As you may or may not know, the Star Wars brand was recently sold to Disney for a measly four billion dollars. Along with this came the announcement that there would be a new Star Wars film, Episode VII, coming in only two years. Now, some people we’re wary, even angry, with Disney taking over their favorite brand. I, however, am not one of those people. I am incredibly excited, and here’s why!
First off, let’s be honest: the latest entries into the Star Wars saga have been-lacking. Episode III: Return of the Sith might be the worst movie I’ve ever seen (and trust me, I’ve seen a lot of movies). George Lucas will forever remain a legend for originally creating Star Wars, but it’s long overdue for someone else to take the reigns. And who better than Disney? They’ve constantly funded the brilliant Pixar films, and more recently the Marvel movies (remember Iron Man? Or how about The Avengers?). The fact is Disney has a ton of money, and a ton of desire to fund great products. And remember, Disney has four billion invested in this, so they probably want to see it succeed.
If you’re awesome like me, you’ve probably read your share of Star Wars EU novels (that’s Extended Universe, for those not in the know). The movies were great, but it was in the novels that the world really shined. Dozens of authors and comic artists were able to interpret their own little slice of Star Wars lore with mostly great results. Now it’s time to see those stories in the big screen! The newly announced trilogy is taking place after the events of the originals, a time period that has some fantastic novels and stories attributed to it (the Thrawn Trilogy being the highlight). As far as we know, as script has yet to be decided on for the Episode VII, but it’s reported that veteran screenplay writer, and Oscar winner, Michael Arndt has a script ready to show to potential directors. Even if Arndt’s story is an original idea, we could easily see him pulling characters and themes from established stories, perhaps giving some shout-outs to those of us who know a little too much.
Finally, and this is the most important, is more Star Wars. When it comes down to it, if a movie has lightsabers, I’ll be in line opening night. More Star Wars means more story, more characters, more toys, more games; pretty much everything that I could want. Knowing how terrible Episodes I, II, and III were and yet how successful they did financially, Disney would have to try very hard to mess this up. But as of now, it looks like they’re going in the right direction.
