A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Why does the writer of  Star Wars: The Last Jedi  think it is plausible for Princess Leia to survive the vacuum of space without a spacesuit? Let me ask you this: Why did George Lucas think it is plausible for starfighters to fly through the vacuum of space and maneuver  exactly  like jet fighters in atmospheric flight without all the complications of reaction control systems, complicated life support systems, and all of the known problems that space travel poses? Why did George Lucas think it was plausible for any civilization, even an advanced one with tech supposedly far more advanced than ours, to build a space station the size of a small moon? Why did George Lucas think it was plausible that a space station the size of a small moon could travel through hyperspace without creating a noticeable gravitational disturbance in its path and wake? Why do the crew and passengers of any starship, including the  Millennium Falcon,  fly in and out of space in a “shirtsleeves envi

J.J. Abrams did not, as you put it,  give way  to anyone as far as directing  Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. Per the original plan that Abrams and the people in charge of Lucasfilm Ltd., each of the  Star Wars  Sequel Trilogy films was to be directed by a different director. Thus, by the time Abrams began pre-production on  The Force Awakens,  the lineup looked like this: The Force Awakens -  Directed by Abrams, with a December 2015 release date Episode VIII -  Directed by Rian Johnson, originally scheduled for a May 25, 2017 release Episode IX -  Directed by Colin Trevorrow, scheduled for a May 2019 release. And in between each of the Saga films, a  Star Wars Story  anthology movie would be released as well. For  Star Wars: The Force Awakens,  J.J. Abrams would direct from a screenplay he co-wrote with Lawrence Kasdan. Originally, the writer for  The Force Awakens  was Michael Arndt, a solid writer but one who takes a while to get a script done. Abrams re

© 2017 Dolby Labs and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Was The Last Jedi too far, far away from being like a Star Wars movie? Despite what many of its vocal “Disney ruined  Star Wars ” detractors claim,  Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi  was not much different from any of the other Skywalker Saga films. It follows the basic format of the previous seven Saga films and has the same basic visual and aural  Star Wars-y  features, including: The Lucasfilm logo (yes, I miss the 20th Century Fox logo and fanfare that preceded the movies made before 2008, but let’s get over that) The Main Title, with the receding  Star Wars  titles and crawl, accompanied by John Williams’ score John Williams’ score Transitions accompanied by “wipes” and “dissolves” A basic three-act structure Intertwined plots that converge at the end Lessons about the Force Jedi stuff Dark Side of the Force stuff Lightsaber duels Mix of comedy and drama Space battles Enemy superweapons Unexpected plot twist

Cover art for Marvel Comics' omnibus edition of The Last Jedi comics adaptation. © 2018 Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) On Quora, member Michael Justin asks: Why did Kathleen Kennedy let Rian Johnson throw away J.J. Abrams’ Episode VIII script if she was going to hire him back for Episode IX? This question, like so many others like it, is based on a basic assumption that seems to be popular among many “fans” who get their information almost exclusively from YouTube or bloggers whose views they share. The assumption:  That J.J. Abrams had a detailed plan for the Sequel Trilogy, even had  scripts  for all three Episodes, and that this grand plan was wrecked by Rian Johnson with  Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi.  And clueless, SJW Princess Kathleen Kennedy let Johnson ruin  Star Wars. Oh, you poor deluded child. First of all, just as George Lucas did not write a ginormous 360-page screenplay with all the beats and plot twists of the Original Trilogy c

© 2017, 2018 Del Rey Books/Lucasfilm Ltd. Which elements of 'The Last Jedi' do you think J.J. Abrams will retcon in the upcoming 'Star Wars: Episode IX'? Oh, Sithspawn. Will  The Last Jedi  bashing ever stop? All right. Listen. Apparently, you never took Basic Screenwriting 101 or understand how moviemaking at that level works  really  works. First, even though J.J. Abrams did not write or direct  Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi,  he is one of the film’s executive producers, which is the same job title George Lucas had when Lucasfilm Ltd. made  The Empire Strikes Back  and  Return of the Jedi. That means that even though he was not on-set every day or oversaw production in a hands-on way, he read Johnson’s script way before principal photography began. As executive producer, along with Kathleen Kennedy and others on his decision-making level, he had  veto power  over Johnson’s script. Thus, if Abrams believed, like quite a few fans seem to think, th

