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Many Star Wars fanatics were concurrently ecstatic and worried when it was announced that Disney bought out Lucasfilms Ltd. for over $4 billion last week.
Quite soon after this transaction was made, the “Mouse House” announced it would release Star Wars: Episode VII by 2015. Although this may sound intriguing, I do not know if I want to trust Disney with one of the most successful film franchises in the history of cinema.
My biggest concern is that Disney will decide to turn Star Wars into something more juvenile or kid-friendly. Disney is well-known for its critically acclaimed animated movies and documentary films; however, the last thing Star Wars fans desire to see is Mickey Mouse making a cameo appearance.
Disney’s record with PG-13 films is 50/50. They are responsible for the highly successful film, "The Avengers," and one of the biggest flops in film history, "John Carter." Disney also produced the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, of which the first two were amazing and the latest two were completely overrated.
Disney is willing to drop exorbitant amounts of money on this project, but I feel that money is the only upside they have. Their most expensive product of all time is John Carter, which they spent approximately $300 million to make. It is also the last science fiction film they made. Another interesting point is that Andrew Stanton, who directed the latter, is at the top of the list to head the new Star Wars film.
Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino recently laughed at the idea of a Disney-made Star Wars film. However, Star Wars fans will not be laughing the least bit if Disney runs the franchise into the ground.
Should we even give Disney a chance to ruin one of the most fantastic movies to ever show in theatres?
What worries me most is Disney tries to take creative control away from Lucasfilms' president Kathleen Kennedy. If it tries to “Disney-fy” the story of the new Star Wars: Episode VII, it will not be around for an episode eight or nine. For example, there are some sources predicting actor Zac Efron could star as Luke Skywalker in the upcoming film. That action would make true Star Wars fanatics cringe, but they may win over the High School Musical crowd.
However, leadership may not be the only reason this film could fail. Many Star Wars fans are worried about how the story will flow from episode six, released in 1983.
Lucas stated he “wanted Star Wars to be around for another 100 years,” it would be a tragedy for Lucas to watch his whole operation explode into thin air like the original Death Star.
The ball is in Disney’s court. The film has promise if Disney can hang back, take care of costs and let the direction control the project. If it doesn', fans should be prepared for a complete bust.
Disney is not known for taking a backseat on projects, and something tells me it will take the new Star Wars films very seriously, which is not a good thing.
After Lucas sold his company to Disney, most Star Wars fanatics probably said the same thing: “It’s a trap.”
A version of this article appeared in the Nov 14 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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Well... I guess Lucas figured Disney couldn't possibly screw it up more than he had.
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Disney did very well with the Avengers, they can't possibly mess up Star Wars anymore than what Lucas already did with episodes 1-3.
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I hope they will leave Lucusfilm with creative freedome. Star Wars Ep III was a little more dark, violent and edgy. Say what you will about the prequels but I enjoyed it. I think we have Clone Wars for the Kids and Star Wars 7,8 and 9 for a PG13 crowd. I want to see people being shot with blasters, limbs being sliced off with light sabres and spaceshipds being blown up. I can't see Lucus letting his dream be ruined. I trust his call...now we wait
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There is a comedy website called Red Letter Media which has done a hilarious review of Star Wars 1-3 that sums up very nicely why they were not even shadows of the originals.
I'm glad to see someone other than George Lucas doing more with it, but Disney!? Ah hahaha! It remains to be seen but I am definately not going to expect very much.
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Wow this is coming from an extremely uninformed writer. Look no further than this if you have concerns about star wars-disney owns marvel, a recent pick up. Did it screw up the avengers? did it disney-fy thor or captain america? Did Zach Efron star in any of those movies? The easy answer....no. The pirates series shows that they have the ability to continue to produce movies. That with the combination of a possible Harrison ford, carrie fischer or mark hamil cameo means that this is very unlikely. This is not something that disney can reinvent, or stray to far from traditional roots with. They are committed to maintaining the mythology and increasing it, not altering it.
On top of that I'm guessing you didn't actually watch John Carter. While not having real profanity or sex scenes, (similar to star wars) it was brilliant in effects, music, and the acting made it exceed my expectations. I find it entertaining that you attack a list of movies that continue to get high ratings, and are above average by far on rotten tomatoes.
As for your director concerns I would see spielberg and JJ Abrams as far more likely. They know they need a big name with a record of maintaining and building a fan bases interest in a series.
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