But why would Disney want to let go whoever directed Episode 7? It'd need to fail pretty hard or something.
I know that Lucas had done that with 5 & 6, not only to give himself a break, but also so that each movie would have it's own distinct look and feel. I'm sure that in Hollywood right now there is a lot of back-stabbing maneuvering amongst the the agents of every major director to get a crack at directing one of episodes. At one point in the late 1990s I know that Spielberg had expressed interest in directing a SW film, not sure if he still has that interest. Though he would be a great choice.
I don't know. Between 1977 and 2012, we've had six Star Wars movies. Between 1989 and 2012, we've had seven Batman movies. Arguably it's too soon to bring Star Wars back to the screen, but at least a solid decade will have passed since ROTS when it does come back. But both of those films had George Lucas in an executive producer position, and neither Kershner nor Marquand had the level of control over their pictures that Abrams had with his Star Trek films. It's true that when it comes to blockbusters directors can be an expendable commodity - Thor, Hunger Games, Twilight etc. are all recent film series that have had turnovers in the director's chair - but that would be a step down for Abrams who has the clout to make personal films like Super 8 in addition to running the Trek franchise.
I'm sure that most/any director considered would be more that happy to give up that control (along with a first born) to get this directing gig. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if buried in the sale/deal that Lucas will quietly have final approval for the director(s), or taken under strong advisement. Plus, at this point, no one knows how Kathleen Kennedy will run each movie, and how much influence she will exert on the director(s).
You say direct, but we all know that that's just code for saving our child hood from another raping. it's the little job right beside the big situation like Hitler's manicurist, or Marilyn Munro's towlboy that prove that one man if he can be arsed, can make a difference..
Many, sure. Most, statistically plausible. But Abrams, who has built himself as a brand for the past decade with a string of TV shows and now movies... I'd be less sure. We don't. It could be - and I'd expect it to be - that the director has considerable authority over how the film is made. Which of course begs the question I asked above.
Avengers strategy for Star Wars? So, use the OT characters in the first three movies to draw the audience back in and re-establish the movie franchise. Any number if new characters could be introduced during the trilogy, and if they're popular enough, they get individual movies as well. I could see Hamill coming back as a framing device - old Luke reminscing - then the action procedes to the younger Luke. However, this puts even more pressure on the recast Luke to look a whole lot like Hammil and it also gives away the game that he survives to the end of the new trilogy.
Where do you get this crazy idea that they will recast Luke? It holds about as much water as recasting Indiana for Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls - which they didn't.
Lots of people are insisting that Luke is going to be recast. Like Temis the Vorta, and Temis the Vorta, and... But no, I think it's pretty obvious they're not recasting Luke Skywalker for Episode 7 for reasons that are right there in the name. Want to recast Luke, do a straight up remake of the original trilogy. More likely he's the Obi-Wan for a new cast of characters. So movies focusing on individual characters could be characters who spin off from this movie trilogy (say, a movie trilogy about a bunch of kickass Jedi teenagers, and then these kids, in true superhero movie fashion, get movies about their own adventures) more than shoehorning old characters in.
No point in doing a reboot right now. Not until the franchise is dead and buried like Trek was after ENT and Nemesis. They would make more money doing a true sequel.
I do like the idea of spinoff movies with new characters. That will go a long way towards the bigger universe of the original movie instead of everything being centered on the Skywalkers.
I would prefer them picking an empty solt in the timeline, not just because i care about canon. It would be nice to start fresh like Trek did with TNG.
I doubt he would be able to do both, but I don't believe he's under any sort of contract with Paramount to return for a third movie. He wasn't under contract to direct a second movie, either, but he eventually chose to do so.
This is similar to Lucas's original plan for SW when ANH took off. Essentially getting directors he wanted to work with to do one shot movies not necessarily about Luke, but stuff in the backstory or stuff in the future. Of course the plan were changed and went sour after the problems with the production of ESTB and later his collapsing marriage.
In the Secret History of Star Wars it is made pretty clear that Marcia Lucas hated SW, no wonder lucas treated it the way it did.