Could We Really Be Talking About Another Star Wars Movie?

Posted by Joe Ngo (joe@filmschoolrejects.com) on September 25, 2008

With the release of the Star Wars game The Force Unleashed comes new speculation about a new movie! According to the LA Times, Haden Blackman, the producer of Force Unleashed, would love to be able to walk into a theatre and see his tale of Darth Vader’s apprentice on the big screen.

There’s plenty of signs that show it could already be in progress, like the huge, 224 page behind-the-scenes book that celebrates the game like it’s already a movie, the graphic novel that’s already been released, and a soon-to-be available book by Austrailian Sci-Fi author Sean Williams about the game. Phew. George Lucas definitely seems to be pleased with the direction of the game and it’s story, and having just released Star Wars: The Clone Wars in theaters, doesn’t seem to be afraid of taking the franchise to the big screen again.

It definitely helps that there was a huge demand for the Force Unleashed game before it was even released. Unlike the weak box office sales of The Clone Wars, Force Unleashed sold over a million copies in the first five days. Now how much of this would translate to dollars at the box office, I don’t know, but if a million people will buy the game, I’m pretty sure that’s a good sign a few million people would head out to see the movie.

Of course, there is skepticism. The game didn’t exactly get rave reviews:

Most of the things that make up the “Star Wars” universe these days — movies, TV shows, toys and video games — are lacking the magic that made the original trilogy of films so incredible. Gone are the spectacle and awe. Instead, we get halfhearted disappointments (such as the current “Clone Wars” animated movie).

Sadly, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is no exception. It should be an amazing story bridge between Episodes 3 and 4 and one that boasts groundbreaking new artificial intelligence and gaming technology. But Unleashed fails to register the tremor in the Force we were hoping for.

-Pete Metzger, The LA Times

That echos the sentiments of many that bought the game. Despite the less than stellar reviews of the game, the team could not be more excited about a potential movie deal… and to tell you the truth, I could probably get myself hyped up too. But at the same time, it’s kinda feels overdone. George Lucas, when you started to try too hard is when the franchise started to wane. Star Wars will always be remembered as one of the greatest movie franchieses ever… but it might be time to give it a rest.

Do you think Force Unleashed would make a good movie?

Related Reading:

Comment Policy: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Film School Rejects reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. We also reserve the right to modify any curse words in your comments and make you look like an idiot. Thank You!

andru

No, however Zahn's Thrawn trilogy would make great movies.

Sam

I haven't played it yet, but from what I understand it was pretty typical of the 'expanded' universe, in that the story was alright, but formulaic. I honestly don't want to see another kid-orientated star wars film. At least, not in the way 'kid-orientated' seems to be these days. To be completely honest, I haven't seen this summer's Clone Wars (as of yet) but when I watched the trailer, there was the one female teen character who ruined it for me. As soon as there was an 'upbeat' 'joke' / poor oneliner, it felt like a bad saturday morning cartoon for 8 year olds.

To be fair, that may be lucasfilm's target audience, but it doesn't make me want to see the movie. I would be thrilled to see one done in the vein of the original three, in terms of bleakness, and dark content. That's what I felt worked (better). Even to do a film in the years following Return of the Jedi as the warlords are vying for power now that the Empire was falling, and it was even more brutal war and so forth and so on, would be tons better than what's been put to film the last few years.

Aleric

I hate to say it but the one HUGE stumbling block that any Star Wars movie has these days is George Lucas. He doesn't get it, he still thinks that his audience are 10 year old kids. The majority of the people that still go to the movies, buy the merchandise and attend the conventions are between 18 and 35 years old. These fans want to see the SW Universe that the previous posters mentions, the Timothy Zhan novels and others that have been put out in the last 15 years. But George will not let it hit the screen without the juvenile mentality he seems to think the original fans want. Hence why we were given the mess that was the animate Clone Wars film that was previously released this summer.

Here is the scenario that I can imagine would come about when a good script is delivered to Lucas to turn into the Thrawn Trilogy. Lucas scans through the script then makes the suggestions to put in funny robots, a â€œhilariousâ€ side kick to off set Lukeâ€™s dark image. Seriously someone needs to take the franchise out of Lucasâ€™s hands and put it into a YOUNG, skilled, producer and director.

Will C

I'm a huge Star Wars fan, and probably would go see a Force Unleashed film, but I have to agree with everyone. George Lucas seems to be targeting a much younger audience than actually watches the SW films, sure kids love 'em, but those kids from the 1980's are all grown up now and would appreciate a return to the original greatness that was the first SW trilogy.

As for Clone Wars, I was disappointed by it, not a great effort at all.

Mr Giggles

If any Star Wars game was to be made into a movie, my vote would be for KOTOR.
Would really like to see Star Wars go in a darker direction.

Robert Fure

As long as George Lucas doesn't have anything to do with the story or script, I would see it, and it would be awesome.

Senseless Babble

I played the game (and read the novel, AND the graphic novel, and have the "Art of..." book). I am a Star Wars geek. - The game itself was boring, but the story was good. It actually gave an interesting "twist" the the creation of the Rebel Alliance. (You only think you know the full story, but wait, there's more!) - Anyway, I'd be interested in an animated version direct to DVD. (Animated in a style different then the Clone Wars - something more realistic, something like the game animations) - Yes, It would just be like watching someone play the game, but if they flesh out the characters, add more dialog, well... it would be fun to watch. I dont think it's theater worthy, but as a disk, I'd buy it! (but then, i'm one of those nerds who buys anything Star Wars related. I cant help it, I cant let me childhood go!)

jason

agreed that would be cool the animation should be more like advent children though

brentp

I thought Unleashed's greatest assset was the story, so it doesn't seem surprising that Lucasart's shotgun approach to finding some way to provide some positive lead in to 'A new hope' would eventually turn up something. While I think most die hard fans are going to be upset at the slight ret-coning of the formation of the rebel alliance I think it'd make a fairly decent movie.

Though I'd be much more excited about Kyle Katarn (Dark Forces) movies.

rick

There should definatle bee a movie about the force

Could We Really Be Talking About Another Star Wars Movie?

Related Topics:

Related Reading: