File this under “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Star Wars creator George Lucas said that he is planning to retire – from making big budget movies. He made this claim after production for his new movie Red Tail ended.
According to Lucas, “I’m moving away from the business, from the company, from all this kind of stuff.” [Read more…]
‘Clone Wars’ Imports George Lucas’ Movie Character
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is continuing to explore every last nook and cranny of the Star Wars universe, that there wasn’t time to highlight in the films. The latest aspect to fall under the magnifying glass? The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it character “Papanoida” that was played in Revenge of the Sith by none other than George Lucas himself. Lucas is not voicing the character that borrows his likeness.
Clone Wars‘ upcoming episode “Sphere of Influence” upgrades the character with a full backstory, bringing him to the forefront when Papanoida’s family is kidnapped and held for ransom. The three children in the story are modeled after Lucas’ own children, Jett, Amanda, and Katie, though none of the real-life Lucas siblings lend their voices to the production either. “Sphere of Influence” takes viewers into the underbelly of Coruscant, where Papanoida gets revved up into a blaster-shooting action hero, Han Solo style.
I’m curious to see how fans will react to this one. Fun tribute to Star Wars’ creator, or self-serving waste of a half hour? Decide for yourself when “Sphere of Influence” airs this Friday night, October 1st, on Cartoon Network. Here’s a quick glimpse at Papanoida in action:
Star Wars: The Sitcom?
Oh, George.
Variety is reporting that Lucasfilm is looking to buoy its success with Star Wars: The Clone Wars by launching another animated series, only this one is putting a comedic slant on the Star Wars universe. As a concerned Star Wars fan, I’m wondering if it’s long past time that we stage an intervention before George Lucas milks his cash cow until it’s dead.
Yet one aspect of this news shows a single drop of promise. The creators of Robot Chicken, Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, are members of the show’s creative team, and they’re describing the show less as The Jar-Jar and Battle Droids Laugh-In and more as an irreverent take on the saga that has no problem poking fun at its source material. The writing staff also boasts a scribe from The Daily Show.
Less inspiring is the fact that a writer from The Backyardigans and a director from Back at the Barnyard are onboard. It sounds like Lucasfilm hopes to strike a balance between cheeky and wholesome. Witty enough for mom and dad, but innocent enough for the kids. Precious few animated series have ever been able to conjure a subtle balance between these two ends of the spectrum, and George Lucas isn’t exactly known for his subtlety.
I do dig The Clone Wars, so I’ll check this one out when it debuts, but it’s going to take a lot to win me over.
At present, the untitled show has announced no voice cast, no premiere date, and no network. (Though if Lucas keeps creating shows — he’s also got a Star Wars-for-toddlers cartoon in the works, as well as the much-ballyhooed live action show that’s coming, you know, sometime this century — he’ll be able to start a network of his own.)
Lucas to transfer Star Wars movies to 3D
Talk about flogging a dead horse.
George Lucas is reportedly planning to transfer all six Star Wars movies into 3D.
This news was revealed by DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, who said that Lucas has the technical resources to actually make it happen. We all know that he also has the financial resources to actually do it if he does make up his mind.
We’ll keep you posted on this news as it develops in the future.
Possible sequels to Indiana Jones
The fourth Indiana Jones movie hasn’t been shown yet but George Lucas is already talking about a possible fifth or sixth installment to the well loved franchise.
In an interview with Fox News at the Cannes Film Festival, Lucas kind of spilled the beans about sequels to the Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull. In fact, he said that “there is more than a strong possibility” for another Indiana Jones movie.
Lucas said that he and Steven Spielberg have made certain plot points that will make it possible to do a sequel to the upcoming movie.
Lucas further said that even though he hasn’t told Spielberg or star Harrison Ford about the plan, he said that he has an idea of making Shia LaBeouf’s character becoming the lead in the possible sequel and Indiana Jones coming back in the same capacity as Sean Connery did in the last movie.
The idea sounds interesting enough. But can Shia LaBeouf carry a movie this big in a couple of years? We’ll see how well he does in this new movie.