Re: J.J. Abrams To Direct Episode IX - It's official!!!!

by ISeeAnIsland Mon 11 Sep 2017, 2:27 pm

SoloSideCousin wrote:
snufkin wrote:Bird is indirectly responsible for Trevorrow's ascent with his "he reminds me of me" recommendation to Spielberg and Marshall and crack pot scheme that he could have Trevorrow babysit pre-production on TFA while he finished up his passion project, Tomorrowland. They brought in JJ to helm TFA instead, Trevorrow got the JW job, and Tomorrowland bombed. Bird's been awfully quiet and low profile since then and while he's not in the fabled "movie jail," he's working on the sequel to The Incredibles. If anything, part of the blowback against Trevorrow getting these high-profile jobs on such a scant resume was thanks to Bird's quote, which got repeated in industry press about how the film industry is an Old Boy's Club. Bird wrote fan mail to and was mentored by some of Disney's Nine Old Men as a teenager. Which is likely why he helped Trevorrow get a leg up, just not with the same results.

They probably are looking at a range of people, including other people (likely some are women) who like Rian Johnson have a background in prestige TV*. Whether or not RJ is in the running, he can't say anything in a public venue before LF makes any kind of decision or announcement. He certainly can't say anything when he's in the middle of a lawsuit from his former agent claiming 10% commission over his work for TLJ which is going to be heard/ruled on by the state employment commissioner here in California. So he can't say anything one way or the other, it'd be bad for business and bad for his legal case at this point.

* while it would be awfully hard to say no to offers from people like Bird or Spielberg, Trevorrow went in the direction of the business model which is continuing to fail hard in the film industry, blockbusters. Versus how a lot of directors are working in TV because that's where the opportunities are for both employment and to do really interesting work. A lot of the credit given to RJ working well with LF has been given to his tenure on Breaking Bad and serving that show's creative leadership. Like or hate his shows (and I will never badmouth him because I love Felicity), JJ also has tons of TV experience which involves being part of a team. They had the studio system in the Golden Era, these days it sounds more like TV is where filmmakers can really cut their teeth.
@snufkin

I agree. If they want new blood, TV is the way to go. Those people are used to handling intensely complicated characterization and storylines *and* large productions. Indie directors are good too, but sometimes these "Indie turns blockbuster" directors can turn out to be one-trick ponies like Trevorrow. In contrast, Rian had 3 successful indie to smallish studio productions *and* stellar Breaking Bad (team player) work under his belt. In that you get proven originality multiple times plus the ability to work in a big, already existing operation.

@SoloSideCousin

*coughs* Michelle McLaren *coughs*

by snufkin Mon 11 Sep 2017, 2:44 pm

@SoloSideCousin @ISeeanIsland - the funny thing is that post-Looper Rian Johnson mentioned in an interview that he'd had discussions with GoT about coming on board as a director. But sounds like he went in the opposite direction in terms of which TV series and fantasy franchise he signed on to. And that movie came out around the same time period as Safety Not Guaranteed, so they each had opportunities offered to them after which led to the ST. Just that obviously the TV path turned out to be the smarter one.

by Guest Mon 11 Sep 2017, 2:52 pm

My gut instinct is that TLJ is going to rock socks, and Rian's 100% comfortable with having given his all to it. I'd love to see Alfonso Cuaron direct IX.

by panki Mon 11 Sep 2017, 2:54 pm

RandomObserver wrote:My gut instinct is that TLJ is going to rock socks, and Rian's 100% comfortable with having given his all to it. I'd love to see Alfonso Cuaron direct IX.

@RandomObserver

I would love this!

by snufkin Mon 11 Sep 2017, 3:00 pm

panki wrote:
RandomObserver wrote:My gut instinct is that TLJ is going to rock socks, and Rian's 100% comfortable with having given his all to it. I'd love to see Alfonso Cuaron direct IX.
@RandomObserver

I would love this!

@panki

OMG, sign me up too! The only Harry Potter movie I ever bothered to watch was the one he directed because I'm such a huge fan of his, especially Y Tu Mama Tambien and Children of Men. Which hey, there's already a connection there to LF thanks to Diego Luna.

by Guest Mon 11 Sep 2017, 3:03 pm

snufkin wrote:
panki wrote:
RandomObserver wrote:My gut instinct is that TLJ is going to rock socks, and Rian's 100% comfortable with having given his all to it. I'd love to see Alfonso Cuaron direct IX.
@RandomObserver

I would love this!
@panki

OMG, sign me up too! The only Harry Potter movie I ever bothered to watch was the one he directed because I'm such a huge fan of his, especially Y Tu Mama Tambien and Children of Men. Which hey, there's already a connection there to LF thanks to Diego Luna.

@snufkin

Exactly. And Alfonso Cuaraon is a character actor director, which bodes well for a certain someone's character arc. I would absolutely love them to get a female director as a first, though. There are plenty of awesome ones to choose from.

by snufkin Mon 11 Sep 2017, 3:10 pm

@RandomObserver - we know that KK pitched doing one of the installments to Guillermo del Toro, who's a genius (and just won the Venice Film Festival for The Shape of Water) and one of Cuaron's good friends/collaborators. So anybody from that crowd would be amazing, especially because she's already hired Diego Luna for a film. Besides, just think of the cameos or one of the roles we could get for a Cuaron Star Wars movie, like Gael Garcia Bernal or Maribel Verdu.

by Saracene Mon 11 Sep 2017, 4:20 pm

Mrs Ben Solo wrote:I've got a lot of problems with this article, not least the rag that published it, but it does raise some valid points. Plus, it highlights the importance of the Story Group in this in regard to why directors are being fired. I personally thought the jig was up for Colin Trevorrow after a Twitter exchange when it was made clear Pablo Hidalgo did not follow him on Twitter. A small thing perhaps, but that interaction spoke volumes. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2017/09/06/colin-trevorrows-star-wars-sacking-shows-franchise-creative/

This keeps happening for what I suspect is one simple reason: the Lucasfilm Story Group, a in-house committee responsible for working out where Star Wars goes next and exactly how it gets there, has decided it doesn’t want to bring a wide range of contrasting voices and filmmaking styles to the Star Wars universe after all. It just wants to keep making films that feel like Star Wars. And the Star Wars ‘feel’ – which encompasses everything from props to tone to performance style to creature design...

