Lawrence Kasdan – Alex Sigsworth

(Text) Is Star Wars: Episode VIII being rewritten?

After the original announcement on 12th March 2015 that Star Wars: Episode VIII (by Rian Johnson) would open 26th May 2017 (fourty years after the original Star Wars by George Lucas), Disney have since pushed it back to 15th December 2015. The initial reason speculated was that Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (by J. J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt) grossed the highest opening weekend from the 18th – 20th December, something Disney wanted to repeat with Star Wars: Episode VIII. But now, a BBC News article has mentioned that

there had been speculation that the script was being rewritten

While it doesn’t mention any specific sources that have speculated this, it does go on to mention that

Disney did not say why the film had been delayed

implying that there was a less optimistic reason for the rescheduling. The next Star Wars film to be released will be Rogue One: a Star Wars Story (by Chris Weitz and Gary Whitta) on 16th December 2016. Star Wars: Episode VIII‘s rescheduling from 26th May 2017 has now widened the release gap to twelve months, rather than the previous six months. Rogue One: a Star Wars Story itself releases twelve months after Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, the shortest gap between two Star Wars films releasing. Star Wars: Episode VIII opening six months later was to shorten that gap further still.

That said, each of the three films from the new Disney regime still open exactly a day before the previous film in the following year. But, 2016 being a leap year means that the gap between Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens and Rogue One: a Star Wars Story is still 365 days, making the gap between Rogue One: a Star Wars Story and Star Wars: Episode VIII just 364 days, which remains a record.

(Video) Star Wars Controvery [sic] Epilogue – Stakes, Conflict Free Characters, and a Question

So, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency writer Max Landis shows up again. God, this guy gets everywhere. In case you’re not familiar with the context, let me clear things up: Landis accused Rey from Star Wars: Episode VII – the Force Awakens (by J. J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt) of being a character without any weaknesses or stakes, and was accused of misogyny. Because that’s what happens when anyone makes any comment about any female character.

And in this video, he finally snaps. It’s not even funny, just… scary. I went to college with a guy like this. He, too, resembled a bi-curious douche bag.

(Video) Lawrence Kasdan interviews Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens co-writer J. J. Abrams

At the Directors Guild of America, Lawrence Kasdan interviewed his Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens co-writer J. J. Abrams, who also directed it:

(Quote) Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens’ Michael Arndt on early drafts

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens‘ Michael Arndt mentioned the nature of early drafts:

Early on I tried to write versions of the story where [Rey] is at home, her home is destroyed, and then she goes on the road and meets Luke. And then she goes and kicks the bad guy’s ass. It just never worked and I struggled with this. This was back in 2012. It just felt like every time Luke came in and entered the movie, he just took it over. Suddenly you didn’t care about your main character anymore because, “Oh f–k, Luke Skywalker’s here. I want to see what he’s going to do.”

(Text) What Star Wars: Episode VIII can learn from Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (J. J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt) has been released and it’s… well, it’s not good. But I’ll be seeing Star Wars: Episode VIII (Rian Johnson) anyway, to see if Snoke turns-out to be Plagueis. That’s the kind of twist that would make Star Wars: Episode VIII remembered by fans. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens drew on Star Wars Episode IV (George Lucas), and it’s likely that Star Wars: Episode VIII will draw on Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan) to be a “dark sequel” while also being the low point of the trilogy before the expectedly triumphant third act.

So here are some suggestions that will make Star Wars: Episode VIII better than Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens failed because Kylo Ren was a weak antagonist. A large part of that was the ambiguity as to who the protagonist was – Rey or Han – and thus couldn’t focus on the right aspects of his personality. There wasn’t enough time to reveal Kylo Ren as Han’s son and develop that part of him, making it seem like a Forced twist.

Similarly, there also wasn’t enough time to develop the sub-plot of Rey searching for Luke, making the map toward him completely irrelevant by the end and also seeing Forced. See how a weak antagonist can affect everything else? The plot of Star Wars: Episode VIII will probably involve Luke explaining more of what happened during his absence, and hopefully why Kylo Ren abandoned the new Jedi. The Knights of Ren should have some relevance as well.

This is a good opportunity to really substantiate the plot a bit more – is Rey Luke’s daughter? If so, Kylo is her cousin. That would add to the tension – there’d be a familial relationship between them. And it’s likely that Luke and Kylo Ren know each other, which would skip the establishment of their relationship too.

