Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (USE SPOILER TAGS!)

[Buddy Ackerman]

Originally Posted by octagon

Yeah, that's definitely the vibe I got as well.

The genre bit is just too silly to be a serious response. As already noted, Spielberg is no stranger to sci-fi pluuuuuuus Star Wars has never been hard sci-fi anyway.

It's always been more fantasy/adventure and that's Spielberg's freaking wheelhouse.

But he's never done a film of the same type as Star Wars - a big, sweeping space opera that takes in multiple planets, aliens, spaceships, etc. His has always been the more grounded type of sci-fi - E.T. and Close Encounters are nothing like Star Wars except for the fact they feature aliens. And his most recent ventures into sci-fi, such as A.I. and Minority Report, have been a much more gritty type of sci-fi rather than the B-movie pulp of Star Wars.

So I can completely see his point that it's not his genre. Plus it would be very odd of him to pick up George's cast-offs, both for him on a personal level and for the film's production - the two are too close, he'd always be compared to his best friend by the press and reviews.

[Elandyll]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Yes, but it's important to note, Disney never offered SW to Tarantino or Snyder. Their "pre-declines" remind me of teenage girls swearing they're not going to dance with a guy, while the guy never had any intention of asking to begin with.

In their defense (all of them), it's not like they ran to a journalist to tell them "Hey, you know those new Star Wars movies by Disney? I -really- don't want to do any of these".

More like journalists who from now until the Director is officially announced will ask every single Director under the sun if they would be interested in doing SW 7. I bet they will even ask Uwe Boll if the occasion arises, for sh* and giggles.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Buddy Ackerman

But he's never done a film of the same type as Star Wars - a big, sweeping space opera that takes in multiple planets, aliens, spaceships, etc. His has always been the more grounded type of sci-fi - E.T. and Close Encounters are nothing like Star Wars except for the fact they feature aliens. And his most recent ventures into sci-fi, such as A.I. and Minority Report, have been a much more gritty type of sci-fi rather than the B-movie pulp of Star Wars.

So I can completely see his point that it's not his genre. Plus it would be very odd of him to pick up George's cast-offs, both for him on a personal level and for the film's production - the two are too close, he'd always be compared to his best friend by the press and reviews.

He directed roughly 30 minutes of Revenge of the Sith. Look, I love Spielberg, but he's being political here, either out of respect for his friend, or maybe he doesn't like the treatment. Regardless, "this isn't my genre" is a strange statement from a director who prides himself in being able to work in any genre, and seems to swtich genre movie to movie. He's made so many genre-busters, what's left? A musical, a western, and a gangster film. He seems to have done everything else.

EDIT
Oops...and a sports film.

[R3P0]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

He directed roughly 30 minutes of Revenge of the Sith. Look, I love Spielberg, but he's being political here, either out of respect for his friend, or maybe he doesn't like the treatment. Regardless, "this isn't my genre" is a strange statement from a director who prides himself in being able to work in any genre, and seems to swtich genre movie to movie. He's made so many genre-busters, what's left? A musical, a western, and a gangster film. He seems to have done everything else.

EDIT
Oops...and a sports film.

Umm as far as I know he asked Lucas if he could direct one of the prequels and Lucas told him no. I don't remember him directing any of ROTS and with the dialogue we had in that film its certainly ascertainable to believe he directed none of it.

[Falaskan]

Originally Posted by Buddy Ackerman

They can't - Fox still owns the distributions rights to the original six films. The "rumour (that has) been swirling since the news broke" is just fan speculation.

I don't see why they can't be released just because Fox owns distribution rights.

[Buddy Ackerman]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

He directed roughly 30 minutes of Revenge of the Sith. Look, I love Spielberg, but he's being political here, either out of respect for his friend, or maybe he doesn't like the treatment. Regardless, "this isn't my genre" is a strange statement from a director who prides himself in being able to work in any genre, and seems to swtich genre movie to movie. He's made so many genre-busters, what's left? A musical, a western, and a gangster film. He seems to have done everything else.

EDIT
Oops...and a sports film.

