The Star Wars Prequels

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combatentropy said:
By the time I became very interested in filmmaking, around 1990, I read biographies of many directors, including Lucas, and I remember reading about it being a trilogy of trilogies. So I think by then the plan had solidified. But even then he did not have 6 more screenplays ready to shoot or even 6 synopses.
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The legend of '9 parts' is old for sure. The promise of an epic saga. Not disputing that.

But isn't that really the case with every story? We don't start with "the Big Bang" and fade out as the known universe slowly cools down... every story has events preceding and succeeding.

There was no Jar Jar Binks in 1990, let's leave it at that.
 
AndreeOnline said:
The legend of '9 parts' is old for sure. The promise of an epic saga. Not disputing that.

But isn't that really the case with every story? We don't start with "the Big Bang" and fade out as the known universe slowly cools down... every story has events preceding and succeeding.

There was no Jar Jar Binks in 1990, let's leave it at that.
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Is anyone claiming that Lucas had everything clearly mapped out before even filming A New Hope?

Lucas had shopped the story around as a larger thing than ANH, but ended up picking the best stand alone portion of that story, just in case that was it. Empire was a cliff hanger. And rumors of prequels and changing the films to EP4,5,6 all indicated some premeditation.

EDIT, i recall one of the reasons they went with ANH first was also budget. Mr. George had sad the prequels had worlds and sets and casts that were too big a scale for the budget they had. Leave it to George to make dollars and sense. But those types of details came out in the 90’s, so, who is to say the exact reasoning. But when ANH was successful, he realized he could possibly make the prequels, and then opened that up. You can also see the great lengths he made to make big fantastic worlds via CGI. Not just because they could, but because i think that is what he wanted to. A very different approach than Steven Spielberg took in JP.


The Ring Theory essay that Barry posted, seems to refer to Lucas as reacting to the originals in his writing process. So, that would mean, Lucas is referencing the originals. And it does try to explain perhaps why Lucas made the choices he made, based on that theory.

What the article doesn’t get into much, is that despite clever narrative techniques, some of the characters didn’t capture audiences the same way the original cast did. Nor the uncanny valley the CGI sets and characters gave off. Lucas was an older CEO, and had become the same thing that he had fought when he was younger. Which actually mirrors some of his themes in Star Wars of Anakin and Luke. LucA(nakin)S(kywalker). Luca S. Luke S. ....Oh, you get it.
 
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Btw, Barry, thanks for posting that essay. Has a lot of good tid bits on writing structure. A bit heady trying to keep track of all the threads, but the writer does a good job of making it seem more than just plausible. Highly recommended reading. Thanks!
 
James0b57 said:
Is anyone claiming that Lucas had everything clearly mapped out before even filming A New Hope?
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As luck would have it, as he was chosing whether to start with ANH or "the other part" with all the clown droids blabbering for comic relief when not stumbling over their feet, or the snail people with duck faces and elephant ears living under the sea... he opted for the one with soldiers looking like skeletons and the dark overlord strangling people to death for minor discretions.

It's actually understandable that he felt that a break for a few years would be necessary to make the transition between 'phases' seamless.

Like it is now. Silky smooth.
 
George had a lot going on at that time. His divorce likely took a major toll on him and his operations. He was raising 3 kids without a spouse. He was building the ranch. He spent a lot of time on his educational foundation. He owned several companies (film, games, sound, entertainment, educational, licensing, THX, ILM) A trilogy of trilogies took a back seat to the many many things he was interested in. He was such a modest and low key guy when I interacted with him. I always was amazed that he got done what he got done with such a modest demeanor.
 
Paul F said:
George had a lot going on at that time. His divorce likely took a major toll on him and his operations. He was raising 3 kids without a spouse. He was building the ranch. He spent a lot of time on his educational foundation. He owned several companies (film, games, sound, entertainment, educational, licensing, THX, ILM) A trilogy of trilogies took a back seat to the many many things he was interested in. He was such a modest and low key guy when I interacted with him. I always was amazed that he got done what he got done with such a modest demeanor.
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Thanks for this. While I didn't like the prequels, it's always good to be reminded of the humanity of the people/person behind them. He got a lot of fan hate and mockery on the internet, and at the end of the day, he's an imperfect creative trying his best to make things he loves.
 
combatentropy said:
I was just reminded that, in 1977, the opening crawl to Episode IV - A New Hope did not say "Episode IV - A New Hope." It was added in a reissue of the film, in either 1978 or 1981. Most say it happened in 1981, after the release of the Empire Strikes Back, which surprised audiences when it said "Episode V" instead of "Part II".

I mean, you're partially right, in that George's plans were nebulous. His very first idea was simply to adapt Flash Gordon, and it was to be a series. But he could not get the rights. So he wrote his own story. He batted around different ideas for the total number. First it was just an infinite series. Then it was 12. By the time I became very interested in filmmaking, around 1990, I read biographies of many directors, including Lucas, and I remember reading about it being a trilogy of trilogies. So I think by then the plan had solidified. But even then he did not have 6 more screenplays ready to shoot or even 6 synopses.
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It indeed did not say "episode IV" or "a new hope" when it was released. I saw Star Wars in the theater 7 times. The initial release was named "Star Wars". After it's first theatrical run it was re-released in theaters with the newly-added "episode IV - a new hope". I remember asking just what in the actual hell that was about. It was that way before Empire was released.
 
I think the simplest way to put this is that it's a near certainty that there was aspirations to do more, and a rough sketch of a larger world/story laid out that A New Hope took place in -- (as there well should be! And is the case for nearly any decent movie!) - and that it has been sort of misconstrued or re-branded around the idea that a firm story arc for episodes 1-9 was always in place.

There are motivations for an artist to stick to the narrative that it was always all as planned, as it hurts the image of the work to have people feeling like everything was retrofitted and made up as they went.
 
Paul F said:
George had a lot going on at that time. His divorce likely took a major toll on him and his operations. He was raising 3 kids without a spouse. He was building the ranch. He spent a lot of time on his educational foundation. He owned several companies (film, games, sound, entertainment, educational, licensing, THX, ILM) A trilogy of trilogies took a back seat to the many many things he was interested in. He was such a modest and low key guy when I interacted with him. I always was amazed that he got done what he got done with such a modest demeanor.
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It is always cool to see quiet people succeed in that way.
 
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