Folks ... c'mon, now.
You know me. (Or, at least, I thought you did.) As a general practice, I tend to stay out of these types of 'what ifs.' This isn't to say that I've no opinion or that they don't interest me because nothing could be further from the truth. But because I don't consider myself any intellectual heavyweight or a prognosticator of any kind, I try to avoid such 'crystal ball' shenanigans because it's essentially filler material. It's clickbait stuff -- in most cases -- and there's just so very little to be substantively be said on it. However, because I was asked (in an email over the weekend), I'll put up a few quick thoughts. They're not going to be anything groundbreaking or revolutionary, but they'll likely be all either I can think of or truly have to say on the subject.
Simply put: you don't reboot some of the greatest motion pictures ever made.
Of course, someday somewhere someone will try, and I think that's all we really need to prepare ourselves for.
I think it was George Lucas who -- not long after he sold the property to the Walt Disney Company -- remarked that Star Wars would be a'changin'. The nature of big studio ownership means that the focus tends to shift -- in sometimes small ways, in sometimes big ways -- away from telling compelling stories for an audience to maximizing the return on investment of an intellectual property. When studio suits get their hands in the mix, it tends to dilute quality -- again, sometimes in big ways, sometimes small -- and the end result is fandom starts to fracture, break off, and go elsewhere.
If you think about it, that's precisely what's been happening since Disney made this purchase. While The Force Awakens was successful, I think a good deal of the interest in that first picture of the Sequel Trilogy was because there hadn't been a Star Wars flick in some time; naturally, audiences were going to be interested, so they showed up to see what all of the new fuss was going to be about. They were either rewarded for their interest, or -- in the case of yours truly -- they were marginally aghast at what the Mouse House thought would be an interesting follow-up. (Yes, I was aghast. Sometimes, the truth hurts.) Still, I'm adult enough to realize when new iterations aren't targeted at me; so I wished 'em luck and that was that.
It's also useful to point out -- as so many have over the years -- that any time a new incarnation of any franchise comes out the end result is a kinda/sorta soft reboot anyway. New facts and figures are added to the existing mythology -- sometimes in controversial ways -- and this, too, can have some negative impact on fans and even casual viewers. Storytellers are always looking for ways to shake up the status quo -- that's part of delivering new content -- and they're not above killing off a franchise favorite or two so long as it makes for a useful twist. Star Trek did it rather famously with The Wrath Of Khan, so it was inevitable methinks to come to Star Wars ... albeit let me be one of the loudest voices shouting it could've been done better.
So when a reasonably talented talking head like Matthew Vaughn tries to garner some attention by suggesting he has ideas for rebooting the Star Wars franchise, let's all just take a breath and realize this may be little more than an attempt to get a job interview. In large part, comments like this are inserted into the marketplace of ideas not so much to give readers and fans something to think about so much as they are to garner attention -- yes, think of it as a form of clickbait -- and just don't fall for it. Were he serious about it, then he might've even thrown some substance behind such fodder. If he didn't, then -- call me cynical -- this was more about him than it was authentically about Star Wars. And there's nothing wrong with that.
I know, I know, I know: but should they reboot Star Wars?
Again, I'd heartily laugh at anyone who suggested such an idea. I don't give a damn who they are. I don't give a damn what their ideas might be. I stand by what I said above: you don't take one of the most successful franchises in film history and risk destroying it any further than Kathleen Kennedy has already done. That just defies any rational sense of logic, no matter how you square things up, and I can't imagine anyone would seriously get behind such a concept.
However ...
I've long said -- and I do mean this -- it's well past high time that someone else be cast in these central roles if anyone wants to franchise to have a legitimate chance on continuing. Mark Hamill has implied that he's done with it. Harrison Ford has said as much. Carrie Fisher's passing pretty much assures that her time is well over. Though I'm not a big fan of this deep fake technology, I'd still argue that's fairly limiting because of the price tag associated to it. Also, I don't think I want to watch an entire film with such still obvious fakery. Give someone else a chance to fill those shoes; and -- Solo: A Star Wars Story be damned -- give them something inspired to do with those shoes. The longer one waits, the harder it's going to be to give it a chance at succeeding.
Start small. Give audiences a standalone Luke Skywalker film. Don't spend $300-$400 million doing it. In fact, I'd argue that if they spend $100 million, then maybe it's too big.