It was nowhere near 30 minutes. It wasn't even directing in the sense that most imagine - being on set with the actors, etc. He helped storyboard some of the fight sequence to get some experience with the pre-vis technology. Source

And I wouldn't say political as that suggests something sneaky. I'd say he was being poilte. I agree with you that he could direct a great Star Wars film if he were so inclined. But of course he doesn't feel comfortable taking on his best friend's passion project. This is his way of saying that these are George's things and he doesn't want to get involved. Which is fair enough.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Buddy Ackerman

But he's never done a film of the same type as Star Wars - a big, sweeping space opera that takes in multiple planets, aliens, spaceships, etc.

Two things...

I would say Raiders of the Lost Ark was a film exactly like Star Wars. Did it have spaceships and laser swords? Of course not. But it was exact same blend of high and low concept fantasy/action/adventure. They both hearkened back to the same eras and styles of filmmaking (Saturday serials, specifically) and both appealed - I cannot believe I'm about to use this phrase with a straight face but here goes - kids of all ages.

Secondly, the bulk of Star Wars took place in two basic locations - Tattoine and aboard the Death Star. Empire was a little more elaborate but not that much. Without getting into yet another OT/PT faceoff let me just suggest that the move toward a big, sweeping space opera (that I would say started with Jedi) might be one of the area where the train started rumbling off the tracks a bit and reigning that in might not be the worst idea in the world.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by R3P0

Umm as far as I know he asked Lucas if he could direct one of the prequels and Lucas told him no. I don't remember him directing any of ROTS and with the dialogue we had in that film its certainly ascertainable to believe he directed none of it.

Break out your blu-Ray set of the SW Saga, and in the supplements for Revenge of the Sith, they show Spielberg's animatics. There's even doc footage of Lucas winkingly commenting on them..."He's good." Spielberg staged the duel, he staged the "Order 66" sequence, he staged the Greivous Obi-Wan chase and fight. You don't have to take my word for it. Chances are, you already own it.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Buddy Ackerman

It was nowhere near 30 minutes. It wasn't even directing in the sense that most imagine - being on set with the actors, etc. He helped storyboard some of the fight sequence to get some experience with the pre-vis technology. Source

And I wouldn't say political as that suggests something sneaky. I'd say he was being poilte. I agree with you that he could direct a great Star Wars film if he were so inclined. But of course he doesn't feel comfortable taking on his best friend's passion project. This is his way of saying that these are George's things and he doesn't want to get involved. Which is fair enough.

Agreed on the second paragraph. As to the first, Spielberg used to say he woud get bored with a project after storyboarding it (like Temple of Doom, perhaps his most boarded film), because all the real directing work had already been done, and the rest was just hammering out the shots. That's why he began to forgo them and shoot intuitively. Sometimes that works for him, sometimes it doesn't.

[Bluyoda]

Originally Posted by R3P0

Spielberg, Tarantino, and Snyder say no to Episode VII

Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/11/...rs-episode-vii

1. Well, it's probably for the best. 2. Duh! He would have been the worst choice. 3. Thank goodness.

Originally Posted by Buddy Ackerman

It was nowhere near 30 minutes. It wasn't even directing in the sense that most imagine - being on set with the actors, etc. He helped storyboard some of the fight sequence to get some experience with the pre-vis technology. Source

Yeah, that's how I understood it too.

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Break out your blu-Ray set of the SW Saga, and in the supplements for Revenge of the Sith, they show Spielberg's animatics. There's even doc footage of Lucas winkingly commenting on them..."He's good." Spielberg staged the duel, he staged the "Order 66" sequence, he staged the Greivous Obi-Wan chase and fight. You don't have to take my word for it. Chances are, you already own it.

I have watched all of the supplements of the BD set, and while there is a deleted scene that contains an absolutely crazy long Obi Wan/Grievous chase, I don't recall seeing anything related to Order 66, the duel, the final Obi Wan/Grievous chase, or anything else for that matter.
I could be wrong, and would be grateful for the exact extra in which this highly interesting information is contained.
I remember seeing George using Steven as a way to get the shots the way he liked them in the Within a Minute documentary on the DVD edition of ROTS.

[Beast]

Originally Posted by The Edge

I don't understand how he could say that, when Star Wars is in the genre of Sci-Fi, and Steven has certainly been at the helm of some great Sci-Fi during his career.... plus he directed a portion of Revenge of the Sith, considered to be the best of the prequels.It's a shame, I was really looking forward to seeing him do more. Now he just wants to do historical pictures...

Star Wars is more in the genre of Fantasy than actual Sci-Fi. And outside of E.T., Spielberg isn't as known for it.

