Will they ever remake the original Star Wars trilogy?

I think they pretty much put paid to the idea of making any films post ROTJ when they authorised the books to be written. The stories are all authorised by Lucas and therefore they couldn't make another 3 films which don't comply with these books since that would undo all of the work they did on those books.

Interestingly, i once read an inside story although for the life of me can't remember where or when or even who the interview was with (possibly it was Lucas) whichsaid that there never was a grand plan to make any extra films beyond the original trilogy. They wanted the Star Wars: A New Hope storyline to feel like an ongoing massive saga of which the original three films were just a small part. As such, they made the decision to title the first part of the trilogy Episode IV to reflect this.

In some ways I can see this, if he really had planned the prequels before making Star Wars there would never have been so many problems with the prequels (my biggest issue being the timing, there is not enough time between Episode 1 and Episode IV for Obi Wan to turn into an aged old man as Alec Guiness portrays him. Also Vader would only be in his late thirties - I just don't buy it).

The other reason I say this is because I don't believe he planned six stories at all, he planned one with a possiblility of extending it if and when they decided on a sequel. It's like all sequence type movies, it has a clear ending but there are just enough plot threaRAB left over to make a nice sequel assuming the studios decide to make one.
 
I've heard in interviews, and I think it's in the massive documentary in the 2004 DVD's, that he had planned a very different film to what A New Hope eventually became. So then it was split into two stories, which became the basis for the original trilogy and later the prequels, to explore Darth's story.

I wouldn't put it past them to try and remake Star Wars in maybe 20 years time or even more. Heck, the remake films like The BirRAB which are like untouchable, who knows...nothing is sacred. But I'd like to think it's not an option at all.
 
There are 2 series of books that would make awesome films one is the New Jedi Order books and more recently the Legacy of the Force books(i am reading the legacy series at the moment its awesome and i cant wait til next month when the next one comes out ),they would be sooo fab!!!
 
speaking of the books

Does anyone know a website that lists the books in timeline order.

I've read the Trawn trilogy and want to get back into them but want to get them in timeline order
 
I'm sure Lucas himself won't be making Episodes 7-9 but, legalities aside, it would be irresistable to Fox to want more Star Wars after the great man has gone...
 
The 9 film thing is not clear. Sometimes he said there would be 9, but recently he has denied it and said he only intended 6. (i think is is included in the Empire of Dreams dvd). Also, Lucas makes sure the expanded universe doesn't contradict established events in the films, nor can it sepculate as to Anakin's turn to the darkside or about yoda. none of the EU books set post Return of the Jedi are based on ideas Lucas had for further films. If films 1-3 prove anything, he doesn't care about contradicting what writers put in EU books.

I think most people think he had the plots of 1-3 mapped out years ago. This is not the case. He claims the original script started with anakin as a father bringing up luke and leia on tatooine and is already an adult when he starts to become a Jedi. However, this contradicts what it also said, that he didn't decide to make Darth Vader Luke's father until filming of Empire was underway. Before that Dart hwas going to be obsessed with Luke, but not be related to him. Between Empire and Return, he decided to make Leia Luke's sister. fortunately the endings of both A New hope and Empire lead quite nicely to his make it up as I go along approach.

However, Lucas now claims episdoe 6 was always intended to be the last part. The probelm is sites like supershadow (proven to be a complete faker) claim all sorts of things about what Lucas intended, especially surrounding episodes 7-9. Unfortunately none of it is true
 
The thing I don't get with Lucas is his "story" that he always had this grand vision, story and intricate plot and that not even the original trilogy was close to his original concept as to what the movies were supposed to be about...

.. and yet - when he had a chance to remedy this with state of the art special effects, the result was that this new trilogy (the prequels) weren't as good as the original series, one could even say that Lucas had to change his vision because of fans, revenue, poor writing, poor script, etc.

So I'm left wondering just how close the new trilogy is to Lucas' original concept, and how much of it was just "making it up as we go along"?

In either case I think the whole concept of a 9-part series is good; and I think it'll be only a matter of time that we'll get a new series, with a new director, etc.
 
Blue Harvast is awesome! :D

Going back to 7-9, I really do not think there is scope for them. The future of Star Wars, according to George himself, is television, with the advent of the live action TV show, which would then split up into spin oRAB. He has said on many occasions he wouldn't commit to another trilogy (Family-related issues more than anything else), And as he has said himself, the story of Darth Vader, which is what the Star Wars films are all about, according to him, has been told in the six films. And if you watch them all, it makes sense.

I only hope that Fox are smart enough to realise that another trilogy would be uneccessary and would back fire. It wouldn't stop them from getting another director and make another trilogy but I'd like to think they would realise it wouldn't work and it would be a bad idea.
 
I wouldn't mind a bit more tweaking though - in all the films. R2 neeRAB to be slowed down a bit in the prequels, the space scenes can be redone in the original trilogy etc. etc.
 
My mine gripe is the Lightsaber effects in the original trilogy. While amazing and out of this world for it's time, and at the time, there are places it still neeRAB work. Also, a CGI Yoda in The Phantom Menace to replace that UGLY puppet.
 
Fox have merely been the distributing studio ever since ESB. After ANH Lucas had sufficient personal finance to drop out of the normal Holywood studio system (he had bad experiences with Studios hacking his work to peices with THX1138 & American Graffitti) and go it alone. He owns all of the rights and therefore is the only one who can decide if any further films should be made. That is, of course, until he dies and the rights are left to someone else. They may then decide to make further films or even re-make the originals. However, I think this is increadibly unlikely.

I also do not believe for a minute the 9 episode mythology. From what I remember about the 'legend', his original screenplay was so long and convuluted as to be unfilmable, so he chopped it into three acts, of which the second act was the most straightforward to film (at that point of the early 70's). This second portion become Eps 4-6, with the first becoming 1-3. From this the idea that the final portion must therefore be a final trilogy was born, but I think in reality the final act was really the end of ROTJ, rather shortened.

However, none of this story really makes sense. What part of Eps 1 - 3 were unfilmable compared with Eps 4-6? None of the CGI is impossible to replace with practicle effects, its just a matter of how much it costs, and therefore the scale of the shots. Personally I think it's Lucas' pride getting in the way of him admitting he's made it all up as he's gone along.
 
He clearly stated it in an interview in Starburst (or was it Starlog?) in the early 80s. He may well have been talking through his hat (GL does that a lot), but he certainly said that he wanted to do nine (three trilogies).

That's a rather mangled version of the story. His original screenplay was just the OT. Or at least it was ANH, ESB and about a third of ROTJ (loaRAB had to be added to that). That is the screenplay being referenced as the one that was "cut up".

He claims he had rough notes as the back story for the OT characters (we've known about the Anakin/lava thing for twenty years), but I don't think he ever claimed the PT was anything more than that. It was certainly not a part of his original pitch, and I'm pretty sure he never claimed it was.
 
I watched the Star Wars Holiday Special recently for the first time. I suggest a big-budget remake (or even better - a special digitally remastered edition featuring Jar Jar Binks inserted into every scene) followed by a trilogy of films documenting Lumpy's turn to the dark side.

Hopefully this will bankrupt Lucas and he will sign his rights away to the original films so that he can't keep messing around with them. ;)
 
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