Is it ridiculous rumor time already? IESB is reporting that we could see a (sigh) sequel trilogy after the 3-D rereleases. Since IESB seems down at the moment, here’s Bryan’s report over at the Examiner.
Am I skeptical? Of course. Do I really want to hear people squeeing over how this is totally going to be [insert favorite EU thing here] on film? Hells no. Y’all should know better by now. (And IESB is also saying – per io9 – that the trilogy won’t be about Skywalkers.)
Is a sequel trilogy possible? Of course, even taking into account George Lucas’ frequently stated lack of interest in sequels or further movies. But the man has also shown an inability to let go of Star Wars in recent years: Witness his continued involvement in The Clone Wars .
But I’m a cynic, and this whole thing sounds like every single rumor and report about the live-action series thrown into a fanboy’s wet dream blender. I don’t doubt there are folks backstage at Lucasfilm pressing for more movies – who wouldn’t want that job security? – but the trick is whether they will or can convince George. We can’t be sure of until he – not the rumor mongers – comes out and says it. Don’t hold your breath.
UPDATE: Lucasfilm denies the report at Underwire:
“This is, of course, completely false,” Lucasfilm spokesman Josh Kushins told Wired.com in an e-mail Saturday about the report. “George Lucas has plenty of projects to keep him busy right now — including plenty of Star Wars projects — but there are no new Star Wars feature films planned.”
Almost everyone who’s been posting about this seems to forget that IESB, which is a huge name in entertainment news, just put their entire reputation on the line with this story. If they’re wrong about this, their 100% confidence in this source would undermine their future credibility.
Also, they’ve been right about several other major Star Wars stories.
Skeptical? Yes. Doubtful? At this point, not.
Or they needed a lot of clicks. The internet has a short memory.
(And, in their defense, they could be getting played. Like I said, it’s possible there’s internal discussion. That doesn’t mean George will sign off on it.)
This type of thing comes up a regular basis. I haven’t bought it before and I’m not about to start now – at least on the word of a movie news site.
I think I mentioned all of that pretty openly in my piece.
Actually, I think the larger the website, the more likely it is your reputation can survive a false report. Just this summer, big ol’ ESPN reported a huge story based on their sources, and the next day the report was proven false. Because of their size and reputation for factual reporting, their mistake barely is remembered.
Austin, that analogy doesn’t hold up. The scale is much different here. ESPN can survive because it’s operating on a much bigger scale. ESPN also didn’t say that they had 100% confidence in their source, whereas IESB did. They wouldn’t do that unless they were pretty damn sure that it wouldn’t come back to bite them. IESB doesn’t have the kind of revenue that ESPN does. It needs to remain credible on this big stuff.
And no offense Tracy, but I think it’s laughable that you’d call this link bait and accuse IESB of just wanting clicks. Cynicism is only healthy to a point. As we can see by their long train of accurate SW reports, there’s more evidence to suggest that IESB is being truthful (even if they are being played) than that they’re shilling for hits.
However, LFL’s denial does suggest that IESB could be misled.
(Which, as we all know, is far different from being link baiters, as Tracy seemed to say.)
I think it would be expected for LFL to deny it at this point whether it was true or false.
That’s a very good point Bryan. I’m trying to remember when they’ve denied something as “completely false” when it later turned out to be true. I know it must have happened, but I can’t remember when.
With something this big, it would be a complete giveaway for LFL to say “We have no comment.” My guess is that their response had to be of this definite nature, as Bryan says, regardless of the truth.
Oh, Eric.
I updated the Lindsay Lohan story three times at work yesterday, and it wasn’t for my own journalistic satisfaction. It’s because people click it, even if we bury it beneath the real news. Clicks may not be the main motivator, but they’re a big factor.
IESB may not be Gawker (who probably would have held this for the week, when more folks are online) but they certainly knew it would do well.
And yeah, LFL’s denial is pretty much business as usual. But I’m not going to apologize for being a cynic.
It’s funny, the IESB story actually ended with the line: Can we expect Lucasfilm to confirm our story? Have they ever? Nope, I am sure that they will spin this or completly deny the story, but we will stand 100% behind our source.
Reputation? Is there really any consequence in inaccuracy in entertainment reporting? Really? There’s barely any in hard news.
http://noneinc.com/tBSWM/tBSWM-Video-ArchiveOrg/Thee_Backslacpkping_With_Media-Chap_46-Play.html
Video has several clips of GL saying there is no more SW movies.
