From ComingSoon.net:
Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm announced today at CinemaCon in Las Vegas that Star Wars: Episode VII will hit theaters in the summer of 2015 and that every summer after that will offer a “Star Wars” film, alternating with one of the standalone films.
A Star Wars movie every summer. I feel about ten years old again.
As long as Jar Jar isn’t in any of them…
I’m not sure that quantity should be the defining reason for movie releases. I’d rather go for quality and have them take some time in between movies.
Couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately, Disney sees dollar signs in the form of rabid SW fans who will clamour to see anything they put out there (I’m counting myself as one of those fans).
And when people complain about the quality of the films, they’ll do a “reboot” and start all over again.
But maybe by that time Joss Whedon will have room in his schedule to direct it.
It all rather depends on who’s making them, surely?
Certainly if the only reason anyone’s backing a given project is “we need another Star Wars film for next summer” it’s unlikely to be much good.
I would like to have the benefit of the doubt (but realistically I don’t :( ). I mean no one says “A Marvel movie every summer, ugh!” My hope is they explore other aspects of the universe, that could be potentially interesting….right?
Actually, they could learn a lot from (Disney’s other subdivision) Marvel and the way they’ve been approaching their franchise over the last few years. The unconventional choices for the directing, writing, and casting of the Marvel films have yielded exceptional results – especially considering the interconnected universe they’re both drawing from and redefining as they go.
‘Unconventional’? Surely you mean ‘sensible for a change’?
But honestly, I’m not all that thrilled by a Star Wars movie every summer. I wouldn’t want a LotR movie every Christmas, or an annual Matrix release or whatever. I’m hoping the Marvel franchise will also continue to have the good sense it’s had so far and end at some point, even if it then starts again from the top.
All good things must come to an end. In my opinion it’s one of the key factors in making them last forever.
Since sensible casting decisions are not the norm, I’ll stick with “unconventional.” ;-)
I absolutely share your trepidation, though. More is not always better, especially when it comes to Star Wars. See the Prequels, “expanded universe” novels (save for Timothy Zahn), Lego Star Wars, Family Guy Star Wars, etc., etc., etc. . . . Just about the only consistently high-quality Star Wars products over the last 15-20 years have come from LucasArts . . . which Disney is shutting down. My expectations are so low now that I’ll be pleasantly surprised if any of the new movies are worth watching.
When Eon Productions were churning out another James Bond film every two years, were there James Bond fans saying “yay, another Bond film”? I mean, sure, people were still paying to see them, but was there enthusiasm for the new one? I don’t remember it, but that may have been the people I was hanging around with at the time.
I think that’s the closest analogy – the Lord of the Rings, Twilight and Harry Potter film series have been (at least loosely) tied to novels.
Coming 2016: The Star Wars 4th of July Special
Oh, heavens. You’re surely right… *sob*
I can’t go a day without a seeing or hearing a SW reference in some form of media. I would have to be hole up in my apartment with the internet off to maybe, just maybe, go without hearing some unimaginative reference or spoof. There are other bits of pop culture out there, world. Really!
Now, I love the Original Trilogy–and that’s about it, when it comes to George Lucas’s brainchild. But, I’m already sick of Star Wars. Why? Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings fans (and fans of most other SF/Fantasy properties) can go out in public and express their love of said properties without being ridiculed with the same level of vitriol as Trekkies. They can enjoy their fictional world without having to apologize to non-fans in order to save face. “Ha ha. Yes, I’m a Trekkie, I suck and girls don’t like me. Ha ha.” That sort of thing.
*bitterness*
We Trekkies/ers were geeks before geeks were cool. And of course, Trek itself is an object lesson about how a franchise can overstay its welcome. The last two TNG movies were embarrassingly awful, and the TV shows just got boring and/or gave in to fanboy pandering (hello, Seven of Nine and T’Pol) after a while.
I agree with your first point as Trekkies missing the boat on geek chic. But, your second point: c’mon, the last *three* Star Wars movies were atrocious. And they’ve made a TV series dedicated to just *spoofing* SW (Star Wars: Detours). But, we’ll see if that object lesson will apply to Wars come 2015 onwards…