There's been a disturbance in the Force.....

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Han shot first

yup, first time I saw the rehash, I had to run it back.

Hugh, we expect you to straighten them out a bit.

I had no idea that Mr Lucas was the model for Jabba the Hut.

[flipper35]

Han shot first and shiney head was silent when he tossed old wrinkly dude over the rail to save his kid in episode 6. Won't buy the Bluray edition until it gets put back the way it should be. Don't want no special special special I changed my mind so many fricken times edition.

[sammyg2]

The interwebs are having a field day with this sheet:







BTW, I've been sitting on a couple dozen shares of mickey-mouse stock bought 'bout 18 years ago for $30 IIRC ( before the latest split). Looks like they're worth nearly a hundred now, (pre-split value) This might be a good time to dump em.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by flipper35

Han shot first and shiney head was silent when he tossed old wrinkly dude over the rail to save his kid in episode 6. Won't buy the Bluray edition until it gets put back the way it should be. Don't want no special special special I changed my mind so many fricken times edition.

I like a few changes for the special edition, but the cut away from Endor in the ending to the other places, with very poorly done 3d animation, really kills the ending of the movie for me. I'm also not keen on the young Anakin.

As for changes in the other two movies, I'm not certain as the changes are less noticeable. I think the added windows to Cloud City, do not fit in, you can tell they are added in later. If it looked more seamless, I'd be ok with it.

[KNS]

Originally Posted by Eric 951

I think this is a GOOD thing.

Lucas basically lost the plot with ROTJ and the Ewoks, then came him meddling with the original "special editions" adding the CGI nonsense and the "Greedo shoots first" crap. The less said about the prequels the better--total garbage. Not to mention the last Indian Jones fiasco.

Lucas may have had "it" at some point, but he is waaaaay past his prime.

Agree 100% on everything.

[trekkor]

KT

[cashflyer]

There is so much wrong in this article, I don't even know where to begin my rant. So I will just post it - From Movie Talk today:

When George Lucas announced that he was selling his company to Disney, it was (to paraphrase ol' Obi-Wan) as if millions of nerds suddenly cried out in terror. But now that the dust is off and we've all had time to absorb the bombshell news, disciples of the Force are probably wondering what's next. Yes, there will be movies. But what will they be about?

We did a roundup some of the more interesting reporting and rumors floating around. As we all now know, there will be at least three new films: episodes VII, VIII, and IX. But what those films will cover is open to a lot of speculation.

We can safely assume that the films will be original stories and not adaptations of "Star Wars" novels, comics, or games. This is kind of a bummer. The Admiral Thrawn book trilogy by Timothy Zahn is highly regarded and would make a compelling series of films. However, according to E! Online, the new films will be based on original treatments written by George Lucas.

The Wrap spoke with Dale Pollock, author of the Lucas biography, "Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas." The author, who interviewed the director at least 80 times for his book, says that while he was doing research in the 1990s, he was allowed to read the outlines to the 12 (yes, 12!) stories.

"It was originally a 12-part saga," Pollock said. "The three most exciting stories were 7, 8, and 9. They had propulsive action, really interesting new worlds, new characters. I remember thinking, 'I want to see these three movies.'" He did say that the three films feature Luke Skywalker in his 30s and 40s. No other details were given due to a confidentiality agreement Pollock signed.

But that was a long, long time ago. Plot lines, stories and characters can come and go. Still, it would seem likely that the next trilogy would go back to the trio of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia. IGN has an interesting idea -- why not use "Avatar"-style versions of Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher in these new films? Yes, many would object, but let's be honest — that trio is the heart of the saga and it's going to be difficult to accept other actors in the roles.

Of course, that's just one theory. There are others. The Hollywood Reporter writes that Disney may do an "'Avengers'-style universe with not only Lucas' planned final trio of films but offshoot movies focusing on individual characters." While there is no official confirmation, the idea makes sense. The "Star Wars" universe is ripe for interesting characters and Disney will want to get its $4 billion worth.

Entertainment Weekly sat down with Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy. Hamill revealed that he and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) had lunch with George Lucas in August. Lucas told them that he was planning to make another trilogy. "When he said, 'We decided we're going to do episodes VII, VIII, and IX,' I was just gobsmacked," Hamill said. Still, he had no idea the director was planning to sell his company. "Oh my gosh, what a shock that was," Hamill said.

