Talk about the Live Action Star Wars TV Show have been floating around since Revenge of the Sith came out. But every time we hear about it, it disappears like Jar Jar’s self respect and we are left in the dark wondering if they canned the idea. But apparently people are auditioning for it, so it might be closer than we think!
Lucas and a group of writers started writing scripts for the 100 episode series way back in 2007, but now comes the first news that casting for the series is underway.
MTV spoke with Star Wars bit part actress Rose Byrne at the Knowing press junket and she said: “A lot of my friends have been auditioning for it”
While it’s not an awful lot to go on it does look that Lucas will once again unleash the force once more.
This is the milking I have been waiting for. The animated series is decent, the collected Clone Wars shorts were great, and I don’t have the massive hate on for the prequel series that seems to be so trendy as of late. I love Star Wars even in spite of its flaws. But this proposed live action TV show is really what would appeal to me most.
See to me, Star Wars has been more about the Universe of Star Wars, not the characters. I don’t find the movie to be about any one character. Its about a whole story. Therein lies its genius. There is no “star” in the Star Wars movies. Its about everyone involved. Everyone is the star.
And this will be the driving appeal of a Star Wars TV show for me. Rumours have it that this show will take place in about the decade before Star Wars IV: A New Hope. It will take place in an exciting and dark time where the clone wars are over, the Empire rules the galaxy with shreds of the republic still struggling for influence, and a fledgling Rebellion is beginning.
This is also going to introduce new characters to the mythos that with any luck we will fall in love with. It has been rumoured that the show will NOT be the story of a Young Han Solo, or any other characters we may have seen before. There is a very good chance we will see cameos and hear bits that pay tribute to the history we already know, but this will be a story of a group of people just struggling to get by IN the universe of Star Wars.
To be in the Star Wars Universe, but not having a story that revolves around the iconic characters would be a fresh new approach that can play to the strength and charm of nostalgia without threatening to alter years of perception.
If the rumours ring true, I will be eagerly waiting for this to come out!
questions from my nerd friend:
1. Will we see one of the last Jedi’s QuinLin Vos?
2. Will we see Prince Xizor and Guri his trusty sidekick?
3. Will my friend ever get laid
they should create the darth bane into a series, those are the best books out there
This could be very good, this will actually resemble the Firefly series, or at least it should if they do it right. It should have that western feel with the blasters and the ships and outposts.
Lets hope Lucas has the vision to make this happen.
dude why would Star Wars resemble Firefly series and have western feel? i dont understand what you mean by that. Star Wars is Star Wars it doesnt resemble anything else, if anything, it should be the other way around as far as influence goes. i think in comparison, Farscape fits better in terms of the premise at hand and from this early rumour about Star War TV series (they could change it for all we know). :)
Hmmmm.
I am just going on Stars Wars comic books I have read in regards to my comments. If anything Firefly was loosely based off of Star Wars, at least thats my opinion.
Regarding Farscape, thats another story altogether and it was far superior to any Sci Fi series I have ever seen to date. If the new Star Wars series were to have that feel, I would be delighted of course.
oh the comic books ic lol.
Its interesting what you say about Farscape, and i agree. Farscape is one hell of a sci-fi series, im still hoping that they’ll continue after Peacekeeper Wars. i mean theres still tons of story to be told there :) i know theres a comic book on that, but nothing beats tv series imo lol.
lets hope with the Star Wars tv series coming, it will rekindle all the other great sci-fi tv series again ;)
well more like bring back Firefly and Farscape!! lol
Lucas will never make an Episode VIII.
There are just too many books that came after ROTJ, and Lucas doesn’t want to mess with that continuity, to his credit. He even borrowed charaters and mythos from the expanded universe of the books in the prequels.
I truly think that Lucas will become producer in the future and let another creative force continue the storyline of Han and Leia’s kids. Maybe 10 years down the road. I said it here!
Hehee T-Vo thats very hopefull of ya! but yeah i agree too, lets hope it happens :p
I have high hopes for this…I think the statement about not knowing if this was gonna happen or not is ridiclious if you’ve beeen paying attention, the Lucas camp has repeatedly talked about it as coming after the Clone Wars cartoon. Just like it’s is unfolding now…just sayin.
The Millennium Falcon was the best thing to happen to Star Wars.
I would love to see the earlier life of the Falcon and its early owners/operators see some screen time in the new series.
“See to me, Star Wars has been more about the Universe of Star Wars, not the characters.”
I agree with this 100%. The Star Wars universe is full of stories waiting to be told. Although I loved the main characters we already know, there is no reason to limit the movies to just them.