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Star Wars? More like Star Bores.

[Show spoiler]I'm just joking, don't use the force on me.

[rickah88]

I'm glad Spielberg said no to VII. I'd rather have new, fresh talent at the helm: Dave Filoni.
The guy clearly understands the Star Wars universe, and already has a widely accepted fanbase from the Clone Wars series. I'm hoping to hear some news about him in talks with Disney about this, but I'm sure they might be a little hesitant handing the keys to car over to, what amounts to, a rookie of live action.
Again, enough with the Directors...how about some news about the Writers!! That interests me much more than the director!

[KOTORninja]

Originally Posted by rickah88

I'm glad Spielberg said no to VII. I'd rather have new, fresh talent at the helm: Dave Filoni.
The guy clearly understands the Star Wars universe, and already has a widely accepted fanbase from the Clone Wars series. I'm hoping to hear some news about him in talks with Disney about this, but I'm sure they might be a little hesitant handing the keys to car over to, what amounts to, a rookie of live action.
Again, enough with the Directors...how about some news about the Writers!! That interests me much more than the director!

http://www.theforce.net/latestnews/s...und_148794.asp

If true, that's a very good hire.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by KOTORninja

http://www.theforce.net/latestnews/s...und_148794.asp

If true, that's a very good hire.

Most definitely! I believe he was discussed, previously, on this thread. While it's not 100%, it certainly looks pretty good he might be the guy(or one of the guys)!

[legendarymatt92]

Glad that Spielberg has turned down the opportunity and that the search goes on; his style would've been too perfect in my opinion. I love Spielberg and nearly everything he does, and I can completely understand his reservations about taking on a project so close to his best friend's heart - he wouldn't want the series to rely too heavily on his name (you can almost see it now: "Steven Spielberg's Star Wars Generation") when it's conception came from someone else entirely.

Plus, you want the brand to rest on its own laurels, not be propped up just because of the huge director helming it.



And I was sure that Spielberg had actually directed some scenes within SW; I remember reading an article and it stated that he had directed at least half an hour of footage, and Lucas had taken the credit for it. Whether that article was complete crap or not is debatable, though. Just, given his reaction to being asked for this, I'd say that, if he had directed a segment of film for Lucas, you can see that he wouldn't have wanted it known.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by legendarymatt92

Glad that Spielberg has turned down the opportunity and that the search goes on; his style would've been too perfect in my opinion. I love Spielberg and nearly everything he does, and I can completely understand his reservations about taking on a project so close to his best friend's heart - he wouldn't want the series to rely too heavily on his name (you can almost see it now: "Steven Spielberg's Star Wars Generation") when it's conception came from someone else entirely.

Plus, you want the brand to rest on its own laurels, not be propped up just because of the huge director helming it.



And I was sure that Spielberg had actually directed some scenes within SW; I remember reading an article and it stated that he had directed at least half an hour of footage, and Lucas had taken the credit for it. Whether that article was complete crap or not is debatable, though. Just, given his reaction to being asked for this, I'd say that, if he had directed a segment of film for Lucas, you can see that he wouldn't have wanted it known.

Excellent point! Perhaps it would be nice to see George & Steve working together as "consultants". Maybe that would "fuel the fires" for Indy 5!

[segagamer12]

Originally Posted by rickah88

Excellent point! Perhaps it would be nice to see George & Steve working together as "consultants". Maybe that would "fuel the fires" for Indy 5!

Only if Shia takes over as his son. Harrison is getting to old to be doing both Star Wars *and* Indiana Jones and hey they might as well finish the job and pass it along to a new generation while they are at it. That is what everyone I know was hoping for based on how the last one ended.

[Blu Warrior]

Dave Filoni would be a great choice. The Clone Wars show is fantastic! Plus, Dave used to work for Disney so he already has an in there.

[legendarymatt92]

Originally Posted by segagamer12

Only if Shia takes over as his son. Harrison is getting to old to be doing both Star Wars *and* Indiana Jones and hey they might as well finish the job and pass it along to a new generation while they are at it. That is what everyone I know was hoping for based on how the last one ended.

We really don't want Shia as a lead in the new trilogy. I agree that he was good in Disturbia and Eagle Eye, but that was because both characters played to his strengths - a cocky and self-assured youth - but I can't see him fitting in with ANY character that Lucas (or others) write.