You know me. (Or, at least, I thought you did.) As a general practice, I tend to stay out of these types of 'what ifs.' This isn't to say that I've no opinion or that they don't interest me because nothing could be further from the truth. But because I don't consider myself any intellectual heavyweight or a prognosticator of any kind, I try to avoid such 'crystal ball' shenanigans because it's essentially filler material. It's clickbait stuff -- in most cases -- and there's just so very little to be substantively be said on it. However, because I was asked (in an email over the weekend), I'll put up a few quick thoughts. They're not going to be anything groundbreaking or revolutionary, but they'll likely be all either I can think of or truly have to say on the subject.
Simply put: you don't reboot some of the greatest motion pictures ever made.
Of course, someday somewhere someone will try, and I think that's all we really need to prepare ourselves for.
I think it was George Lucas who -- not long after he sold the property to the Walt Disney Company -- remarked that Star Wars would be a'changin'. The nature of big studio ownership means that the focus tends to shift -- in sometimes small ways, in sometimes big ways -- away from telling compelling stories for an audience to maximizing the return on investment of an intellectual property. When studio suits get their hands in the mix, it tends to dilute quality -- again, sometimes in big ways, sometimes small -- and the end result is fandom starts to fracture, break off, and go elsewhere.
If you think about it, that's precisely what's been happening since Disney made this purchase. While The Force Awakens was successful, I think a good deal of the interest in that first picture of the Sequel Trilogy was because there hadn't been a Star Wars flick in some time; naturally, audiences were going to be interested, so they showed up to see what all of the new fuss was going to be about. They were either rewarded for their interest, or -- in the case of yours truly -- they were marginally aghast at what the Mouse House thought would be an interesting follow-up. (Yes, I was aghast. Sometimes, the truth hurts.) Still, I'm adult enough to realize when new iterations aren't targeted at me; so I wished 'em luck and that was that.
It's also useful to point out -- as so many have over the years -- that any time a new incarnation of any franchise comes out the end result is a kinda/sorta soft reboot anyway. New facts and figures are added to the existing mythology -- sometimes in controversial ways -- and this, too, can have some negative impact on fans and even casual viewers. Storytellers are always looking for ways to shake up the status quo -- that's part of delivering new content -- and they're not above killing off a franchise favorite or two so long as it makes for a useful twist. Star Trek did it rather famously with The Wrath Of Khan, so it was inevitable methinks to come to Star Wars ... albeit let me be one of the loudest voices shouting it could've been done better.
So when a reasonably talented talking head like Matthew Vaughn tries to garner some attention by suggesting he has ideas for rebooting the Star Wars franchise, let's all just take a breath and realize this may be little more than an attempt to get a job interview. In large part, comments like this are inserted into the marketplace of ideas not so much to give readers and fans something to think about so much as they are to garner attention -- yes, think of it as a form of clickbait -- and just don't fall for it. Were he serious about it, then he might've even thrown some substance behind such fodder. If he didn't, then -- call me cynical -- this was more about him than it was authentically about Star Wars. And there's nothing wrong with that.
I know, I know, I know: but should they reboot Star Wars?
Again, I'd heartily laugh at anyone who suggested such an idea. I don't give a damn who they are. I don't give a damn what their ideas might be. I stand by what I said above: you don't take one of the most successful franchises in film history and risk destroying it any further than Kathleen Kennedy has already done. That just defies any rational sense of logic, no matter how you square things up, and I can't imagine anyone would seriously get behind such a concept.
However ...
I've long said -- and I do mean this -- it's well past high time that someone else be cast in these central roles if anyone wants to franchise to have a legitimate chance on continuing. Mark Hamill has implied that he's done with it. Harrison Ford has said as much. Carrie Fisher's passing pretty much assures that her time is well over. Though I'm not a big fan of this deep fake technology, I'd still argue that's fairly limiting because of the price tag associated to it. Also, I don't think I want to watch an entire film with such still obvious fakery. Give someone else a chance to fill those shoes; and -- Solo: A Star Wars Story be damned -- give them something inspired to do with those shoes. The longer one waits, the harder it's going to be to give it a chance at succeeding.
Start small. Give audiences a standalone Luke Skywalker film. Don't spend $300-$400 million doing it. In fact, I'd argue that if they spend $100 million, then maybe it's too big.
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