George should try settting the series after Return of The Jedi. Do we really have to know every single thing that happened between the episodes? I, myself, like a little mystery. It would be interesting to see characters from the original trilogy try to rebuild the Republic and the challenges they face.
Considering the 200 or so novels that come after Jedi, it would no different to tell those stories in a movie or TV show that would have to fit into an existing overall storyline.
You always got the Dark Horse comic books and novels if you want to know what happens to Luke, Han, and the gang.
Personally, I’m tired of the Clone Wars and prequel business. I’d rather see what happens after episode VI, but I don’t think we’ll ever see that in any other media aside from comics and novels.
really this is all that there is left, what happens in-between the major stories. whether it is in film, novel, graphic novel, animated series, radio series or whatever, but I think this only applies to the main character. There are still hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of stories that can still be told in the star wars universe.
Any true artist knows that their art is never really finished, only abandoned. a certain painter was actually banned form entering museums where his art was displayed, because he would try to make changes to the works. Antoher example was a poet who only wrote a couple hundered poems, would actually go and revise them even after they have been published, making several doaen versions of the same poem; she did this until she died. George Lucas can do what ever the hell he wants with star wars, because it is his not your; even if it does “ruin” it for some people. It’s his not yours. Personally I think he has great ideas and story’s for the star wars universe, but in my opinion he should write them up and then hand them over to someone else to finish.
–initiate nerd rage—
Thanks for quoting my post about Why I still Love Star Wars
https://themovieblog.com/2009/01/jedi-strangelove-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-lucas
The “artist” was Picaso.
More amusing was the animation used in The People Vs George Lucas
“Star Wars is my story just like my house is my house. So if I want to paint my house even if EVERYONE else thinks it should be red, guess what? I’m gonna paint it Jar Jar.”
Ignoring the idea that art, once it becomes a part of the collective subconscious, cannot be really said to belong to ANYBODY exclusively, your argument that its Lucas’ film, so he can do to it what he wants, makes no sense.
That analogy you provide with Picasso, fails to deal with the fact that film is a COLLABORATIVE art, not an individual art. George Lucas wasn’t the only person working on Star Wars.
It’s as much ‘his’ as it is Kurtz’s, Kershner’s, Brackett’s, Kasdan’s, Marquand’s, Johnston’s, Burtt’s, Rick Baker’s, Suschitzky’s, Reynold’s… Thats not even naming the actors or the (absolutely amazing) entire production design crew, or sound design, or special effects crew. The people whose ideas and work created most of what we now think of as the culturally iconic stuff that people love about Star Wars.
The idea that its ‘his vision’ and he can do whatever he wants with it, completely dismisses the efforts of the hundreds of people who played a part (some small, some absolutely ICONIC) in putting it together.
MLaden, that is the longest line of nonsense I have ever heard.
George Lucas wrote Star Wars. It is his. Its his own property to which he is the sole posessor of all the intellectual properties. The story was born of his imagination and he can write, change or alter the story in any direction he wants.
If he wants to hire people to create his story and make it a movie, it does not make them now owners to his property.
Star Wars is not a collaborative art. Specific chapters, that are created with the observance and permission of Lucas are still his own property and not those he has enlisted help with.
And ALL those people who worked for him simply help him make his story and vision a reality on screen also are not owners of Star Wars. They are employees.
The pimply kid who makes my burger and the truck driver that delivered the goods to the store dont have ANY ownership in the burger McDonald’s makes.
Comparing fast food to Star Wars is stretching the realms of analogy a bit here. Especially since ‘truck driver’ and ‘pimply kid’ are about on the same film rung as key grip, best boy or gaffer… and I’m obviously not suggesting that any of those roles are as important as the story writer.
The difference in this example compared with other films is that Lucas owns his own studio. His ownership of Star Wars has nothing to do with his being story writer. Lucas could have done NOTHING on this project, and he could still legally own the film and do whatever he wants to it…
Legally, yes, its his to do with what he wants. Morally I take issue with that concept on the grounds that it dismisses the role of the film-crew and cast. Especially since with films like Star Wars, most of the appeal is in the iconic and visually imaginative production designs… George Lucas may have created a vague description for R2D2, Darth Vader or the Millenium Falcon, but the credit there should really go to the amazing concept designers. Editing out performances, editing out the work of cast and crew to replace with something new in the Special Editions, to me is incredibly disrespectful.
