Tag Archives: Star Wars Spinoffs

10 Spinoff Film Ideas

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Star_Wars_logoWith news of new Star Wars films comes rumors about just about everything to do with them.  While most of the rumblings have been related to the Sequel Trilogy, the spinoff films haven’t exactly been forgetting in the rumor mill.  We’ve already heard rumors about the spinoff films starring Han Solo, Boba Fett, or even Yoda.  But hey!  It’s a big galaxy out there spanning thousands of years and even more characters.  Why should those three get all of the fun?

Here are ten different spinoff film ideas that I think have some potential to play out well on the big screen.

1. Count Dooku
With the right actor, this could be brilliant!  There’s a lot that we really don’t know about the Jedi Master turned Count of Serenno.  It would give viewers the chance to see an action film staring a Jedi and to also get a closer look inside the head of what makes a Jedi leave the Order and become a Sith.  Top it off with a cameo/small role at the end from Christopher Lee and you are set!  If you doubt that they could find a younger actor who can do justice to a Christopher Lee role, check out how perfectly cast Xavier and Magneto were in X-men First Class.  It could be either an origins film or perhaps just one of his adventures but either way, it has potential.  Personally, I’d prefer to see an origins films that goes through his fall to the Dark Side but I’ll happily watch either.

2. Shatterpoint
Wait hear me out before you shake your head because it could actually work.  While I think that the vast majority of Expanded Universe books are either ill-suited or completely unlikely to get the big screen treatment, this one has potential.  It’s a self-contained story set during a time frame that viewers are already familiar with and it would star Samuel L. Freaking Jackson.  It would definitely have to get an R-rating given the amount of warfare and horrific violence that goes on during the story and it would also definitely be darker than any Star Wars film we’ve seen before.  Regardless, it’s a fantastic tale that isn’t tied to tons of backstory.  Everything the audience needs to know could easily be worked into the dialogue.  Not only that but Shatterpoint would feature a leading cast of actors of color which would definitely be awesome.  Who wouldn’t want to see a wisecracking Nick Rostu on the big screen?  And Kar Vastor?  He would be imposing to say the least.  Plus, SLJ swinging a lightsaber on the big screen again and getting to kick some serious butt is always a plus.  I’d love to see how the director would handle how Mace sees shatterpoints because that has potential to look amazing.

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Joss Whedon discusses what he’d like to see in new Star Wars films

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I meant to blog this on Monday but, well, things happened.

Digital Spy sat down with Joss Whedon over the weekend to chat about, among other things, what he’d like to see in a standalone Star Wars film if he were hypothetically given the opportunity to direct one.* Long story short? He wouldn’t bring back the original characters for them and would move in a new and fresh direction.

*Could you imagine the fandom’s reaction to that? 

Kinberg and Kasdan Talk Episode VII, Standalone Films with IGN

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Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi writer Lawrence Kasdan as well as Simon Kinberg sat down with IGN over the weekend to discuss Episode VII and the subject of standalone spinoff films. The first question, of course, was how did Kasdan feel being asked to come back and do more Star Wars:

Kasdan: I was pleased that there would be new ones, that there was a chance to capture some of the spirit of the original trilogy that I’d worked on. I thought there’s an audience out there — my grandchildren, lots of original Star Wars people — and there always will be. It’s only good that we try to do some more great ones.

On what the new trilogy will be like:

GN: What can you tell fans about this new version that you’re working on? There are so many rumors going around.

Kasdan: They’re going to be fun. J.J. (Abrams)’s a great director for the first sequel. Perfect. We’re very happy to have him. The writers I’ve been working with — Michael Arndt, who’s going to write the sequel, and Simon Kinberg, who has, like me, been sort of consulting — they’re great. I’ve never really collaborated a lot, and I’ve never been a room with a bunch of writers thinking, “Well, what should this thing be?” It’s fun. It’s really fun. And J.J.’s a writer. Yeah, lovely guy. I’d met him but didn’t know him. But now I’m totally enamored by him. He’s really funny and so enthusiastic.

Simon Kinberg was also asked about whether the standalone movies would work with established characters or try something different:

IGN: Is there anything you can say in terms of working with established Star Wars characters, or are you coming from a whole new plot and characters for your standalone movie?

Kinberg: This is what I would say: as a fan, I wouldn’t want to know too much. I know that’s impossible because it’s not the ’70s or ’80s anymore, but part of what was so exciting about A New Hope for me was I was entering into a universe I didn’t know. Even in Empire, I was surprised by a twist I never would have seen coming. But it’s different nowadays. I understand the excitement, and I’m happy that people are interested, obviously. But I’d rather people have something left to discover when they go in.

