A
not so long time ago, in a theater in a nearby city …
It
was a period of great joy for fans of “The Force.” Specifically
it was the summer of 1997, the 20 year anniversary of the original
launch of the “Star Wars” franchise, all three films that had
been made to date were getting re-released theatrically, I was in
the summer between sixth- and seventh-grade with not a lot going on
other than junior high school football practices.
I
had yet to be introduced to Star Wars, I wasn't yet the nerd I would
become. That summer changed my life.
I
got to see each of “A New Hope,” “The Empire Strikes Back,”
and “Return of the Jedi” for the first time, in a movie theater
in Toledo.
I
went from being a casual fan of cartoons to being a huge science
fiction fan, regardless of the format. My love affair with Star Wars,
and by proxy George Lucas films was kicked into full force.
Fast
forward two years, I'm a freshman in high school, “The Phantom
Menace” is released for the first time. At the time I didn't hate
it, and I still don't entirely – please don't hate on me my fellow
forcelovers. I was young and naïve.
I
tell you the back story of my love for that galaxy far, far away so I
can talk about recent events in said galaxy. I've seen nearly
everything Star Wars related in the more than 15 years since then,
from the animated Ewoks and Droids cartoons to the boot-leg copy of
the never released holiday special.
A
few months ago, George Lucas decided to officially retire and he sold
his company, along with the rights to the franchise – to the evil
empire known as The Walt Disney Company – I was shocked, it took me
days to form an opinion on what it meant.
Finally
I decided that if he were truly done, that at least someone would get
to continue on with the characters, locations and other iconic
imagery from the universe as a whole. Plus since Disney had already
bought Marvel Comics and their relate characters, maybe there would
be some cool crossover toy lines, video games or other items.
Of
course in the days, weeks and now months since the sale, and Disney's
near immediate announcement that they were moving forward with a
seventh live-action film. That spawned millions of rumors of what the
plot would be, who would be in the movie, and more importantly who
would be the director.
That
question was answered recently when it was announced that JJ Abrams,
a self-admitted fan, would helm the picture.
Generally
I'd be ecstatic, I've long been a fan of Abrams, and haven't disliked
any of his projects that I've seen. However there is one major flaw
with this. Abrams wrote and directed the Star Trek reboot in 2009, as
well as it's sequel “Star Trek: Into Darkness,” which is out this
year.
It's
one thing for a bit-part actor to play in both universes, but its
blasphemy to have one man direct a movie for both franchises.
I'm
at once both outraged, and excited. We as fans (admittedly I'm also a
Trekker, but Shh...) can't allow this to happen, yet I wonder what
he'll do, and how it'll be done.
So
once again I'm in a quandry about what to think about the future of
the franchise. More importantly if he's working on the next Star Wars
film, he can't be working on the third installment of the Star Trek
rebooted series, which is my biggest problem with the whole
situation.
No comments:
Post a Comment