All Things Star Wars

[Arakhor]

Ten of those firings are because of cancelled projects (and half of those were untitled). They're also notably presented without any context.

 

[Patine]

This really leaves me no clearer on which change in creative decisions and directions is "woke". It seems to me much harder to identify a political stance in the sequel trilogy than the earlier ones, and "America were the baddies in Vietnam" is quite a high bar to get over. There is also the empire as a human chauvinist organisation, that is pretty "woke".

That's because I wasn't trying to justify a word of the sort that I said I try to avoid using, because such words pollute the clarity of the discourse. I, also, do not believe the reason is truly political, but modern politics, of the last 15 years or so, and the utter Cthulian madness and nonsense screaming at each other that is what the two main sides have evolved into, have made it political by intrusion, like they do in every area, even ones where politics should be most unwelcome. Thus I am attempting to explain a trend that I do not share the political hijacking of the argument, and even oppose it.

There is the thing where there are now more than two women in the galaxy, but that is hardly a radical departure from cannon.

Four. You forgot about Beru Lars and the poor Twi'lek dancing girl Oola, fed ignonamously to the Rancor. And a pair of roguish-looking twins in the Mos Eisley Cantina and a middle-aged woman dancing when Sy Snootles performs who have no lines (and Sy herself, who only sings in created alien language lyrics). And EV-99 and a silver protocol droid in Cloud City who have female voices.

That being said, I myself believe in opportunities for diverse casts, and even have them in my unpublished, unfinished writing, as long as they make sense and aren't used for, "demographic power play plots." I do not believe in either, "whitewashing," or, "forced diversity," (gags and wretches, and washes mouth out with Lysol at having used a buzzword and a catchphrase).

 

[Clubber Lang]

^^ I wonder who cancelled those projects?

We do know who stabbed Lucas in the back and trashed his outlines for the sequels because they thought knew better -

 

[Clubber Lang]

Phantom @25, Iain McCaig (Maul, Queen Amidala and working with George Lucas etc...)

https://www.starwars.com/news/iain-mccaig-the-phantom-menace

-----------------------

Star Wars: Jedi Knights (March 5, 2025) -

"Taking place before 'The Phantom Menace,' 'Star Wars: Jedi Knights' stars the Jedi Order as fans came to know it during the Prequel Trilogy including legendary characters like Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Count Dooku, Mace Windu, and many more," the official synopsis reads. "In addition to featuring iconic and fan-favorite Jedi, the series will introduce all new Jedi characters that served the Republic during this pivotal era.



"Each issue will spotlight a different Jedi duo on a different mission throughout the galaxy, but an overarching threat binds them together. Who is the mysterious new villain targeting Qui-Gon Jinn for death and how will it force the Jedi Order to evolve for a new age?"

 

[Arakhor]

^^ I wonder who cancelled those projects?

My point was that projects are cancelled for any number of reasons, whether it's because there's been a downtick in subscribers, the shareholders don't feel rich enough or other even pettier reasons.

 

[Clubber Lang]

^ Could be, but my bets on a lot of SW cancellations are due to Kennedy in some way or another.

I am also sure she did not herself cancel the worst performing SW show 'The Acolyte' or fire her champion Headley, that would be the Mickey Mouse suits stepping in.

Yet Another ‘Star Wars’ Movie May Be Falling Apart​

Disney’s current handling of Star Wars is something of a mess, and making the MCU look brilliant by comparison, even if perhaps that too is past its prime. Extracting themselves from the mess of The Acolyte, a little-watched show that cost an insane amount of money and sparked an enormous fan firestorm (as did its cancellation), now Disney is continuing to stumble trying to make any new Star Wars movies. The latest? The new post-sequel-trilogy Rey film is now apparently in jeopardy.

According to a new report from Puck, screenwriter Steven Knight of Peaky Blinders fame has apparently left the project, which now means the film, if it does end up existing, will probably miss its rumored December 2026 release date, already over two years from now. The director, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, is still attached, from what we can tell.

