STAR WARS Rumor Du Jour: Harrison Ford To Return As Han Solo?

If Disney is really serious about getting Star Wars: Episode VII into theaters by 2015,* then you should expect to get a deluge of news and casting announcements in the coming months.  Other than J.J. Abrams coming on board as director, information about the next trilogy has been surprisingly scarce so far.  Perhaps this little nugget is just the first in an oncoming avalanche...

Latino Review's superhero scooper extraordinaire El Mayimbe claims that Harrison Ford is officially signed on to reprise his role as Han Solo in Episode VII.  No official response yet from Abrams, Ford or Disney.

If it turns out to be true, this hardly feels surprising.  When news of the Disney deal initially broke, the first question on everyone's mind was, "Will Mark Hamill, Carrie Fischer and Harrison Ford be back?"  For his part, Ford was the first to say that he'd be willing to take up his blaster once again.  Of the three leads, it goes without saying that Ford has not only maintained the most star power, but he's also aged the most gracefully.  (Have you seen Mark Hamill recently?  Yeeesh.)  He also seems to be actively engaging in his career now after what amounts to a decade long nap.  Cowboys & Aliens doesn't really work as a movie, but Ford at least looks awake and alert.  He's also got the Jackie Robinson biopic 42 and the long awaited adaptation of Orson Scott Card's sci-fi classic Ender's Game hitting theaters this year, two movies genuinely worth getting excited about.

Add in the proposed "young Han Solo" standalone film in development and bringing Harrison Ford back into the fold as quickly as possible seems like a no-brainer.  I expect that when Disney makes an official announcement, it'll be a multi-picture deal that sees Ford appearing in more than just the new trilogy.  Remember that Disney is also the home of Marvel's connected cinematic universe.  I'm sure that the powers-that-be would love to duplicate that success by utilizing a similar approach to the Star Wars franchise.  If this young Solo film does happen, then it's practically a forgone conclusion that Ford would show up to bookend the movie and/or tie it into the events of the new trilogy.

I'm really hoping this thing actually pans out.  Ford's career is sort of a mystery; the guy's a genuine movie star who got bogged down by a bunch of truly mediocre films at the turn of the century and then essentially dropped off the map.  If we're lucky Ford could on the verge of a Bill Murray-like renaissance.

Then again, if this deal falls apart/turns out to be nonsense, I'd hardly blame the man for being gunshy about revisiting his other signature role after the clusterfuck that was Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.




*This doesn't feel like a sure thing.  I've heard that Abrams has actually given Disney a bit of pushback, wanting to move the release back to 2016.  It's all going to come down to how quickly Micharl Arndt's script comes together.

Why STAR WARS Is About To Disappear Up Its Own Ass

Ugh.

The first rumor about a standalone Star Wars movie pitched a Zack Snyder-led riff on the Kurosawa classic Seven Samurai.  I've always felt that the best way to handle the Star Wars franchise going forward was to hire a few truly bold filmmakers and give them free reign to discover new worlds in that galaxy far, far away, set apart from the drama of the Skywalker clan.  The idea of some kind of "Seven Jedi" adventure certainly sounded exciting but, more importantly, it sounded interesting.

The story was denied within a matter of hours, only to be replaced weeks later with rumors of a movie focused on Yoda.  I didn't take that bait, hoping that the story would be similarly denied before long.  I had little desire for movies focused on already familiar characters.  That's (one of many places) where the prequel trilogy went wrong.  Give me new characters, new worlds, new adventures!

So of course yesterday Entertainment Weekly ran a story that Disney is developing movies about the bounty hunting tales of Boba Fett as well as the adventures of a young Han Solo.

Booooooooooooring.

I don't envy whoever's job it's going to be to cast a young Harrison Ford, let alone the actor (i.e. Chris Pine 2.0) who has to spend 100+ minutes working under Ford's formidable shadow.  Fett is basically the personification of "less is more," although at least there's the possibility for a silver lining there: Joe Johnston, the guy who designed both Boba Fett's armor and the Millenium Falcon, has wanted to make a Fett movie for decades, so maybe after the success of Captain America, Disney will give him a shot.  While there's been no official response from the Mouse House, CEO Bob Iger did confirm to CNBC that the studio is actively developing standalone films to be released concurrently with the new trilogy and that Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg have been hired as writers, although nobody knows if they're working on Fett, Solo, Yoda or something completely different.