Either way, thats a moral argument for me, and not one that I can back up beyond that. Philosophically, the whole idea of ‘ownership’ of art once its entered the public realm, is tricky stuff, even if legally its clearcut. Lucas does legally own Star Wars and its his to do with what he wants as you said. From a personal viewpoint I have issues with the commercialisation of film as product, instead of film as art. Its the difference between Lucas ‘can’ and Lucas ‘should’, and whether what he’s created belongs to him, the entire crew, the cast, or the audience and our culture at large (again, NOT in a legal sense). Thats what I was trying to get at.
I’m being WAY too philosophical for a discussion about Star Wars.
But you said all the people involved in what you consider a collaborative effort make Star Wars belong to everyone, just like the fast food employee who performs the critical task of assembling that engineered and specifically crafted product the way he was trained to do. But that doesn’t make him part owner of the McDonalds cheeseburger.
Owning the studio doesn’t mean you own the film. The writer who creates the property owns the story. If they sell that story to a studio to make a movie out of it then yes, the studio can hire someone to write a sequel and its their right. Lucas OWNS Star Wars, he wrote it, and his studio created it. He can do whatever he wants with it. The intellectual property is his.
Legally AND morally this belongs to Lucas. There is NO argument that says a performer who does a good job representing the character is now part owner of the character.
Do you think Alec Guiness suddenly storms into Lucas Ranch and starts waving his hands around threatening to sue because Ewan MacGregor didn’t play the character exactly the way he did?
There is no MORAL ownership. Ever. You may become attached to an actor’s portrayal or be appreciative of the job done by an effects artist but they are just employees. Good ones at that, but in no way are they in ownership of the property. Lucas gives all those people money for their efforts. Its a job.
Lucas owes them NOTHING if he wants to suddenly make the character evil, or kill them off or cut off their hand.
Lucas can do anything he wants with his property, it is his story, and his art. Not yours, not the actors, not the set designers, not anyone. Just Lucas.
Seriously, the fast-food clerk doesn’t really compare to the role of a production designer. Besides the fact that we’re talking two completely different forms of consumer consumption here, with completely different laws regarding ownership, and it completely ignores the concept of ‘art’ in film… There can be ‘art’ in food, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say there is no ‘art’ in McDonalds food.
Look at another medium of collaborative production: comics/graphic novels. The intellectual rights belong to both the artist and writer, regardless of the fact that the writer came up with the story. The art is recognised as equal part of the final product. The story on its own is not a final product. I view film the same way.
(Its worth clarifying here: I have no issue with the prequels/spinoffs besides that I did not enjoy them, my main issue is regarding the Special Editions of the original trilogy. Lucas correctly owns the rights to the overall STORY, and can choose to REFILM it or create sequels if he wishes.)
Its ridiculous to say that because its a job, the artists retain no intellectual property of the product. A patron can engage an artist to paint a portrait of them. The portrait legally belongs to the patron, but the intellectual property remains with the artist. Its no different if a producer engages an artist to create concept art based on a story , or a script-writer to create a script from a story outline. Legal ownership of the product remains with the producer, but Intellectual property is split between the creators.
Legally he can do whatever he wants with the films, since as you said, those people are technically his employees. He can’t take their names off the credits however, until he changes enough of the film that their part in it no longer exists. But should he? When we’re talking about art it becomes tricky. Referring back to my earlier example: a patron may then decide to engage another artist to alter that painting… Its his legal right, sure. But does that make it morally acceptable?… Depends who you ask I guess.
Does the patron owe the artist anything? No. But is it the morally ‘right’ thing to do? Knowing that my answer is totally subjective, I say no.
do you know that the authors who write new star wars novels, or the writers/artists over at dark horse who put out the star wars comics/graphic novels, have to run their ideas by George Lucas? could it be because it’s his, not theirs. I’m not talking about legal reasons or any B.S like that, because obviously they bought the rights to put those books out, but Star Wars is George Lucas’s, and he has to okay the stories they do, so that it fits into “his IDEA” of what star wars is.
I’m sorry this is a Terrible IDEA, although I agree, star is not about ‘a Character’, but it’s about collections of characters. But, lest not full our selves here, We NEED some JEDI ACTIONS,…come on fellas, this period they trying to make this show in didn’t have Jedi’s, they all died or were in exile. So how the fuck can you make a Star war Series w/out any light saber actions?
Listen if they REALY want to make a Star War joint, they should do it 10 years after Return of the Jedi, Luke is Mentoring New Jedi’s and Some Sith cat is out to get revenge,…there, it took me less then 3min to come up with that idea
Please Georgy Porgy Lucas, please leave the past alone….Damn!
we’ll see
Hey Rodney since when did it become trendy to hate the prequels? From what I remember, there were plenty of haters out right when the prequels were released… And I was one of them…metachlorines my ass!