The film was supposed to return Rey to screens after the events of Rise of Skywalker for further adventures forming a new Jedi Order, perhaps with old cast members as well, which would mark an actual move forward for Star Wars rather than constantly staying in past eras. But if this doesn’t end up happening, it is yet another Star Wars movie project falling to pieces, which has happened a stunning amount of times before this. We have:

• The cancelled Patty Jenkins Rogue Squadron movie
• The cancelled David Benioff and DB Weiss Star Wars trilogy
• The cancelled Rian Johnson Star Wars trilogy
• The cancelled Kevin Feige Star Wars movie
• The cancelled JD Dillard Star Wars movie
• Taika Waititi’s Star Wars movie is supposedly on “indefinite hold”

Disney only managed to get out the sequel trilogy, Rogue One and Solo, before the underperforming Solo had them put on the brakes and switch to Disney Plus content, which has been hit or miss for them namely due to insane budgets that are not earning traditional box office returns. Now, its most prominent, definitely-happening movie is birthed from one of those shows, and will be The Mandalorian and Grogu. There are reportedly still James Mangold and Shawn Levy films potentially in the works, as some of the last few projects left.

It is possible the Rey movie comes together eventually, but we are talking years from now at this point, if it does, closer to a decade after 2019’s Rise of Skywalker in all likelihood. Whether any of these other projects come together besides The Mandalorian and Grogu is anyone’s guess, but Disney is not doing a good job getting a grip on this universe at all at this point.

 

[Thorvald of Lym]

My point was that projects are cancelled for any number of reasons, whether it's because there's been a downtick in subscribers, the shareholders don't feel rich enough or other even pettier reasons.

It occurs to me that compared against almost every Wikipedia article I've read detailing cancellations and/or crew shakeups for films/series, only the Star Wars Fandom™ reads these episodes as part of some over-arching conspiracy.

(Notwithstanding Zaslav, but everyone knows he's actually bent.)

 

[Patine]

It occurs to me that compared against almost every Wikipedia article I've read detailing cancellations and/or crew shakeups for films/series, only the Star Wars Fandom™ reads these episodes as part of some over-arching conspiracy.

(Notwithstanding Zaslav, but everyone knows he's actually bent.)

It's actually not the firing or series cancellations that concern me. It's the tenor and shift in the way the franchise is handled. Though, my issues are not quite along the political trenchlines, but underlying problems - ones plaguing modern movies, TV, and computer games, nowadays, that are often overlooked by the politicized issues, whose whole divide, on both sides, is destructive and loopy enough. The fact is, modern, big budget, big name franchise visual entertainment is getting sloppy, inconsistent, lazy, ridiculous, and full of contrivances, plot holes, weak storylines, cringeworthy character relations, inundation with pop culture references, and endless reduxes rather than new material - but the politicized clash of social ideologies creates a smokescreen to prevent this from being addressed as any sort of priority.

 

[Ordnael]

The woke content does get called out very fast but in case of the latest AAA game from the Star Wars franchise - Star Wars Outlaws it was also called pretty fast about how poorly it was made. Combat is plain stupid, animations are lacking and enemy AI is incompetent. Worst of all is when you compare it to previous good Star Wars AAA games from almost 2 decades ago, when AAA meant something instead of just the overpriced, overhyped, overpoliticized, unpolished turds we get nowadays. Of the big players only Nintendo, nowadays, truly understands what games should be about consistently.

 

[Arakhor]

You certainly don't need to go back that far - Jedi: Fallen Order & Jedi: Survivor are excellent Star Wars games, from 2019 and 2023 no less.

There's no question that there have been a lot of slapdash, unfinished games from massive companies that have no excuses for their behaviour, but it's only in the last few years that the toxic cesspit that is social media has decided that "woke" is now the go-to cudgel for any game that they don't like.

