George Lucas hands Star Wars over to Disney

I feel very emotional about the news this morning that George Lucas is retiring and handing over his Lucasfilm empire to Disney. It feels like he has died. I guess it's that realisation that we've come to the end of another era. That unlike Star Wars, George Lucas is mortal and getting older every day. This then reminds you that you are not five years old boy anymore, but a middle aged man and time is running out for you too.

Despite all the grief he was given over the Star Wars prequels, lets not forget that without him, Star Wars and Indiana Jones would not exist. It must have been incredibly hard to let go of such a huge part of your life - your legacy. No wonder it has taken him four years to do. I think he must feel incredibly sad, relieved and excited all at the same time. I know I do. 

Kathleen Kennedy (The Producer of Indiana Jones and many of Steven Spielberg's other films) is going to take over the running of Lucasfilm and will be producing the next trilogy of Star Wars films which follow on from Return Of The Jedi. Lucas wrote treatments for these around the same time as he developed the first three films. They subsequently became novels and graphic novels in the early to mid-nineties. 

Way back then, when I was still at University, I learned that they were going to be making the prequels. I swore (to anyone who'd listen) that I would direct the ninth Star Wars film. I worked out that it would not be released any earlier than 2015, which gave me nearly nineteen years to calve out a successful directing career. I even made Danny Boyle sign my Trainspotting/Shallow Grave screenplay book "Good Luck with the ninth Star Wars." 

In 1997, while working on The Phantom Menace, I asked George Lucas' daughter Amanda if he would be making the final trilogy and without hesitation she said no. At that moment my dream of directing a Star Wars film had been shattered. Over the years I had forgotten that dream and instead been grateful for the wonderful experience I had working on Episode One that summer. The opportunity to meet the big man himself was inspiring enough for me to leave Star Wars behind and crack on with my own fantastical ideas and possible franchises. 

Despite the fact that in the last fifteen years I have unfortunately not yet reached a Hollywood level career in directing, this morning's news reignited a spark of excitement. There was still a chance, however small that I, Derek Boyes, could direct the ninth Star Wars film by 2020. 

Anyone know Kathleen Kennedy's number? 

The Fears Of A Stereotypical Imagination

I have just watched Snow White and the Huntsman which by all accounts is much better than I anticipated. Having been bored to death by Twilight, I was expecting a modern retelling with a lot of pale sullen faced  teenagers suffering mild depression from their broken hearts, but I was pleasantly surprised to see they were passionate about making this film. It's not quite the classic they were aiming for, but there are moments of beauty and inspiration. The beach attack on the castle was spectacular, some of the fantastical trees, fairies and toadstools were inspiring and the dark magical forest exceeded even Tim Burton's visions. The Huntsman (although his Scottish accent slipped into Australian from time to time) was convincingly masculine, without becoming homoerotic (Anyone see the film 300), though Charlize Theron's performance, particularly when she screamed, was cringing and about as effective as Ewan McGregor's 'younglings' performance in Revenge Of The Sith. However, to her credit, she has since perfected the ice cold performance in Prometheus.

Anyway the point I want to make, or rather the irritation I'd like to point out is that while I have been plodding along with the writing of the Henry Bramble feature I had absolutely no previous knowledge of this film, except for it's title and the DVD cover. I was just about to tackle the scene in my script where Henry and the two chumninks enter the Castle of Shadows through the sewage pipes when I decided to take a break and look at Snow White & The Huntsman. To my surprise and annoyance I discovered they had an almost identicle scene. Three dwarfs sneak into the castle via the sewers with Ray Winstone making almost the same 'poo' one liner that I had written. In reference to my previous postings, when you are coming up with the same scene as someone else rather than the same archetypal tool, then not only does it look like plagiarism but you then start to question your own ability to imagine original thoughts. For now I am not going to change my scene, just aim to develop it differently so that it exceeds and surprises expectations of audiences who have seen Snow White.

My other concern is the increasing release of gothic teen fairytale adaptations that are beginning to saturate the market with the same style and tone that I had previously liked, but is now becoming too familiar with audiences. The challenge is to have an original vision and style that audiences will be drawn to, which is no easy feat. As a result I am leaning much more towards a 'steampunk' world were medieval mixes with futuristic Victorian. It makes more sense thematically. Henry has a vivid imagination, the contents in his Uncle's country house are very traditional and Victorian, but as a boy living in a modern world, he is much more aware of technology. Merging these in his imagination would give him Steampunk which represents Uncle Geoffrey and the negative aspects of the adult world.

Finally, the last lesson learned from this film is that short actors playing fantastical elves, dwarves, goblins, sprites etc. in big Hollywood fantasy films could well be a thing of the past. Firstly, short actors playing these kinds of fantasy creatures (without complex prosthetics or CGI) arguably don't come across as 'magical' in a more diverse and progressive society. Secondly, in order to have more choice in casting, the filmmakers of The Lord Of The Rings and Snow White chose instead to shrink normal sized actors to play these parts. Since the creation of a completely CGI Gollum, there has been a surge in performance capture techniques allowing filmmakers to cast A-list actors that appear physically inhuman. I think for Henry Bramble, if we were rewarded with such a budget, this could be a direction we are forced into in an attempt to put financiers at ease by attaching well known actors (of any shape and size) to play Grimbo and Raygo. Can you imagine Charlize Theron and Brad Pitt playing three foot chumninks?