This direction is disappointing on every level.  Movies detailing the prior adventures of established characters...am I crazy or are we basically talking about a new set of prequels?.  There was a very early story that Disney was looking to bring back Darth Vader, a concept that made no sense in the context of a new trilogy.  Now it's becoming clearer.  Vader's presence in a movie about Fett or Solo feels like a no-brainer, as does the merchandising goldmine if Vader is still an active and relevant part of what's destined to become Disney's most lucrative property.  Combine that with the prospect of getting a new feature film literally every year for six or seven years and Disney's road map for the Star Wars franchise is starting to feel more and more like a simple and craven money grab.

I hope I'm wrong about all of this, but I don't think I am.  Scripts evaporate, deals fall apart...even if these movies are currently in active development there's no guarantee they'll actually get made.  I'm more concerned about the pattern that's emerging.  The beauty of Star Wars is that it essentially has limitless untapped potential.  George Lucas built a huge sandbox, and then literally wrote himself into one small corner of it.  Disney backed up a Brinks truck to acquire Star Wars from the clutches of George Lucas, and I understand that they want to make sure they recoup and profit on that investment, but the third trilogy alone should more than refill their coffers.  While Episodes 7-9 will almost surely focus on stuff like Han and Leia's kids and/or the elder Luke's new Jedi apprentice, (I bet he's got a dark side!) these standalone films create a tremendous opportunity to branch out and tell provocative new tales.  Instead it feels as if Disney's willing to squander that opportunity in order to build a more marketable theme park ride.

Please Disney, I promise you're going to make your money back and then some.  Forget about selling toys and instead focus on storytelling.  After all, that's the reason we fell in love with Star Wars in the first place.

Now is not the time to play it safe.  Now is the time for fearless exploration.

Now is the time to be bold.

Lone Ranger Theatrical Trailer...Is A Trailer.

I still don't know what to make of Disney's big screen version of the Lone Ranger.  They seem to be going out of their way to connect the dots with the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise, (The skull and crossbones with no words is such an odd choice.) although the tone seems a little all over the place.  The stark, color-drained palate and the ragged, dusty production design is a great choice for an old-school western, but then you've got Johnny Depp spouting one-liners and a horse in a tree.

At least Armie Hammer actually speaking in this trailer.  I still say he's a great choice for the character, and at this point I'm more curious to see how his relationship with Depp plays out.  There was early word that this Lone Ranger would essentially be a dumb, good-looking guy while Tonto would be the real brains of the operation, similar to Michel Gondry's take on The Green Hornet.  I don't really see that in this footage, but who knows?

I seem incapable of processing any thoughts about this movie without the constant reminder that, at one point, it was going to feature mystical Native American werewolves.  Now I'm honestly starting to wonder if that might not have been more fun.  (I know, I hate myself for just for typing that sentence.)

Joss Whedon Returns For Avengers 2 And More!

HUZZAH!

At this point I think it's safe to say that Avengers is the biggest (and possibly most fun) movie of the year.  You can thank writer/director Joss Whedon for that.  While we all hoped and prayed that he'd be back again for the sequel sometime in 2015, Disney announced on an investor conference call that it's now officially a done deal.  Not only that, but Whedon will also be shepherding the still-in-development live action TV show that will be somehow set in the Marvel-verse.  That project is still in the extremely early stages - Marvel hasn't even really announced a general pitch, although rumors point towards some kind of police procedural.  While none of the established Marvel heroes would be regular cast members, I certainly wouldn't rule out the occasional cameo.

While we can hope that Whedon will stay heavily involved in the proposed hour-long (the man is responsible for some of the greatest TV in the past 20 years after all), what looks even more likely is that he'll have a strong hand in the remainder of the in-development movies that make up Marvel's Phase Two.  Whedon did some fiarly extensive re-writes on Captain America, something that was very evident in the finished product, (Tommy Lee Jones' Colonel Phillips feels like a wholesale Whedon creation.) so it makes sense that he'd want to shape the rest of Marvel's upcoming slate to properly set the stage for the next Avengers adventure.  Iron Man 3 is already heading into post-production and the most input he can probably have on Thor: The Dark World at this point is some quick dialogue punch-up, but I expect Whedon will be heavily involved in shaping the stories for Captain America: The Winter Soldier as well as the way-out-there Guardians Of The Galaxy.

A gun-toting raccoon spouting witty Whedon-banter?  Yes please.