 

[Ordnael]

Modern audiences didn't save/care about Concord, just as they don't exist in quantity to support other poorly made woke games. So there seems to be a trend here about poorly made games being also woke AAA games.
I dare say 90% of core, big spending gamers, don't want wokeness shoved down their throat, and the ones that wave that rainbow flag don't care enough about content made to cater for their tastes to actually spend money on it.
The same goes for Woke Wars, Acolyte went down the drain pretty fast, sure it was also poorly "made"...but again the same trend.
Companies that shove wokeness into their IP think that if they the rainbow flag, audiences will/must buy in to whatever crap their peddling....it's not happening, and they just don't go broke because their pockets are very deep.
I try to ignore this stuff as much as possible by consuming good old Star Trek, good old games or untrendy ones and good old books. I am happy

 

[Arakhor]

That, though, is the point - games are not especially woke these days, unless you consider a non-white or non-male protagonist to be 'woke', at which point there's likely no future for you on this forum to be perfectly honest.

 

[Ordnael]

unless you consider a non-white or non-male protagonist to be 'woke'

You are reading way too much from simple words out of me. I have nothing against non-white main protagonists...I love me some classic GTA San Andreas!

at which point there's likely no future for you on this forum to be perfectly honest.

Wow!
...
I am sorry I offended you with my words Mister Super Moderator...I bow myself to your authority...do I need to flog myself as well?
...
Go on do it, you are itching for it!
Silence me!

 

[Arakhor]

I was using 'you' in a general sense, as I am sure you are well aware, though perhaps it would be best if we moved past this unprofitable conversation.

 

[Patine]

That, though, is the point - games are not especially woke these days, unless you consider a non-white or non-male protagonist to be 'woke', at which point there's likely no future for you on this forum to be perfectly honest.

Lara Croft was very popular in the '90's. But, as I said, my concern is declining quality hidden by the smokescreen of both sides of the modern social screaming clash.

 

[Clubber Lang]

The next show -

In December, after some delays, Disney+ will finally drop “Stars Wars: Skeleton Crew,” with Law as the adult presiding over a troupe of four children who embark on their own intergalactic journey. Law only said yes after several long conversations with Jon Watts, the director of Tom Holland’s “Spider-Man” films, and the series’ creator. “I don’t think I would have dived in willy-nilly,” Law says. “I wanted it to be right. I didn’t want to be the guy that dropped the ball on ‘Star Wars.’”

While he produced “Black Rabbit” and “The Order,” Law was an actor for hire on “Skeleton Crew.” But he still weighed in on critical elements of his character, possible Jedi Jod Na Nawood. For instance, he refused to do what he calls “acting with a carpet.”

“They said, ‘Oh, you’re going to wear a wig — we want lovely, tousled hair.’ And I was like, ‘No, I think he should have really short hair — he wears a helmet.’ That took some persuasion.”

Growing up in South London, the son of two teachers, Law had loved the original “Star Wars” movies. So he was giddy to see firsthand how a “Star Wars” project was made. “It was a really interesting process,” Law says. “It’s technically complicated to get those things right — you’re dealing with animatronics and puppets and machines and huge, complicated worlds. I’m the guy that wants to see how the wizard does it.”

Law comes alive discussing the intricacies of making the TV series. “It all has to go through the ‘Star Wars’ filter,” he says, his eyes flickering as if he’s trying to solve a riddle. “Like, there are no buttons in ‘Star Wars’ — only ties. Buckles? Yes. Velcro? Yes. Although, I don’t think you ever see the Velcro.”

Law then starts to dissect the cinematography of “Star Wars.” “There are certain shots they don’t allow you to do if you’re the director. You can’t pass through the glass of the spaceship; you have to stay on the outside or inside. I love that. You see the shot and go, ‘Oh, I’m in “Star Wars.”’”

How was it being in possession of the Force?

“Who says I’ve got the Force?” Law asks and laughs.

