Rebellion...

It seems that Star Wars fans have an answer as to what will follow "The Clone Wars" animated series...

Starting in the fall of 2014 "Star Wars Rebels" will debut on Disney XD.  It'll start out as a one hour special on The Disney Channel and then move over to XD after the roll out.  The great appeal of the show is that it will exist between the timelines of EP III and EP IV, meaning that we'll get a look that's more representative of the original trilogy.

The action-filled series is set between the events of Episode III and IV -- an era spanning almost two decades never-before explored on-screen.Star Wars Rebels takes place in a time where the Empire is securing its grip on the galaxy and hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights as a fledgling rebellion against the Empire is taking shape. Details about the show are a closely guarded secret at this point.

Even better is in an announcement video, Dave Filoni, who was the man behind the Clone Wars series will be in charge of this show.  He described the look as being something like computer representations of Ralph McQuarrie's pre-production paintings.  Now that would be awesome because his artwork looks likes the Star Wars universe, but slightly off.  If they're able to translate that look and feel into animation, it should appear stunning.

Filoni and Greg Weisman will executive produce the series along with Simon Kinberg, who will also be writing the pilot for the show in addition to the screenplay of his own Star Wars spin off.  This will go a long way toward restoring good will among the fans.  It also sets up the chance that we might see characters from the original trilogy in this one as well.  An older Obi-Wan, Yoda, or even Darth Vader in flowing black cape and all.

Just no kid Han Solo please...

The Sandbox...

Making sand castles in the magic kingdom...

And so the universe expands...

I'm sure many of you saw Ain't It Cool News broke a story yesterday that the first standalone Star Wars film would be about Yoda (the DCA Star Wars Land stuff is bogus, though.  Not happening.  Trust me, as Han Solo would say).  Earlier today, Bob Iger in an interview with CNBC confirmed what has been speculated for months, when he admitted that Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg were working on stories for standalone films.  He didn't say what they were, and said Kathleen Kennedy would have to be the one to announce that.

But this added fuel to the fire that the story about Zack Snyder was true.  Well, Snyder wasn't exactly truthful.  He wasn't lying when he/his agent mentioned that he wasn't doing a Seven Jedi film in his future.  There is no signed deal.  Only pitches.  You see that is what is happening right now.  See I got an e-mail from a Bothan this morning.  And she said that Kennedy's office has been rather busy for the past couple of months since she became head of Lucasfilm.  Many writers and directors have been getting phone calls.  Not just about Episode VII, but about Star Wars in general.

As in, what is their dream project to do with Star Wars.  Kathleen Kennedy has had many secret meetings with the talent in Hollywood with some of the towns most gifted people telling her what they'd like to do.  Some have received a "thank you, we'll be in touch", while others have been given the chance to develop their pitch into something more substantive.  Kasdan and Kingerg, as well as working on their own stories will be advising on these.  And now, with Abrams moving forward with the new tentpole film, he will advise as well.

The Bearded One's sandbox was a big one and we always wanted him to allow others to play in it.  Now it turns out we will have a lot of people playing in that sand over the next few years.  Not all of these projects will make it to filming of course.  Some will make it, while others languish and die in development hell.  But dream that many young film makers has of making a film in the Star Wars universe is more than a possibility.  It's now a pitch waiting to be told.  All they have to do is get/make that call from/to Kathleen Kennedy.

And it might happen...

Seven Jedi...

Do or do not, there is no try... 

Breaking news here on the Star Wars News Network...

That's what it feels like lately with all the rumors and news that seems to show up.  I can't wait to see what happens when they announce the release date and director (likely this month).

But if you haven't heard, the Vulture is reporting that Zack Snyder wasn't exactly truthful when he said he wasn't interested in directing a Star Wars film.  What he meant was that he doesn't want to direct one of the "Episode" Star Wars films.  He wants to do one that is set apart, but in the same universe as the upcoming films that take place after Episode VI.

Snyder's developing a film set against a narrative based on Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" film.  A classic tale of seven masterless Samurai that protect a village from a band of raiders.  There has been an American film based on this film, called "The Magnificent Seven," which was set in the Wild West (ironic, because Kurosawa based his film on the American Wild West).  Apparently the film will not happen until after the release of Episode VII in 2015.

This is all in addition to the films that Lawrence Kasdan, and Simon Kinberg are working on.  This is in perspective with the two television shows, Clone Wars and Star Wars: Detours, plus ABC looking at the live-action series Lucasfilm has been developing make for a staggering amount of entertainment coming from this galaxy far, far away.  Hard to believe, but Star Wars is about to get much bigger.

But that's ok, it's a very big sand box...


UPDATE: Snyder has responded via a spokesperson to The Hollywood Reporter and he denies having any Star Wars projects on his future.  Not that Lucasfilm would be ready to say it was true, if it were.  

Time will tell...

An Ever-Expanding Galaxy...

So the films that Kasdan and Kinberg are working on for Lucasfilm might not be part of the trilogy after all...

 But they will be Star Wars.  It appears Kathleen Kennedy and crew are taking a page out of the Marvel playbook.  While we're supposed to have an Avengers film every three years or so, we have individual adventures set in between, like Thor and Iron Man, etc.  Word comes from The Hollywood Reporter that the films that these writers are working on could be stand alone/spin offs that inhabit the universe far, far away.

So these adventures could turn up in one of the in between years of Episode VII and Episode VIII?  This explains Iger's statement of having films come out every 2-3 years.  That would allow for at least one solo (pun intented) adventure in the gap between one trilogy film, and another.  This means we could get all kinds of space operas.  From a Boba Fett film, to a Republic Commandos film, to a tale about the Rebel Alliance.  What be your take?

I think this universe is big enough to have multiple adventures...

Jedi Mind Tricks...

These are the writers you are looking for...

Whoa, more and more awesomeness keeps leaking from this Bantha track...

Ok, if you don't know Star Wars then that really won't help or make sense.  Let's just say that with each passing moment, everything we hear that the Mouse/Lucasfilm are doing for the third trilogy is very smart.  They appear to be treating this like the property they know fans value so greatly.

If you haven't heard the news, Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Simon Kinberg (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: End of Days) have been hired to write the screenplays for Episode VIII and Episode IX.  It's not known if they will collaborate on each as partners or will one will tackle eight and the other nine.  Both will produce the film along with Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy.

So from notes by Lucas, Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3) created a forty/fifty page treatment, and will write the first film: Episode VII, Kasdan and Kinberg will write the rest and they will produce all three?  Thank the Maker!  Now all we need is a director.  Sadly, Brad Bird won't be the director (maybe he'll be the Irvin Kershner of this batch and direct the second if we're lucky), so who will it be?  I have my own ideas, but that'll be for a later post.

The opening crawl can't come soon enough...