I do wish George would give it a rest though, I kind of feel like he’s milking the SW universe. Long live the original Trilogy!!!
only thing i hated about the prquel were jar jar, metachlorines, and the fact there were numerous plot holes like: qui gon didnt dissappear when maul stabbed him but in episode 4 obi wan did when vader killed him, and the fact that windu was able to since the dark side in the chancellor in episode 3 but not the other two films.
It’s depressing how badly the prequels failed.
They were such a good idea in theory, too. The original trilogy is a story of redemption, about Darth Vader redeeming himself by saving his son. The prequels were to be a story about corruption and Anakin’s fall.
So the prequels would fall into the category of degeneration, and the original would be about salvation. Degeneration/Salvation. It’s an ingenious plan. Too bad they botched the execution.
I do agree that JarJar is about the worst thing that happened to Star Wars.
Matt, its been well established that the “disappearing Jedi” thing is a preparation a Jedi takes before passing on to join with the force. The only Jedi that disappeared were welcoming death. Those who were slain spontaneously without preparation died in physical form.
And it is also very clear that the Dark Side Clouds Everything. He was making an effort to hide his force presence by using the dark side of the force. By Episode 3 he simply failed to hide it any longer. Windu didnt sense it until Palpatine wanted him to.
oh
@1138, Fortunately it isn’t up to you to decide when he can stop playing with his own toys.
Should Ford stop making cars? Should Molson stop making beer?
People like it, and its his own creation. He can do with it as he pleases.
@ Rodney
If Ford cars sucked or were dangerous yes they should stop…the same for Molson, if there beer sucked or was making people sick they should stop too.
Granted it is up to an artist if their project has run its course. Some pieces of art can be “Overworked” At some point it can or in some cases it must come to an end.
GL is great creating two iconic characters in his life that will be remembered for a lifetime: Luke and Indy. Not many people can say that. Not many creatives can say that. I love George for what he gave us. He set off a whole new generation of filmmakers and introduced us to the blockbuster (Some will say Steve S, but I really believe SW set the trend and made all believe in unbelievable creative and monetary possibilities in film)But I do believe he has passed his creative prime and following Indy: The last crusade, his work has suffered. This is just my opinion of course, but seeing Jar Jar, Metachlorines, Mannequin Skywalker, and the last Indy are perfect examples of a man fallen. George has lost his way.
I would give it a look if it followed the seedy underbelly, like if its set in Cantinas and follows Bounty Hunters etc. It would bug me if famous characters popped up too often, and relationships were made that shrunk the universe even more such as Tarkin meets Han Solos brother etc.
I’ll totally be into the show if it is done with Bounty Hunters, ya know Boba Fett’s going to show up at some point his the fan fav.
I’ve been looking forward to this since I heard about it several years ago. I read recently that their may be no Jedis in it, and if there is there will be few and spread apart within the series, which I think will be great. Focus on the story telling and the war between the rebels and the republic. No need for Jedis and the use of the force other than in reference. The Star Wars universe is pretty damn big, yet seems everybody gets lost in the power of the force and jedis. Series is supposed to take place between episode 3 and 4, from what I understand, and with the majority of the Jedi getting wiped out at the end of 3 and the only ones in 4 being Obi, Darth, and Luke… there really shouldn’t be to many anyway.
luke doesnt officially become a jedi until episode 6…just sayin
Ya, but he starts exhibiting the powers of the force in IV.
true
i didnt mind the prequels, but the clone wars tv show if fucking rediculous and yoda’s voice in that show is fucking irritating, im looking forward to the show
I gotta disagree with you…. yet again.
The animated series is much more than decent. Its very entertaining, tons of action and gives you much more insight on the Clone Troopers. Plus, you get some bad ass Jedi action. There are some cringe worthy dialogue, but it is for tweeners but man, there is some serioius violence on this show.
That being said, a TV show with no Jedi’s or Vader on screen is a nice companion piece to the animated series that somewhat completes the Star Wars TV universe.
Bring it on!!!
No kidding. They should have come out with something like this years. Film and TV buffs have barely glimpsed the surface of the gargantuan iceberg that is the Star Wars universe. Start a Star Wars show already, and then keep making them! Don’t be afraid to blow Star Trek out of the water. Present really well-crafted and interesting characters, then don’t be afraid to kill them off when they get old and die, because we have to get to what happens to their children, and grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Make these shows span generations. That’s what Star Wars needs.