One of the unexpected ways that movie fans benefit from the Sony email hack is that even offhanded comments about non-Sony projects can become news. For instance, the emails between Columbia Pictures President of Production Michael De Luca and Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal, in which the two chat briefly about some of the new Star Wars films.
While the emails don’t divulge as much information as the alleged spoiler leak on 4chan a few weeks ago, they still hint at what to expect from Rian Johnson’s follow-ups to J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens, plus some insight into the standalone films.
To that end, this post contains possible spoilers, so proceed with caution.
De Luca casually referred to Episodes VIII and IX as “Luke and Leia storylines,” without saying anything further about the plot. Could that mean that The Force Awakens will be primarily about the new generation, with their rumored parents/uncles/mentor figures/objects of their obsession showing up only at the end of Episode VII?
De Luca’s comments were part of a larger email in which he discusses the rumored Boba Fett standalone movie, though it’s unclear if that project belongs to Gareth Edwards or Josh Trank (currently rebooting The Fantastic Four):
Star Wars: Any studio would have lost josh trank and rian Johnson to this, it’s freaking Star Wars. Your After Earth writer Gary Whitta is writing Gareth Edwards stand alone Star Wars film. Simon Kinberg is writing Josh Tranks. No one knows what they’re about but Boba Fett is rumored to be the subject of one. Rian Johnson as you know is doing the main ones, episodes 8 and 9 of the Luke and Leia story lines, after JJ. Not sure anything is gained by looking at what Lucasfilm is doing except we are stalking all these people too, except Whitta whom I think blows.
If this Luke/Leia stuff is true, Rian Johnson will have his work cut out for him, and even more opportunity to save Star Wars.
I suspect the “Luke and Leia storylines” description refers less to the films being about them specifically, and more to the films relating to their influence/legacy. Like, 1-3 were the origin story, 4-6 were their lives, 7-9 is their legacy in the universe. This also explains why a Boba Fett film would have to be standalone, set apart from the others: Boba isn’t part of Luke or Leia’s effects on the galaxy and its history except peripherally, he has his own influence on events.
The comment about (Gary) Whitta is pretty funny, and I kinda have to agree sadly.
I fell asleep while contemplating the potential plot a few weeks ago, and I had a dream in which Leia had fallen to the darkside and taken the helm of the Empire, and Luke was the new Obi-Wan – a hermit, watching over a young Skywalker.
It doesn’t really matter who is doing Boba if it is between Tranks and Edwards one just finished trashing a major property by making it a sequel to his own personal franchise. The other is currently trashing a major property by making it a sequel to his own personal franchise. My only hope is that Disney has got them both under golden handcuffs deal and they only ruin Star Wars standalones.
@3: Dark Leia always made sense to me as a sequel idea. If Leia is the only other Force-sensitive Luke knows about, it’d be natural for him to try to train her—but he would be an inexperienced teacher, she would be “too old” (per Yoda), and given that Vader destroyed her entire homeworld she might find it harder to relinquish anger and turn to forgiveness than Luke did. Put her in the presidency of the New Republic, make Han the commander of the military torn between his wife and his best friend, and you’ve got yourself a barn-burner. Not the direction they’re going, but I like noodling with it.
If VIII and IX are the “Luke” and “Leia” storylines, respectively, they could turn out to be about the next generation of Jedi (with Luke’s influence at the forefront) and the reestablishment of the Republic government (with Leia at the top). That would make VII the “Han” storyline, which fits with the Falcon showing up all over the promotional materials and leaks. But that’s a lot of spitballing; for all we know the “Luke and Leia storylines” means we’re going to see new star-crossed twins in VIII and IX.
Buuuut on closer reading I suspect Nique @1 is spot-on: “Luke and Leia storylines” is just another way of saying “the main sequence of films” or “the Skywalker storyline”. Episodes I-IX are the Luke and Leia storyline; the stand-alones and the Clone Wars and Rebels are not.