For more, head to IGN to read the full interview.

Tosche Station Radio #44: Spinoff

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On this episode of Tosche Station Radio, the hosts talk spinoffs and Star Wars!

Kicking off the show, Nanci highlights what’s new on the blog. Brian noted that one of his favorite baseball writers realized sports and geek fandom are the same thing. Meanwhile, the Waru Express visited Rogue Squadron and laid the smack down on Corran Horn.

In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci kept herself busy by reading Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. She also has been working on her current novel and planning out future writing projects. Of course, there was also the Puppy Bowl, the most important event of the last week. Brian, on the other hand, watched a whole lot of QI and is eagerly anticipating the return of Community to the airwaves.

Deak’s Dirt starts off with Ashley Eckstein revealing upcoming plans for Her Universe products. The Super Bowl happened and there were trailers for geeky films such as Iron Man, Star Trek Into Darkness, Oz the Great and Powerful, World War Z (via clubjade). Billy Dee Williams is attending Dragon*Con.Make-up artist Stuart Freeborn passed away at 98. In the big news, Bob Iger confirms standalone Star Wars films are in the works. Ain’t It Cool News reported a Yoda film while Entertainment Weekly reported Han Solo and Boba Fett films. Meanwhile author Timothy Zahn talked standalone films, along with writing Han Solo, with Hollywood.com.

This week’s Camie’s Concerns takes a look at the confirmation that Star Wars will be getting non-episodic spinoff films and perhaps other projects. Brian and Nanci discuss what they would (and wouldn’t) like to see as well as why this news is good for the fandom and doesn’t mean that Disney is ruining the franchise.

Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of the Solo Sound network. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store or the Xbox Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

Zahn Talks Writing Han Solo and Standalone Films He’d Like to See

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With the barrage of rumors surrounding standalone films in the Star Wars, Hollywood.com decided to catch up with Expanded Universe author Timothy Zahn to discuss what it takes to write Han Solo and the kinds of standalone films and spinoff projects he’d like to see in the Disney Star Wars era.

On the topic of new projects beyond regular episodic installments:

Hollywood.com:First of all, none of this has been confirmed by Disney or Lucasfilm, and I’m not looking to you at all to confirm it. I’m just interested in your perspective as a Star Wars author, and even more importantly, as a Star Wars fan, on the rumor today that the first two standalone Star Wars movies will be about Young Han Solo and Boba Fett respectively.

Timothy Zahn: All of this is at the rumor stage of course, but, the fact is, I would like to see more Star Warsbeyond the core saga. I’d like more Star Wars TV, and certainly more Star Wars books. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. The Galaxy Far, Far Away is impossibly huge with story ideas and possibilities.

On writing Han:

HW: Is there a difference between the way you wrote Han in Scoundrels as opposed to the way you wrote him in the Thrawn Trilogy or Hand of Thrawn Duology?
TZ: Oh yeah, he’s much more mature in the later books. He’s taken on more responsibility. He still chafes at it at times. But he does the jobs that need to be done. He’s more aware of what’s at stake, what the consequences could be if he succeeds or fails. And that’s because he has a family at that point, which brings a whole new set of responsibilities with it. In Scoundrels on the other hand, since that’s set right after A New Hope, he’s much more footloose and fancy free. But even then you can see that once he’s assembled the team he’s working with, he’s not going to abandon them. The seeds of “Responsible Han” are already there. But he would deny it probably.

On spinoff Star Wars projects he’d like to see:

HW: What other characters from the movies would you like to see get the movie spinoff treatment?
TZ: Lando is an obvious one. You could do a lot with Lando during the time leading up to The Empire Strikes Back. If we’re going post-Jedi era I would frankly like to see Wedge put together Rogue Squadron. I think you could have a whole series of Rogue Squadron movies that would be great. Wedge is peripheral, but he is verypopular and rightfully so. Who else helps take out two Death Stars? You could even do an X-Wing TV show focused on Rogue Squadron that, just like the books, would be peripheral to the main Skywalker-Solo saga. That means you could introduce a lot of new characters anchored by Wedge. You could make wonderful stuff out of the X-Wing books.

See, I’m not the only one who thinks a Wedge-centric film and an X-Wing television series would be absolutely fantastic viewing.

The whole interview is fantastic and there’s a lot more to read. Head to Hollywood.com’s interview for more with Timothy Zahn.