Earlier this week, the news broke that Michael Arndt, the screenwriter (and Oscar winner of Best Screenplay) for Little Miss Sunshine, and also wrote Toy Story 3, and the upcoming Hunger Games: Catching Fire, has been confirmed as the writer for Episode VII. What his total involvement in the franchise actually is, though, is unclear. Deadline reported on rumors that Arndt had already written and turned in a 40-50 page treatment for the next trilogy way back, and was a reason why Disney felt confident to close the deal with Lucasfilm. Now, he has been confirmed as the writer for Episode VII, but wait....what about the rest of the trilogy? Did Arndt write it or not? My guess is that he did and they hired him back to write the first installment....errr seventh, I guess.
What does this mean? Well, I'm not sure. It is kind of underwhelming news. I don't have the same loathing reaction to Little Miss Sunshine that so many others do. I rather liked it. Yes, it's not great, but it's certainly not awful. Toy Story 3 was also a great installment into the franchise, but nowhere near as good as the fantastic Toy Story 2. It felt often like a retread of similar themes of coming to terms with your mortality, and clung to the audience's nostalgia for the toys of their youth than exploring any really compelling drama (that wasn't already explored in 2). And who can say how the The Hunger Games sequel will turn out. I liked the first one, but part of worked so well for me was Gary Ross's vision and love for the material, despite my indifference to it (they're good, but certainly not the overrated greatness that they are hoisted as). Who knows where Francis Lawrence will take Arndt's script and the rest of the franchise. So, we'll have to wait and see what Arndt and Lawrence have in store for us with that one.
Getting back to the nostalgia comment I made earlier. Maybe that's what the new Star Wars should do: prey on the audience's nostalgia for Luke, Leia, and Han. The prequels certainly didn't succeed at that. If it does it well, it could be good (like Toy Story 3), but it probably won't be great (like Toy Story 2). It would be safe, and that's probably what would let Disney feel comfortable. That way, there is less of a chance of a prequel debacle repeat of history. I hope that isn't what they do, though.
The one saving grace I see in this whole business is something I have only seen in comment threads in other blogs and sites (and just recently at Vulture), and that is that Arndt held a lecture where he broke down the script of A New Hope bit by bit and especially delved deep into the structure, why it works so well, and why the ending is so creatively satisfying. An article over at Vulture seems to have the most information I can find. One interesting quote from an attendee at one of his lectures is:
"Arndt stated that if a writer could resolve the story's arcs (internal, external, philosophical) immediately after the Moment of Despair at the climax, he or she would deliver the Insanely Great Ending and put the audience in a euphoric state. The faster it could happen, the better. By [Arndt’s] reckoning, George Lucas hit those three marks at the climax of Star Wars within a space of 22 seconds."
The article goes on to talk about the third act and how Lucas achieved this. It's really interesting, so take a look. The article is over at Vulture.
But...yea, kind of underwhelming news. This also seems to put the kibosh on the rumors surrounding the Brad Bird-Damon Lindelof upcoming Sci-Fi epic for Disney, 1952, actually being a code-name for Episode VII. Which probably puts the kibosh on Brad Bird directing Episode VII. Which means I am less excited than I was.
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