with their own voice that they were hired for.

 

So what of any smart, cerebral science fiction in SW? If the blockbuster formula wears thin and is no longer profitable, will LFL decide to take a gamble and make something that attempts to provoke some thinking power?

 

Or would that just anger lightsabre/AT-AT/It's-a-trap fanbase zealots and they'll dismiss it as too Star Treky? Because we know how desperate SW wants to be seen as "cool".

 

A charming and admirable post, full of hope and optimism.

 

 

This isn't the franchise you're looking for. You can go about your business.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

That was all nice for original Star Wars because it was simple and knew what it was trying to accomplish, and Empire raised the stakes and enriched the melodrama. But is that all there is? Lucas himself flirted with science fiction elements in the prequels, but they were clumsily executed and fan backlash spooked Disney to stay firmly within established crowd pleasing formula. But again, you can only repeat that formula so many times until audiences will tune out.

[Bespin 8,479]

The only SW new series that could interest me would be about the origins of the great big bang in the Force, the period where it was broke in two making the light and the dark side... the origins of The Sith, the true ones, the species. Finally, an adaptation of the old Dark Horse Comics....

[Quintus 5,399]

6 minutes ago, Sally Spectra said:

That was all nice for original Star Wars because it was simple and knew what it was trying to accomplish, and Empire raised the stakes and enriched the melodrama. But is that all there is? 

 

Yes.

[Bespin 8,479]

5 minutes ago, Sally Spectra said:

That was all nice for original Star Wars because it was simple and knew what it was trying to accomplish, and Empire raised the stakes and enriched the melodrama. But is that all there is? Lucas himself flirted with science fiction elements in the prequels, but they were clumsily executed and fan backlash spooked Disney to stay firmly within crowd pleasing formula.

 

Star Wars is "past" fiction. No one understood this yet? 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

1 minute ago, Quintus said:

 

Yes.

 

I'll rephrase the question - besides money, why are they so unwilling to expand beyond the established, narrow SW tropes and tell new sorts of stories and explore new frontiers? There must be more than just SW and ESB retreads to please hardcore fans.

 

If Paramount felt compelled to let JJA swoop in and make Star Trek into a Star Wars film in disguise, then why can't it be the other way around?

[Quintus 5,399]

Because in the eyes of Disney the Star Wars formula and brand is already very well established and extremely successful as it is?

 

For the sort of changes or updates you're thinking about, you'd have needed Buena Vista in charge of the acquisition.

[Brónach 1,301]

5 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

 

No.

 

 

I'm not sure we can actually even define what the original proposition of the thread actually means.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

3 hours ago, Sally Spectra said:

 

 

Shouldn't the idea of droid sentience be explored? The impacts of light speed engines on the galactic environment? The human colonisation of worlds across the galaxy? Cultural and societal clashes between civilisations on different planets? A satirical look at a war from the stormtroopers'/clonetoopers' perspective, while exploring their genetically designed conformity and one's desire to defy? There's heaps that SW could do!

 

That's all Star Trek stuff.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

2 hours ago, Sally Spectra said:

Shouldn't the idea of droid sentience be explored? The impacts of light speed engines on the galactic environment? The human colonisation of worlds across the galaxy? Cultural and societal clashes between civilisations on different planets? A satirical look at a war from the stormtroopers'/clonetoopers' perspective, while exploring their genetically designed conformity and one's desire to defy? There's heaps that SW could do!

That sounds all great! But it's unlikely to happen. I mean, look at all those blockbusters that replace tension and horror with action and coolness. In the 90 there were things like Jurassic Park, but now we have Fast and Furious and Transformers. It's very unlikely that Disney has the courage to show something new or controversial. No one else does, so why should Disney do it?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Does the word "courage" actually mean anything anymore?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Disney/Lucasfilm fired and publicly branded 2 directors for making  the Solo film too funny. And everyone seems to agree with that decision.

 

 

[Brónach 1,301]

I don't think SW ought to have a fixed tone

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Quintus 5,399]

1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

Does the word "courage" actually mean anything anymore?

 

Heh heh

[Bilbo 3,709]

2 hours ago, Sally Spectra said:

That was all nice for original Star Wars because it was simple and knew what it was trying to accomplish, and Empire raised the stakes and enriched the melodrama. But is that all there is? Lucas himself flirted with science fiction elements in the prequels, but they were clumsily executed and fan backlash spooked Disney to stay firmly within established crowd pleasing formula. But again, you can only repeat that formula so many times until audiences will tune out.

 

Disney and Marvel have made the same film 20 something times in around 10 years and it's yet to go south for them.

[A24 4,326]

1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

Disney/Lucasfilm fired and publicly branded 2 directors for making  the Solo film too funny. And everyone seems to agree with that decision.

