At 04:04 PM 5/2/05 +1000, Phil Edwards Cinema Arts wrote:
>All good points, JRS. In this age it seems history is re-written before
our eyes within weeks, "the plot has changed" - and what was "the truth" is
no longer "the truth".
>
>It's a yes, we have no bananas world today.
>
>So now, what is conveniently forgotten is that the first STAR WARS movie
was made because Lucas couldn't get the FLASH GORDON rights... and when the
first movie was a smash, they decided there was going to be a sequel, and
that was going to be part of a trilogy. Then, lo, George said to someone,
these toys are doing well, aren't they? And so a 9 (nine, count them) part
series was planned with the first three films (SW, ESB, ROTJ) forming the
core. The next three films would be the prequel trilogy, bringing the end
of the of the third film to the beginning of STAR WARS and that was to be
followed by a further trilogy, taking up where RETURN OF THE JEDI left off.
>
>Obviously one can only go to the well so often, and somewhere in there
someone has noticed that the well is getting a little muddy at the
bottom.... and pppffffttt! that third trilogy appears to have evaporated
altogether. It's never mentioned now. Perhaps a UN weapons inspection
committee can find some traces of it... somewhere out there in that galaxy
far, far away.
>
Other than your being completely wrong about how things
developed, you're right on the money.
You're correct that George wanted to do Flash Gordon but
couldn't get the rights (or convince the company that owned
the rights to finance a picture with him writing and directing).
So George came up with Star Wars.
He envisioned, from the start, a gigantic *twelve* part story
arc, a la 1930s movie serials. He didn't think, at the time,
that he'd actually get to make all 12. But he had ideas for
how the string would play out. Star Wars was designed to
be a one-off, but from that 12 part multi-generational arc.
Not long after Star Wars came out, it was clear he'd be able
to make more. The "12 parter" made up of four trilogies,
became a "9 parter" of three trilogies. George does tend to
rewrite history and very quickly started claiming it was always
going to be 9. But it wasn't.
His intention was to do finish the middle trilogy, then do the
first trilogy, and conclude with the, well, concluding trilogy.
But during the making of Empire Strikes Back, he decided
he didn't want to do all of that. He decided to complete the
third film in the then-current trilogy -- while doing so,
collapsing many story elements from the final trilogy into that
film and completely changing and eliminating elements that
had been planned for it -- and "retire" to the ranch, where he
could make experimental films.
He completed that trilogy as described but never quite got
the retirement part down, eventually, coming back to make
the first trilogy. He's stated several times that this is it; he
won't make the third trilogy. And there's no reason to, as
the climactic elements from it -- the death of the Emperor,
etc. -- have already been seen in Return of the Jedi.
But other than those discrepancies your discourse is 100%
correct.
Craig.
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Craig Miller Wolfmill Entertainment [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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