---

 

[Laurana Kanan]

https://www.facebook.com/hildebrandt.greg/posts/pfbid023WGHU3jQW7KUztyxpKCzHHuY7BdCJPz6jpFwKYsmeopcMLsCZWEp4FVjDFfsvFAMl

 

[Laurana Kanan]

 

[Laurana Kanan]

 

[Clubber Lang]

https://www.facebook.com/hildebrandt.greg/posts/pfbid023WGHU3jQW7KUztyxpKCzHHuY7BdCJPz6jpFwKYsmeopcMLsCZWEp4FVjDFfsvFAMl

R.i.P.

The Making of the Star Wars Poster with Greg Hildebrandt​

Greg Hildebrandt is a famous artist and illustrator most well known for his work on the very first Star Wars poster. I got to talk with him last month about how he got his start and how he and his brother came up with the original Star Wars poster.

Carl: I’m here at Garden State Comic Fest with artist Greg Hildebrandt. I’d like to ask you a few questions for my readers.
Did you want to become an artist when you were a kid?
Greg Hildebrandt: Absolutely, I always was an artist. I can’t remember doing anything else other than art.
Carl: Cool! Who were some of your favorite artists when you were a kid?
Greg Hildebrandt: Well, I was a big fan of the comic strip artists when I was growing up, like Alex Raymond, he drew Flash Gordon, and Hal Foster drew Prince Valiant and Milt Caniff did Terry & the Pirates. They were some of my favorite artists, along with most of the Disney artists that made films that I loved so much, like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio and Bambi and Dumbo. Those were my favorite artists.
Carl: What made you interested in making movie posters?
Greg Hildebrandt: That’s a good question. I approached it like I do any illustration. In this particular case, where I did the Star Wars poster, I talked it over with the advertising agency that were handling this particular account, and we discussed the whole job and they gave us – Tim and myself, I had a twin brother, we worked together – and gave us a bunch of photos and we came up with the particular layout. I mean, it’s about understanding composition, which applies for all illustration and all art. So it’s basically the same principle that applies to a movie poster that applies to any other painting I might do.
Carl: Everyone knows you and your brother* painted the original Star Wars movie poster. Did you get to see the movie before it came out so you could make the poster?
(*I misspoke and just said “your brother” – Sorry Mr. Hildebrandt!)

Greg Hildebrandt: No. My brother and myself painted the poster. We didn’t see the movie at all. Like I said, advertising agencies handle accounts of studios to do the posters. So the studio that we went to, we had done work for them once before and we were very, very fast. We painted a picture overnight for them once. In this case for Star Wars they contacted my brother and myself, because the director of the film, George Lucas, didn’t like the poster that he had – and I never saw the poster – but he didn’t like the one that he had, so he wanted a new poster painted and these two gentlemen that ran the advertising agency, remember my brother and myself painting a picture overnight, called us, and said, “You guys have to help us, because we need a picture painted real fast!” So we went into their studio, they showed us a lot of photographs out of the movie, and we came up with the whole composition right there with them. And then went home and painted it. So that’s how that worked.
Carl: How did you decide what style to make it?

Greg Hildebrandt: I didn’t really think about style so much. I think the directive that we got from the men at the agency that George Lucas wanted, he said he wanted a poster that looked “comic booky”. Now, what that meant – it’s very vague – what would you think that that would mean? My brother and myself thought, what does that mean? Maybe he’s thinking of making the girl look more like a Frank Frazetta character. So Tim and I took that as a kind of guide and used that thought in our minds to make the figures look that way in the painting. And then painted the picture.
Carl: Cool! One last question: Are you having fun at the show?
Greg Hildebrandt: Extremely! A lot of fun! Are you?
Carl: Yes!
Greg Hildebrandt: Great!
Carl: Thank you for answering my questions. It was nice to see you again.
Greg Hildebrandt: Nice to see you again! You’re welcome!