Andrew Stanton Returns To The Water For FINDING NEMO 2

I recently had a conversation with some friends about our favorite Pixar films of all time.  While I chose The Incredibles (with WALL-E and Toy Story 3 tied for a close second) my wife chose Monsters Inc, although she was quick to point out that she wasn't really excited about the upcoming Boo-less sequel/prequel.  (I don't blame her.)  Her other favorite is Finding Nemo,* so perhaps she'll be able to garner more enthusiasm at the news that director Andrew Stanton is officially on board to direct a sequel to his Oscar winning animated fish tale.

Stanton made big news earlier this year with the box office crash and burn of John Carter, but it seems that Disney isn't holding it against him and rightfully so; that movie is better than you (and Disney's marketing department) think it is.  Apparently the sequel's concept is all Stanton's, and I'm curious to see what kind of story he pitched.  I feel like there are two probable approaches: the more likely option would see Albert Brook's Marlon somehow go missing, thus sending Dorrie and Nemo off on a role-reversing rescue mission.  The less likely option would see Nemo once again get lost in the vast ocean, thus turning him into the Kevin McAllister of the fish world.


*Full disclosure: we own a small dog named Nemo, who would go on to have a stroke and end up with a gimpy paw...thus living up to his namesake.

D23 Updates: Pixar's Newest, Avengers and John Carter!

Disney is not screwing around.

This year's Comic Con featured the noticeable absence of both Marvel and their corporate sponsors from the Magic Kingdom.  The assumption at the time proved to be correct: Disney was saving the good stuff for D23, the three year old media event hosted in Anaheim featuring presentations on all the most exciting projects on Mickey's horizon.  The event has grown in leaps and bounds since 2009, and by essentially sitting out Comic Con, Disney was able to push the event's relevancy quotient up to 11.

This year saw presentations on a number of high profile projects, with most of the focus falling on Pixar and Marvel.  There were hopes that Marvel honcho Kevin Feige would announce some more titles from their post-Avengers slate, especially since they just staked a claim to release dates in May and July of 2014.  Despite speculation that one of those dates was intended for the Feige-favorite character of Dr. Strange, no such announcement came.  Instead the crowd was treated to a new Avengers reel.  According to eyewitness accounts, (sadly I couldn't make it to Anaheim) the footage featured a whole lot of Loki as the big bad, plenty of action, and the first look at Mark Ruffalo as both Bruce Banner and the Hulk.  Sadly the video is unlikely to make its way online, but you can read the play by play right here.  And if you're really in need of an Avengers fix, check out the below footage of some battle scenes currently filming in Cleveland.

Pixar was the other big voice at D23 and fortunately they were a little more forthcoming with details for their future awesomeness.  They showed off the first four minutes of the upcoming Wreck-It Ralph, which has John C. Reilly voicing the destructive villain of an old school stand-up arcade game trying to prove he's not such a bad guy after all.  The action takes place in the arcade, with game characters crossing over and interacting with each other after closing.  Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) plays his good guy nemesis Fix-It Felix, with Jane Lynch and Sarah Silverman playing characters from other fictional games.  Sounds like Toy Story with video game characters, but centered around a more existential, nature-of-good-and-evil conflict.

Andrew Stanton showed off some more footage from John Carter, Pixar's first attempt at live-action.  It sounds like they've got a real uphill battle with that one, both in selling audiences on an admittedly strange and pulpy sci-fi world and in convincing them that Taylor Kitsch is a movie star.  The initial trailer (seen here) was...alright.  Don't get me wrong, there's tremendous potential here; it could be a real prestige property if handled correctly, but it's going to look downright silly if it's not.  Stanton and Pixar have built up more than enough goodwill over the years that I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, and I'd love to see the artists at Pixar start to bring their tremendous sense of vision to more live-action work.  Some have called the creature design "cartoony," which feels like the wrong direction to me, but I'll reserve judgement until I really get to see a Thark in action for myself.

Finally, we got info on two Pixar flicks that are still a few years out and they both sound phenomenal.  One is set in a world in which the dinosaurs were never killed off by a meteor strike, and instead now cohabit the planet with mankind.  The story is said to focus on a boy and his pet brachiosaurus.  Dinosaurs seems like such a natural fit for Pixar that I almost can't believe we haven't seen it yet, (you can probably blame Ice Age for that) and I expect Disney to make a killing on both the box office and the merchandising.  The second release is a little more sparse on details but is (literally) mind-blowingly exciting.  Directed by Pete Doctor (Up, Monsters Inc.) this movie will take us to "the world inside the human mind."  I don't even know what that means, but I'm already stoked beyond belief.

So lots of reasons to be excited for the future in the house that Walt built.  If they keep the current gameplan, I wouldn't be surprised to see D23 become even more of a powerhouse event in the next year or two.