For some time there has been talk that George Lucas was thinking about a live-action Star Wars program.
He is.
The series is still a ways off, but Lucas has confirmed that it’s being planned. The series would be set between episodes III and IV and, he says, be similar in tone to the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Like the latter series, the scripts for the first season would all be written in advance. It also would focus on previously minor characters in the Star Wars universe, leaving the actions of the big dogs to the big screen. (Though we might get an occasional Darth Vader or emperor cameo, I s’ppose.)
Lucas is also planning an animated series, this time using computer-generated animation. It also would be set between Eps III and IV.
(CHT to the reader who e-mailed!)
Hi Jimmy!
I’m sorry, but I can’t help but think that this is a really bad idea. The Young Indy series was a tiresome mess. I cringe at the thought that Mr. Lucas is planning the same for Star Wars. It seems as though he’s trying to wring every last dollar out of one of the only two good ideas he’s ever had.
Instead of Ewoks, I think Lucas should consider Shao-Lin Monkey Assassins (riding Stealth Deer, of course).
The good news may be that Lucas plans to step away from the series after setting the stage. The best Star Wars films were the ones that were not directed by him, IMO.
Another interesting tidbit from the article is that the films are going to be released in IMAX format! That would be worth seeing.
I only wish Lucas would get over his ego and release the original films on dvd, without all the added and changed stuff.
Fist off I wish I had the only two good ideas that he had… second, I like the special addition fixes and extras.
Hopefully it will NOT be like the visually stressful “Clone Wars” which I simply can not watch.
I’d actually like to see a television show set prior to both trilogies focusing on the escapades of the Jedi Knights and the “Sith of the Week”.
Face it! Star Wars is about Lightsabers and The Force. Take that away (droids, ewoks, etc) and it will fail.
I was at the Star Wars Celebration in Indy over the weekend when Lucas announced the series. His producer, Rick McCallum, was visably shocked that Lucas gave out as much info as he did on the 2 proposed series. The whole con was a-buzz about this on Saturday. A couple of actors who play minor roles in ROTS (I’m a No Spoiler Zone so I’m not saying who they play!), at the convention to sign autographs, said they’ve already been approached by Lucasfilm about roles in the live-action series. And the “similar in tone to Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” quote is being misrepresented a bit by the MSM. I didn’t see Lucas because I didn’t want to stand out in the freezing rain/wind/snow flurries all night. But per my buddies who braved the weather (& got soaked) to actually hear Lucas’ announcement, said he was speaking more to the way Young Indy was produced (whole seasons written at a time & filmed with various directors then completed as a whole in post production rather than one ep at a time) rather than it’s content.
And, just for the record . . . I really liked Young Indy. Wait ’til it’s out on DVD (in about 2 years, per McCallum in Indy) & you’ll be able to see what Lucas wanted to do with the series in the first place. He saw it more as a way to get folks interested in history rather than just a piece of entertainment.
Also . . . I gotta say that the ROTS footage I saw in Indy – about 10 minutes of it that’s not been seen anywhere else, & from a digital profector, to boot! – was flat out amazing! The digital composite work from ILM on this film is spectacular. It looks like this whole movie’s going to be as intense as the last 30 minutes of Attack of the Clones! We’ll see.
Sorry, that’s a “digital projector” – I have no idea what a *profector* is. Anyone?
And, Chris-2-4, I know what you mean about AOTC’s visual stress problems. The ROTS stuff I saw looked more like Jackson’s LOTR than the antiseptic look of AOTC. The film looks wonderful!