Cover art (derived from Issue #5) by Paolo Rivera. ©2018 Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) On November 6, 2018, nearly a year after the debut of director Rian Johnson's eponymous film, Marvel Comics released Star Wars: The Last Jedi, a trade paperback that collects the six issues of writer Gary Whitta and artist Michael Walsh's series  Star Wars: The Last Jedi Adaptation. Featuring a dynamic cover by Paolo Rivera that was originally done for the series' fifth issue, this slim 136-page  volume continues the Sequel Trilogy saga that pits General Leia Organa's small band of Resistance fighters against the forces of the evil First Order of Supreme Leader Snoke and his powerful but unstable apprentice, Kylo Ren. The FIRST ORDER reigns. Having decimated the peaceful Republic, Supreme Leader Snoke now deploys his merciless legions to seize military control of the galaxy. Only General Leia Organa's band of RESISTANCE fighters stands against the risin

Cover Art: "Rey and the Island" concept painting by James Clyne. © 2017 Abrams Books and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) On December 15, 2017, Abrams Books, an imprint of New York publisher Henry N. Abrams, released Phil Szostak's The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Published on Opening Day of director Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi, this was Szostak's third volume in a series of illustrated books that focus on the concept art created by Lucasfilm's Art Department during the making of the post-George Lucas Sequel Trilogy and the standalone Star Wars Anthology movies. An image archivist who has worked for The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm in the past, Szostak was embedded with Lucasfilm's Art Department almost as soon as George Lucas retired from making blockbuster films and sold his famous production company and all of its assets to Disney in 2012. As a result, he has been in a good position to cover the illustrators, set designers, pre-vis artis

Cover art by Nicolas Delort (C) 2018 Quirk Books and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  On July 10, 2018, Philadelphia-based Quirk Books published Ian Doescher’s William Shakespeare’s Jedi the Last: Star Wars the Eighth, a literary mashup of writer-director Rian Johnson’s Star Wars – Episode VIII: The Last Jedi and the works of William Shakespeare. The Force,   The Force, My kingdom for the Force! ­– from the dust jacket blurb, Jedi the Last Once again, the geeky, witty, and talented author of the William Shakespeare’s Star Wars series takes readers on a delightful journey to the space-fantasy universe created 41 years ago by writer-director George Lucas – with a twist that is in turn radical and logical. He takes a 21 st Century film – The Last Jedi – and presents it as an Elizabethan age stage production from the quill of the Bard of Avon, rendered in authentic iambic pentameter and, in the case of Yoda’s famously inverted dialogue, haikus. Is this a lightsaber which I see befo

Cover art by Nicolas Delort. (C) 2018 Quirk Books and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Zounds! Fans of the William Shakespeare's Star Wars series, rejoice. The eighth book in the series of Shakespearian plays set "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" will hit bookstores in our galaxy this summer.  Long-time Shakespeare buff (and life-long Star Wars fan) Ian Doescher has taken writer-director Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi and re-imagined it as a four-act play written in the Elizabethan era by none other than the Bard of Avon himself.  Quirk Books of Philadelphia will release the resulting book, Jedi the Last: Star Wars, Part the Eighth on July 10, 2018 in hardcover, e-book, and audio editions. The Star Wars saga continues, with adventure and surprises galore! In the aftermath of Han Solo's death and the return of Luke Skywalker, what secrets will be revealed, what mysteries will deepen, and who will join the struggle to bring peace and

(C) 2018 Del Rey Books and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  On March 6, 2018, Random House’s Del Rey science fiction/fantasy imprint published Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Expanded Edition, a novelization of the middle act of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy that started with 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens . Written by Jason Fry with direct input from writer-director Rian Johnson, The Last Jedi chronicles the continuing adventures of Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron, as the brave Resistance led by General Leia Organa fights a desperate battle for survival against the evil First Order.   Set three decades after the deaths of Emperor Sheev Palpatine and Darth Vader and the fall of the Galactic Empire, The Last Jedi begins where The Force Awakens left off. And taking a cue from Alan Dean Foster, who adapted The Force Awakens three years ago, Fry opens his novel with the actual “crawl” from Johnson’s film: The FIRST ORDER reigns. Having decimated the peaceful Republic, Supreme Leader Snoke now d