The films, whatever they end up focusing on, will be executive produced not by Lucas but by his successor, Kathleen Kennedy. She will work with Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn to produce the films and build the brand. Horn is highly regarded. He previously worked at Warner Bros., where he helped to oversee the "Harry Potter" films. Clearly, the guy knows his way around valuable franchises.

When it comes to who will direct the films, that's anybody's guess. Danny Boyle would make a nice choice. He directed the under-seen sci-fi flick "Sunshine." Steven Soderbergh would surely make an interesting film set in a galaxy far, far away. If producers want to go with a blockbuster kind of guy, how about James Cameron or Steven Spielberg? Other possibilities that would likely be met with approval (again, we're just guessing): Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, Rian Johnson. Notice we did not include Michael Bay?

[Eric 951]

Why not do a trilogy just focusing on the Bounty Hunters? I would like to see a movie featuring Boba Fett as the main character. Add in some backstory on Dengar, Bossk, IG-88, Zuckuss and 4-LOM.

Or a movie chronicling the rise of Grand Moff Tarkin?


The best thing would be to kick-off the whole franchise with Darth Vader waking up and the prequels were nothing but a terrible dream ala Bobby in Dallas.

And then start over on the real backstory of Vader, because there is no way an annoying kid with the nickname of "Annie" and a wooden brooding punk with a rat tail grew up to be the baddest dude in the galaxy.

[trekkor]

KT

[john70t]

George Lucas Will Donate Disney $4 Billion To Education
The "Star Wars" director will donate the $4.05 billion he will receive from the sale of Lucasfilm Ltd. to Disney to a foundation focused on education, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
...............
“For 41 years, the majority of my time and money has been put into the company,” Lucas said in a statement on Wednesday. “As I start a new chapter in my life, it is gratifying that I have the opportunity to devote more time and resources to philanthropy.”

The director has yet to disclose which charity will be the beneficiary of the huge chunk of money. But Lucas currently serves as the chairman of Edutopia, a foundation that empowers innovative coursework in schools. The organization is a likely choice, eonline.com speculates.

[Tervuren]

Eventually, you start getting old enough to realize you can't take it with you, and secondly, filing taxes on $4B, would not be fun.

[dyusem]

Originally Posted by john70t

George Lucas Will Donate Disney $4 Billion To Education
The "Star Wars" director will donate the $4.05 billion he will receive from the sale of Lucasfilm Ltd. to Disney to a foundation focused on education, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
...............
“For 41 years, the majority of my time and money has been put into the company,” Lucas said in a statement on Wednesday. “As I start a new chapter in my life, it is gratifying that I have the opportunity to devote more time and resources to philanthropy.”

The director has yet to disclose which charity will be the beneficiary of the huge chunk of money. But Lucas currently serves as the chairman of Edutopia, a foundation that empowers innovative coursework in schools. The organization is a likely choice, eonline.com speculates.

As someone that lives in George's neck-of-the-woods, I can assure the board that he has been incredibly generous as a neighbor and member of the community, as well as generously funding Edutopia (GLEF) for more than 20 years.

[pavulon]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

Eventually, you start getting old enough to realize you can't take it with you, and secondly, filing taxes on $4B, would not be fun.

No luggage racks on hearses!!

[cashflyer]

Put it in a trust to defer the taxes.
Earn interest income off the money while you donate it over the course of several years.

[Rick Lee]

I've dealt with his foundation as a client and even got to visit Skywalker Ranch. I got the feeling while there that it was a bit of a shell org., not really interested in doing much other than creating online resources for schools to use if they ever could find it. A former employee told me it's all just a tax shelter for Lucas and, given their resources and super low profile, I tend to agree. Maybe that's all going to change now, but I suspect it's all designed to lower the tax bill. I have plenty of clients with less money who do a lot more than GLEF does.

[mikeesik]

Disney now owns American Graffiti I and II. I assume?

[TGTIW]

Universal distirbuted and financed American Grafitti, and I don't know the deal structure for Lucas. I suspect Universal may retain the rights, or Lucas would have screwed with the films by now.