My LFL contact sent me a denial with the exact same wording.
Well, Tracy (at LFL) and Josh both work for PR, so it’s the company line. They’re giving it to everyone who contacts them — as they must.
You don’t have a poll option for “I don’t want it to be true!” :P I was really disappointed by the prequel trillogy, and I’m not in a hurry to be disappointed again!
Since there are only two votes at the moment, I added a ‘Do not want’ option.
How can “It MUST be true!” have 1% of the vote with 0 vote?
Math is hard.
0 votes, that is. Plural.
Beats me… I didn’t code the plugin, I just use it.
No, I know, that just struck me as humorous.
I think it may happen whenever there’s an uneven number of voters. It was 0% with ten votes, now it’s back to 1% with eleven.
…And -1% with 14.
This could have been a way for LFL to weed out spies. Say things to certain people , and it makes news then you’ve got your guy (or girl).
I the person is fired on monday then we know IESB was just played.
Thank God it’s not true. As much as these movies are a part of my life, I’m not sure that’d be the best idea.
At this point, I don’t know what to believe, or hope for. The whole thing sounds fishy, but like Eric said, IESB has been correct in it’s statements in the past.
On the other hand, it seems like this kind of thing is always popping up on the internet, just not by a big name website like this who’s put their necks on the line for it.
And come on… Lucasfilm denying it hardly makes a difference at all, at this point, as to whether or not this can be taken as credible or not.
Doesn’t matter. At this point, this is just not the kind of news I’m going to buy coming from anyone but LFL themselves.
The reality is that George Lucas has intended to do this all along and that it is only a matter of time before it happens.
It might sound mean, but, if George Lucas dies before episode 7, 8 & 9 can be made, they stand a chance of being decent films. let’s be honest, the best of the Star Wars films (Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jeti) weren’t directed by George.
Asha: Return of the Jedi better than A New Hope? Not in my book!
But anyway, I too am skeptical. And let me say this, as a journalist myself – I don’t care how big the news outlet is, if they can get attention by running a story they’re not sure about, and it’s not major libel, they will.
Every time I read “But a major news source wouldn’t lie to us, their reputation is at stake!” I let out a small, cynical laugh. On the inside. Possibly because I’m too bitter to laugh out loud.
I think the whole rumour of another trilogy is great for doing exactly what’s happening right now – getting the fans talking and thinking. Much like Steve Sansweet leaving LFL, we all know it’s going to happen, it just isn’t happening for a while.
Like Dunc says, LFL can’t confirm or deny so overtly, that’s a dead give-away. The prequels were only confirmed a few short years before they were released and I imagine it’ll be much the same here.
If episode 7 hits in 2020 it’ll be 37 years since Jedi by the time it comes out. I reckon Carrie, Mark and even Harrison (who’ll be 78 by then) will be agreeable to doing some further episodes as the ‘Obi-Wan’ characters (and who knows, CGI improving every day they might not need make-up to make them look younger). I’d expect (in preparation) LFL to stop delving farther into the future (between Fate of the Jedi and Legacy era) and make it off-limits to Dark Horse/Del Rey etc and focus instead on the Old Republic era, which is fresh and uncharted (and could carry a movie/TV show at some point). That would leave any contradictions on future timeline stuff safe, easily workable into the 7,8 and 9 scripts (if relevant) and keep the road clear for GL to do his final trilogy.
I don’t think at this point we could expect him to do a 180 against existing cannon and storylines. A huge bonus SW has over other sci-fi is that it respects all the storylines (ok, early Marvel and Splinters excepted). Ret-conning happens ever day, but – IMHO – I think this could start to happen fairly soon.
This rumor has become the “Elvis is alive” of fandom. It’s kinda sad, really.
Does that mean they’ll shoot them in Kalamazoo?
Sure, why not.
Road trip!
Re-reading this after 2 years, I’m wondering if these rumors were true or not. Sure, you could say they were true because now they are, but wouldn’t that mean that the sequels have been worked on for two years? And what would that mean in turn?
Generally, when you look at the timeline, it’s quite interesting: First the live action show gets put on hold, next these rumors pop up, then nothing for two years, and now the sequels are actually in production. Couldn’t that mean the pre-production for the sequels was what put the live action show on hold? Couldn’t it be that the guys doing concept art for it have been working on sequel concepts since 2010?
I so can’t wait to get my hands of the Making of Episode VII book. ;-)