It started with a vision, one to rejuvenate an ailing icon and now, less than a week until the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we’re within touching distance of seeing the early fruits of Disney and Lucasfilm’s collaborative labor.
While a show-stopping international trailer is already out in the open, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has been busy peeling back the curtain on the production of this most ambitious universe, from the intricate planning process that has mapped out the Star Wars universe through 2019, to the fact that neither studio has entirely written off George Lucas’ live-action TV show and LucasArt’s canned Star Wars 1313.
Now, as part of /Film’s ongoing coverage of The Force Awakens, Kennedy has spoke more about the planned Anthology films that will follow in the footsteps of J.J. Abrams’ anticipated sequel, and how the overarching universe will differ from that pitched by Marvel.
It is definitely in the genre thinking but Star Wars is very different than Marvel in that they basically build their stories around characters, and then they seed those characters in different stories. Star Wars, you know, is a place, it’s a universe, so those stories are constructed a little differently than Marvel. They are really being designed as standalone movies which is fantastic for the filmmakers we bring in, and the actors we hire, because it’s a different sensibility.
Further in the piece, Lucasfilm’s current president honed in on Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and why not every entry into the Anthology series needs to adhere to the prequel model. What’s also interesting is the fact that Kennedy acknowledges that the studio altered the release plans for the standalone movies quite recently, possibly in response to Josh Trank’s abrupt removal from the Star Wars universe?
No, no. It just so happens to be Rogue One is the precursor to New Hope and yes, this Han Solo idea but I would not argue that we are setting up any kind of prequel notion with these standalone movies. I think that’s so far just coincidence. And to be perfectly honest, we have changed the order of those at the last minute, so that’s not the intention at all.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens will jump-start Disney and Lucasfilm’s bold new universe when it lands in theaters next week, December 18. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will follow closely behind Abrams’ feature on December 16, 2016.
