The official Star Wars site has a nice little “looking-back “ anecdote on the 20th anniversary of “Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace.”
Read moreGeorge Lucas Confirms Jar Jar Binks Is His Favorite Star Wars Character, ‘Phantom Menace' One of His Favorite Movies
Jar Jar Binks became the laughingstock of not just many "Star Wars" fans, but the cinematic world as well in the summer of 1999. Binks is considered to be the most hated character in "Star Wars" history. Not even those damn Ewoks can dethrone the Gungan from "The Phantom Menace". In fact, the hatred directed at the character had such a negative effect on its portrayer, actor Ahmed Best, that he contemplated suicide, “I faced a media backlash that really made me feel like my life was over” the actor said in a recently released video interview, adding, “There was just so much hate and anger and venom directed at me, and I took it personally…I put a lot of me into that work, and if you talk to any artist who really cares about their work, you’re talking about them,” Best says.
Read moreJJ Abrams consulted with George Lucas to help craft ‘Episode IX'
There were rumors, months ago, that George Lucas had been consulted for Episode 9 to help make it a satisfying conclusion for all fans, including the ones that were turned off by “The Last Jedi,” and there were many of those.
That, my friends, is no longer a rumor. Director JJ Abrams has confirmed [via IGN] that he spoke to Lucas during the creative process and hinting that it was Lucas who came up with the idea to have Palpatine return in “The Rise of Skywalker.” Abrams claims that Lucas was the person who came up with the idea to put Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker, but given that Abrams brought up Lucas while discussing the fallen Emperor, it may well have been him.
“This movie had a very, very specific challenge, which was to take eight films and give an ending to three trilogies, and so we had to look at, what is the bigger story? We had conversations amongst ourselves, we met with George Lucas before writing the script,” Abrams revealed. “These were things that were in real, not debate, but looking at the vastness of the story and trying to figure out, what is the way to conclude this? But it has to work on its own as a movie, it has to be its own thing, it has to be surprising and funny and you have to understand it.”
Simon Pegg says “The Last Jedi” made him “miss” George Lucas
Simon Pegg is a movie geek. There's no about about it. Which is why he's never shy giving his own two cents on what he likes and doesn't like on-screen. So it shouldn't be a surprise whenever he decides to praise or criticize at his own risk. And so, in a new interview on the Adam Buxton Podcast, he spoke about a controversial topic in Hollywood these days: the state of Kathleen Kennedy's "Star Wars" enterprise.
Read moreGeorge Lucas asked Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, and Robert Zemeckis to direct the SW Prequels, but they refused, all of them saying; "George, you should do it!"
The Star Wars prequels ("Phantom Menace," "Attack of the Clones," and "Revenge of the Sith") don't exactly have the greatest reputation with movie fans, there is, of course, a subculture that absolutely adores them, including none other than James Cameron, but their reputation for being the weakest SW films is well known.
Ron Howard was a guest on the HappySadConfused podcast a few years back and confided with the show's host that George Lucas asked him and a few other marquee filmmakers to direct the “Star Wars” prequels.
I actually find that number optimistic. Tickets for “Digger” go on sale next Tuesday, and presales will give us a better picture of how bad it’s looking.