While there are constantly rumors surrounding J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII, the planned spin-off Star Wars films have gotten lost in the shuffle. But Disney CFO Jay Rasulo brought the topic up at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference in Beverly Hills Thursday, reviving interest in these films. He said that the spin-offs will be origin films, which sounds a bit disappointing and uninspired.
Back in February, Disney and Lucasfilm (which Disney now owns after a $4 billion purchase) confirmed that spin-off films are on the way and rumors had it that Boba Fett, Yoda and Han Solo would be the focus of the first three. Disney also said in April that it plans on releasing a Star Wars film every year, starting with Episode VII in 2015 and the first spin-off the following year. The main episodes and spin-offs will alternate.
In his comments at the conference, Rasulo referred to the spin-offs as “origin story” films. Which has to make Star Wars fans wonder why on earth they are necessary then, especially if Rasulo is so confident that children are already familiar with these characters. “This is not a new franchise for kids,” he said, reports Variety.
It sounds like Disney is looking to handle Star Wars like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The main episodes are like the Avengers films, with the spin-offs similar to the individual hero films. But do we really need to get into the origins of these characters? Han Solo and Chewbacca are smugglers, end of story. All the background information we need was given in the original Star Wars trilogy, so a more creative idea would be to let a filmmaker use Solo as a jumping off point to delve into the darker regions of Star Wars.
And what would be the purpose of a Boba Fett origin story? A film centering on the fan-favorite character could, like a Solo film, be really gritty and interesting. Plus, his origin was already dealt with in Attack of the Clones.
“The sky’s the limit,” Rasulo said. “There’s incredible flexibility. It’s an unbelievable palette to create from.” Well, if that’s true, the spin-off films would be much better off not focusing on the “why.” An obsession with the “why” and exposition is what made the prequel trilogy boring and dull. Any hopes that Disney may learn from Lucas’ mistakes could be dashed if the spin-offs turn into origin movies.
I get that Disney needs to be more frugal after John Carter and The Lone Ranger flopped, but being safe in a universe as familiar as Star Wars isn’t necessary. It’s not like the legion of fans that have built up over 35 years isn’t going to see these movies anyway.
image: Star Wars Facebook Page