 

 

 

It saddened me because it means they will always keep on making the same movie over and over again. The firing of the two directors will make sure nobody will try to put a new spin on Star Wars.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Of course not! They have been warned. Screw with Kathleen Kennedy and you'll never work in Hollywood again.

[A24 4,326]

Disney is more than likely right about it too. They have experts that know what the man in the street wants.

[John 2,032]

Disney will probably save the more psychologically-involved, headier premises for future spinoffs, rather than actual saga episodes. Even with R1, we got to explore the shadier "gray" area, in between the usual black and white of good and evil that is common in Star Wars. We haven't even gotten to the third Disney-era Star Wars film yet; give them time to settle a firm, familiar foundation with the fanbase that they will eventually build off of, in terms of newer storylines for future films.

[Bespin 8,479]

First, I think there will be no spinoff that will go beyond Episode 9. Yes, those spinoffs are actually comdemned to be set in the past. 

 

That's a turn-off for many, because it's not like Star Trek (who always go further in the future. An utopic future... but ewww, that's their business...).

 

We'll have to wait the next episodes... and the next Trilogy for "surprises" and new things in the Star Wars Universe.

 

Personally, I'm still interested in the current Trilogy. It's perfect for the old fan that I am.

 

Star Wars once dig a deep hole in my child head to put it's fantastic universes, and it will never goes out.

 

 

 

 

[Dixon Hill 4,232]

A movie like this thread describes is the only thing that could make Star Wars more than a lame necessity for me.  

[Brónach 1,301]

3 hours ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

A movie like this thread describes is the only thing that could make Star Wars more than a lame necessity for me.  

 

We're going to get TFA and RO clones for a while. After that I don't know.

 

I'd enjoy something like the last Apes in SW, but I doubt they want to do a slow burning sour western/war film. That hilariously channels older filmmaking in a more fun way than TFA

 

[Pieter Boelen 740]

Isn't this the age old Star Wars versus Star Trek debate?

Apparently that one can get heated enough to get people to literally stab each other and I honestly don't understand why.

 

I myself enjoy both on their own merits.

In fact, a few weeks back on an evening I was reading a Star Wars book, then immediately watched an episode of DS9 before continuing reading the Star Wars book.

And why not?

 

If it were up to me, I wouldn't mind Star Trek to be a bit closer in tone to Wars without it losing what made it Trek in the first place.

Similarly, I wouldn't mind a Wars film that is a bit more clever and thought-provoking and would therefore be closer to Trek.

Because why not? Something in the middle, using the strengths of both and the weaknesses of neither, should be pretty awesome, no?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,497]

8 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Does the word "courage" actually mean anything anymore?

 

Of course it does, especially when you put the word "Alexander" in front of it! 

[Romão 2,274]

I never meant to say that you can't make Star Wars movies in different genres and with different strokes. Just not cerebral sci-fi. The whole matrix of this universe doesn't really lend itself to the cerebral sci-fi route, it would have no negate quite a bit of what was established before. But other genres, bring it on!

[Quintus 5,399]

Will there ever be a boy born, who can swim faster than a shark?

[John 2,032]

The Empire Strikes Back is probably the closest we currently have to a "cerebral" Star Wars film. The image we have of Luke as an innocent, orphaned young man in A New Hope is completely shattered when we learn of the revelation of his parentage. You feel his pain and horror when he is revealed to be the offspring of the most evil being in the galaxy. Say what you will about Hamill's acting in that film, but that one scene still strikes me as one of the most thought-provoking and haunting moments in cinema.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Although that works in ESB, and was original at the time, it's initiated an awful trend in the franchise - everyone's somehow related to one another! And if they're not already related, it'll be retconned to make it as though they were.

 

So infuriatingly effective is this trend, it's brainwashed masses of fans to expect it, like the theory of Rey being Luke's daughter being accepted and even zealously hammered in discussion threads as fact, when no empirical evidence was provided in TFA. And even before Rogue One was released, a popular theory floated around that Jyn Erso was Rey's mother.

 

Is that all Star Wars is now? FindYourAncestry.com: The Movie?

[Bespin 8,479]

It's actually funny how Star Trek fan's try to persuade people that "their" series is better, more serious, what else... (hu-hum) "cerebral".

 

Star Trek, is actually one of the ridiculest series (the original, next generation, name it) that I ever saw on television!

[A24 4,326]

31 minutes ago, Sally Spectra said:

Although that works in ESB, and was original at the time, it's initiated an awful trend in the franchise - everyone's somehow related to one another! And if they're not already related, it'll be retconned to make it as though they were.

 

So infuriatingly effective is this trend, it's brainwashed masses of fans to expect it, like the theory of Rey being Luke's daughter being accepted and even zealously hammered in discussion threads as fact, when no empirical evidence was provided in TFA. And even before Rogue One was released, a popular theory floated around that Jyn Erso was Rey's mother.

 

Is that all Star Wars is now? FindYourAncestry.com: The Movie?

 

I love the new Drax!