lucas's son confirmed it via twitter

If its Abrams, He really needs to cool it on the close ups during scenes that don't need them.

the lens flair isnt that bad people make it out to be. besides i would rather have that instead of more bs lucas cgi in every single nook and cranie of the film

I'm not really one to put much stock in what people say on twitter, however we did get this confirmation last night.

Star Wars Official site

I think I'm okay with this. I thought Star Trek was great. Apparently he's more of a Star Wars fan than a Trekkie anyway.

I read that too. I'm glad a fan is directing as well as someone who was of the right age to be drawn into the OT craze.

Star Wars was always going to be put in the hands of a proven commodity, but there's something about the announcement of the guy whose name is all over the place, especially Star Trek that just feels a bit deflating. If I remember right, Lucas made an overture to hand the universe over so new voices could play and be heard. Again, that's never going to be a literal statement, handing a major franchise to unknowns, but it's not the breath of fresh air it could've been.

I didn't have much of a problem with the prequel trilogy. Enjoyed a lot of it, felt there was an integrity of vision that was a throughline from what was and what became (which is probably contrary to most fans' reactions). There's a lot made of what Lucas did to the franchise, in the negative. I think I trusted his inside track more than the flavour-of-the-decade who's a 'really big fan.'

Still, at least it isn't Zack Snyder, for much the same reason.
The whole thing's sure to be another wild ride. Probably less so than the prequels, but I hope it can have some of that freshness and not be slavishly referencial to what some people think it "should" be (which is probably more accurately what it ).

Well, I'm looking at this choice for a directorial point of view. Of course a bad story means a bad movie. However, I think the prequels suffered, mainly, from poor direction. There are certain scenes in which the line delivery is just so cheesy or awkward that it's hard to see how no one shouted cut. The prequel storyline, in my opinion, is pretty good when broken down to story alone.

I think JJ can pull it off if the story is there, though I doubt he'll be able to craft anything as powerful as what Irvin Kirshner created with Empire.

He's a very safe choice, much like getting Joss Whedon to do Avengers. It guarantees a certain level of quality (ie. at least "good"), but also means it's unlikely the movie will be especially interesting or outstanding in any way. Of course, they were never going to hand a billion-dollar property to someone like David Cronenberg or Duncan Jones, so of all the surefire crowd-pleaser directors, you could do a lot worse than Abrams.

So what we'll get is something vastly superior to the lifeless digital slop of the prequels, and which may even reach as high as episodes 4 and 6, but no higher. Which is fine; not everything can be Empire. Really it'll just be nice to finally see another Star Wars movie that's actually competently assembled and maybe has a little passion behind it.

It guarantees it will be something and probably unmistakably that, whatever that is.

These aren't guys who are going to be handed a major property and be so outrageously obnoxious they screw it up, but I'd probably take umbrage with the assumption that it's a guaranteed outstanding outcome. I'm not gonna trash it -- it's serviceable and a lot of people enjoy it, but there's a DNA in these guys' stuff that can be pretty damn grating if you aren't hopelessly enraptured by it.

I think that point probably applies more aggresively to Whedon, but for me at least, it goes back to that disappointment of a very specific, contemporary presence taking over Star Wars. A voice that's already well known and well represented. From a certain perspective, fandom might only make that approach even more grating, but it's probably not gonna flop. "Safe" is a good way to describe it, even if the passage of time might not be so kind in review.

It'll be interesting to see where the push and pull of influence lies. Where the director influences things, where the House of Mouse influences things, and where the Lucas legacy influences things.

You may have misread that part of my post - I agree that the finished product being particularly remarkable is in fact unlikely.



I fully agree with this in regards to Whedon (that dialogue style cuts into me like a dentist's drill if I'm in the wrong mood), but Abrams' habits have so far managed to not irritate me. Although I haven't seen that much of his output.

I'd put both of them at least one step above "serviceable", though. I think they're both very good at what they do, they have distinctive voices, and their best works, while arguably flawed, show clear signs of talent and creativity behind them. Although they are, worryingly, very much products of their times. Still, this stuff is easily contrasted with films like John Carter or Pirates of the Caribbean 4, which are perfectly functional, have nothing notably wrong with them, but ultimately were buffed and polished into flat, flavourless, forgettable DisneyTM mush (which, as you point out, is a danger with Episode 7 no matter who directs).

Still, I'm glad that out of everyone Disney might realistically have chosen, they went with Abrams. I'm encouraged by the lack of respect for hardcore fans he allegedly displayed in Star Trek -- excessive reverence for the material and kowtowing to a devoted cult of fickle nerds wasn't something the old Star Wars movies had to worry about, and they were all the better for it. As you say, he'll probably at least bring something to it, whereas a Star Wars directed by, say, Chris Columbus or Jon Turteltaub is a movie I feel like I've already seen.

In an ideal world we'd get something that recaptured the freshness, originality and timelessness of the originals, but that's virtually impossible at this point, given the money at stake, unreasonable audience expectations, and a company in charge who don't so much craft movies as manufacture them.

I totally did. Having a shocker!
(Interesting talking point, none the less).

Episode VII Villain Casting News. Note: Mild spoilers included in URL.

I could see him being totally menacing with make-up on like Darth Maul. I never seen any of his work though, so I can't speak for how i think his acting ability is. Those other two names awesome though, although for a Star wars movie, they are already famous, and Star war has a history of using mostly unknown actors.

I'm unfamiliar with his work. What sort of actor is he? Also, just an opinion, he is probably the most naturally ugly man I've ever seen.

Yousa have the newsa logosa?

You aught to be shot for typing like that.

I'm using the guy who typed the 7 as a human shield.

Bullets pass flesh IRL.

Depending on the caliber.

But Binks chat aside, I am excite - even if it is just some writing. Where did that come from?

It depends on a number of things, but that doesn't moot the point. And cut the crap about being an insufferable prig, because that's what you are [trying to be] right now.

There are surprising amounts of information about the upcoming Star Wars plot available, actually.

Oh cram it Zmoke, you flattened a joke with an irrelevant and pointless statement. You were either bored or just being picky but you purposely deflated Mick's joke for no reason. Just stop acting as if it is some grave offense every time someone picks back.

Anywho, it looks like the image was a hoax, or at least that's what this says.

It was not irrelevant, and it had a point. Neither did it deflate it, just use some creativity if you've got any. I doubt blacksaibot was serious either, meaning that it was fundamentally blacksaibot's joke in the first place.

↓ [No one tells me to shut up. It started from coltess's misconception.]

- Star Wars: Episode VII Set to Roll Cameras May 2014

"It has also been confirmed that Star Wars: Episode VII is set about 30 years after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and will star a trio of new young leads along with some very familiar faces. No further details on casting or plot are available at this time.

Star Wars: Episode VII will release in theaters on December 18, 2015."


[Shut up, Zmoke.]