Basically, Luke’s involvement will provide the opportunity to make the Sequel Trilogy more interesting. The amount of exposition he knows could potentially fill-in the gaps not yet explained, all within the first act, leaving the remaining screen time to actually do something with it. Kylo Ren’s motivations should be properly explained, Rey should be tested more as a character to make her less unbelievable, and Luke can be the one to do this – tell Rey who Kylo Ren is, then train her to fight him. All culminating in some sort of personal showdown with Kylo Ren giving us a reason to actually dislike him, as opposed to us simply being told we’re supposed to.

If Star Wars: Episode VIII is successful, I’ll come away thinking that it’s a great science-fiction film that works because of its antagonist. An antagonist that is well-written this time, who isn’t simply “evil” because he is, but has his own, justified agenda that makes me question my own position in that situation. I never really expected Abrams to do it, given the way he directs his other antagonists… but Rian Johnson? Well, I don’t know much of his work, but let’s just say that this time, he’s working with someone else’s character, not his own, so there’s some possibility of restraint from Lucasfilm.

Will that be good or bad? Who knows? I just hope they realise the fault with Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. They probably won’t, though.

The critics adore it. I can’t think why. Rian Johnson, I anticipate your May 2017 film. It’s on you now.

Because I’m probably not going to let this go until then…

(Video) MARY SUE SEXIST MAX LANDIS ON A RANT AGAIN HIS FORCE AWOKE

You may recall that some time ago I shared a video of Mr. Right‘s Max Landis explaining why Daisy Ridley’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens (J. J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt) didn’t work. Well now, he’s responding to the response. And if you couldn’t handle this guy before, get ready, cause things are about to get… weird:

(Text) Is Supreme Leader Snoke Darth Plageuis?

I won’t pretend to be the first person to theorise this. Other than whether Han would die, or if Rey is Luke’s daughter, Snoke being Plageuis is amongst the most commonly-circulated possibilities amongst online Star Wars fandom. Is Andy Serkis’ character, Snoke, the same character as Darth Plagueis, whose canonicity is something of much repute. Plagueis was first mentioned by Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (George Lucas) , and hasn’t been acknowledged in the Saga since:

Plagueis was only mentioned again in spin-off media, and even then sparingly. But Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (J. J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt) could be the first on-screen appearance of Plagueis. According to the novel Tarkin – the only other canonical Star Wars work involving Plagueis – Palpatine was the apprentice that murdered Plagueis once Palpatine had learned everything Plagueis knew on how to live forever. The rule of two meant that only two Sith could ever exists at once, further motivating Palpatine to murder Plagueis in order to make Darth Maul his apprentice, leading into Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (George Lucas).

Once Darth Maul was murdered by Obi-Wan, Palpatine needed a new apprentice, leading to the conversation in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in-which Palpatine tells Anakin the story of Plagueis to convince Anakin to become a Sith apprentice, due to Anakin’s growing fear of Padme dying. And that’s all we know of Darth Plagueis. It should be noted that in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren refers to Snoke as “wise” – something pointed-out to me by The Anniversary‘s John “Obi-John Kenobi” Campea, who also features on Collider Jedi Council, where I’m getting most of my rumour news. In an interview, actor Daisy Ridley denied that Rey’s staff is Plagueis’ lightsabre, despite it being featured in every marketing item, and running parallel to Kylo Ren’s staff on the Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens poster.

Another citation for the rumour is the Kylo Ren action figure, which mentions Rey’s staff through a dialogue line not said in the final film. It’s been speculated that this has been done due to Disney planning for Snoke to be revealed as Plagueis. However, some denials of the rumour have been that Rey’s staff running parallel with Kylo Ren’s lightsabre is to highlight the parallel between the characters – Kylo Ren is Han’s son, which would make him Rey’s cousin if Rey is Luke’s daughter. It’s also been noted that Plagueis doesn’t have a staff in Star Wars canon.

Another interview with Ridley was also highlighted for Ridley’s specific mention of Plagueis when asked the question, rather than ignoring him. The leading theory is that Ridley is aware that Rey’s staff is Plagueis’, proving that Disney have planned for that revelation. Serkis also described Snoke in such a way that was taken to describing a Muun. Plagueis’ design in non-canonical Star Wars fiction has shown Plagueis to be a Muun, as per Lucas’ intention.

Were Snoke to be shown on screen, it’s likely Disney would draw on Lucas’ idea and make Plagueis a Muun, making Serkis’ description of Snoke to be a confirmation of his character being Plageuis. This is just the rumours surrounding the Sequel Trilogy, but they could be true. What do you think – is Snoke Plagueis? Sound off below, and may the Force be with you.

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