@Mrs Ben Solo

Yeah the quote above seems pretty on the money to me. It does seem like they went, "we want to experiment and try something new... oh wait no we actually don't." How this will play out longterm, after a dozen movies that all feel just like SW, is anyone's guess. I also suspect that this controlling approach will turn off plenty of talented directors.

by Guest Mon 11 Sep 2017, 5:03 pm

Saracene wrote:
Mrs Ben Solo wrote:I've got a lot of problems with this article, not least the rag that published it, but it does raise some valid points. Plus, it highlights the importance of the Story Group in this in regard to why directors are being fired. I personally thought the jig was up for Colin Trevorrow after a Twitter exchange when it was made clear Pablo Hidalgo did not follow him on Twitter. A small thing perhaps, but that interaction spoke volumes. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2017/09/06/colin-trevorrows-star-wars-sacking-shows-franchise-creative/

This keeps happening for what I suspect is one simple reason: the Lucasfilm Story Group, a in-house committee responsible for working out where Star Wars goes next and exactly how it gets there, has decided it doesn’t want to bring a wide range of contrasting voices and filmmaking styles to the Star Wars universe after all. It just wants to keep making films that feel like Star Wars. And the Star Wars ‘feel’ – which encompasses everything from props to tone to performance style to creature design...
@Mrs Ben Solo

Yeah the quote above seems pretty on the money to me. It does seem like they went, "we want to experiment and try something new... oh wait no we actually don't." How this will play out longterm, after a dozen movies that all feel just like SW, is anyone's guess. I also suspect that this controlling approach will turn off plenty of talented directors.

@Saracene

Yeah, it's doubtful they are going to get the kind of directors, such as Guillermo Del Toro, who have creative visions that wouldn't chime with Lucasfilm (it's rumoured GDT dropped out of directing The Hobbit because of concerns about creative freedom and comparisons to the LoTR movies). They are also unlikely to enter into another co-production deal as with JJ and Bad Robot. Pablo Hidalgo hasn't exactly hidden his distaste for the arrangement, although he isn't the last word as far as the Story Group goes, it's clear he's got a good working relationship with his colleagues.

As for Rian Johnson saying he started with a blank page on TLJ, well, he wasn't exactly writing it in a bubble. Is it really creative freedom if it has to get past a committee first? I guess if a director is comfortable with collaboration and there is still a sense in the end product of it being their vision, enough to feel as if they retained creative control, that's all they're looking for out of the deal. It's the same for any franchise, like the Bond movies. They did manage to attract Sam Mendes but I don't think the experience was entirely a happy one for him if rumours are to believed. Any director hired by Kathy Kennedy and Lucasfilm in their current filmmaking environment definitely needs to be a team player, and preferably one used to making compromises. Big egos and auteurs need not apply.

by bashfulblueeyes3 Mon 11 Sep 2017, 6:31 pm

There are so many directors out there, who I am sure could do a good job, but I have a hard time thinking they are going to bring in brand new person. The best choice would be someone who know the cast, characters and how things work in the Star War's Universe. Rian's answers to the interview were interesting, because they were so vague. A lot of side stepping. He couldn't say yes or no. Although, if he really wasn't going to do it, I don't understand why he couldn't just say, " No, I am not doing 9". It wouldn't have hurt anything. Who knows? I hope they do announce it soon.

by tukicarreno Mon 11 Sep 2017, 9:27 pm

bashfulblueeyes3 wrote: There are so many directors out there, who I am sure could do a good job, but I have a hard time thinking they are going to bring in brand new person. The best choice would be someone who know the cast, characters and how things work in the Star War's Universe. Rian's answers to the interview were interesting, because they were so vague. A lot of side stepping. He couldn't say yes or no. Although, if he really wasn't going to do it, I don't understand why he couldn't just say, " No, I am not doing 9". It wouldn't have hurt anything. Who knows? I hope they do announce it soon.

@bashfulblueeyes3

I still want to have a glimpse of hope that Rian will come back. But if it really is not possible the only person I will give the job back to is JJ. At least he knows the actors and is connected to the story. To bring someone new at this point would´t work IMO. We need someone who has already been around these characters and understands how to cohesively end this trilogy.

by **Moonlight13** Mon 11 Sep 2017, 9:31 pm

tukicarreno wrote:
bashfulblueeyes3 wrote: There are so many directors out there, who I am sure could do a good job, but I have a hard time thinking they are going to bring in brand new person. The best choice would be someone who know the cast, characters and how things work in the Star War's Universe. Rian's answers to the interview were interesting, because they were so vague. A lot of side stepping. He couldn't say yes or no. Although, if he really wasn't going to do it, I don't understand why he couldn't just say, " No, I am not doing 9". It wouldn't have hurt anything. Who knows? I hope they do announce it soon.

@bashfulblueeyes3

I still want to have a glimpse of hope that Rian will come back. But if it really is not possible the only person I will give the job back to is JJ. At least he knows the actors and is connected to the story. To bring someone new at this point would´t work IMO. We need someone who has already been around these characters and understands how to cohesively end this trilogy.

@tukicarreno

I totally agree. Smile