Awesome, This Is: First Stand-Alone ‘Star Wars’ Film Rumored To Star Yoda
Are you guys ready for yet another Star Wars rumor? AICN is saying — in their nearly-unreadable, every-other-word-capitalized way — that the first spin-off movie about a Star Wars character will be starring Yoda. Excellent news this is, if true. AICN also says Lucas has been considering a stand-alone film about Jabba the Hutt, but a Yoda film would come first.
In the past, Joe Johnston has expressed interest in doing a Boba Fett movie, while Robert Rodriguez wanted to do a Han Solo stand-alone film. And Zach Snyder recently denied rumors he was working on a Seven Samurai style Star Wars spin-off. We also heard recently that writers Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Simon Kinberg (Sherlock Holmes) would be involved in a future Star Wars project, but they aren’t writing episode VII.
In other words, Kathleen Kennedy and LucasFilm do seem to be planning multiple Star Wars projects, but a stand-alone movie about Yoda is still just a rumor. Slashfilm also brings up an obvious point that “merchandise is always going to be a part of any plans for the Lucas universe, and a Yoda film — complete with a collection of other cute but tough alien characters — could be a bonanza in that department.”
Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made. Yoda the T-shirt, Yoda the coloring book, Yoda the lunch box, Yoda the breakfast cereal, Yoda the flame thrower. And last but not least, Yoda the doll. Adorable.
[Banner image: "A (very) long time ago" by Vincent Bocognani.]
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‘Star Wars’ Comics Rumor: Is Disney Buying Marvel a New Toy?
Looks like the world eater known as Disney may be setting it’s sights on another license — the BlueSkyDisney blog is reporting that the Star Wars comic book license will leave Dark Horse Comics at the end of it’s present deal and return to Marvel Comics, a Disney owned company.
BlueSkyDisney — which was called “rather reliable” in Bleeding Cool‘s report about the possible switch– went on to say that:
The stories that Dark Horse have coming down the pipeline will be the last. And you can expect anything new from Marvel dealing with Star Wars to arrive around 2015.
Reactions
A request for a comment on this rumor from Dark Horse Comics was not immediately returned, but we’ll be sure to update this story if we hear back.
As for the past, Dark Horse President Mike Richardson spoke about the future of the Star Wars franchise at Dark Horse to CBR at the end of October when Disney bought Lucas Film:
“Dark Horse and LucasFilm have a strong partnership which spans over 20 years, and has produced multiple characters and story lines which are now part of the Star Wars lore,” said Richardson. ”‘Star Wars’ will be with us for the near future. Obviously, this deal changes the landscape, so we’ll all have to see what it means for the future.”
Confident, but certainly not definitive.
Inevitable?
On paper, Disney’s move makes sense in a post Lucas Film/Disney… world: now they can use their comic division (Marvel) to help promote the upcoming slate of Star Wars films. That likely means prequel comics that may be used to introduce new characters prior to their on-screen debuts, tie ins, and a cross promotional bonanza.
The question is: is that the most effective use of the Star Wars comic brand?
For 20 plus years, Dark Horse Comics has been the home of Star Wars branded comics. Presently Dark Horse holds about 5% of market share, but a larger share of the buzz in the industry thanks to Hellboy, Whedonverse comics (which Dark Horse aligned with the addition of the Angel license), a slew of acclaimed creator-owned books, and also the strength of their Star Wars books.
Why are those books so strong? Because there is a focus on quality and talent (John Ostrander, Brian Wood, etc) above all other things.
We’ve all read bad licensed comics. There are companies that seem like that’s all they churn out. Dark Horse is not one of those, and though it would have been easy to do so, they’ve done a great bit more than just slap a Star Wars logo on a piece of derivative space crap and hope that the pull of that shining logo keeps them fat.
Will that be the case at Marvel? Is there any way that that overall quality could possibly continue with a more corporatised focus on revenue maximization by way of cross-promotional marketing opportunities? Possibly, and maybe Marvel will rise to the occasion and flesh out, in a full and impactful way, the outer reaches of the Star Wars universe as Dark Horse has, but I don’t think that’s why they’re potentially looking to acquire it and that is a shame for those who love Star Wars comics.
History Lesson.
Marvel’s history with the license likely has little to do with this prospective deal as well, but it is worth mentioning.
Before Dark Horse acquired the license back in 1990, Marvel had held it — literally sitting on it for four years without releasing a book. For nine years though, from 1977 to 1986, Marvel was the place for Star Wars comics and they benefited greatly from it.
Keith Veronese wrote a great article on this for IO9, and I urge you to check it out, but here are some of the main beats:
Marvel was in a state of disarray in the late 70s before the Star Wars license fell into their laps for free, thanks to the efforts of former editor-in-chief Roy Thomas, who proposed the comic to Marvel after Stan Lee had rejected it.
Remember, this is before New Hope’s release, so no one really knew what Star Wars was back then. Obviously that quickly changed and the book — initially an adaptation of New Hope before they expanded to the un-touched universe in later arcs — became a massive hit for Marvel, outselling The Amazing Spider-Man and other stalwarts.
“Star Wars was a tremendous hit and kept the company alive during a very tough time. That book kept the company going.” said former editor Jim Shooter to IO9.
That company, Marvel, is now going strong of course and not in the market for a savior. They just want a new toy — a toy that they hopefully don’t break.
Sources: IO9, BlueSkyDisney, Bleeding Cool, Diamond Comics
Cute Star Wars T-Shirts For Younglings
It’s never too early to teach your children the way of the Force if you’re a Star Wars fan. You can start by dressing them in Jedi approved apparel – like these clever t-shirts! The Star Kids line is available in sizes that match the titles. The Newborn Hope comes in a onesie for babies, The Infant Strikes Back is made to fit infants, etc. The whole set makes a great gift for expecting parents!
Check out the sequels after the break.
Product Page ($22 and up via iGeektrooper)
The Plumber Strikes Back: $10 Tee Today Only! [Deals]
Amazing that this incredibly well done Star Wars / Mario mashup is only $10—better grab it while you can though because the deal disappears tomorrow!
Product Page ($10/Today Only)
Video: George Lucas Talks About The Future of Star Wars
In case you missed it in our earlier posting, here’s a video of George Lucas weighing in on the LucasFilm/Disney merger; news that pretty much broke the internet today.
He reveals that he has story treatments for Episodes 7, 8 and 9, but that he is done with Star Wars. He will not make anymore movies, but that doesn’t mean no one else can make them!
Frankly, I don’t feel like talking about. A) I’m still picking my jaw up off the floor at the thought of more Star Wars movies and B) I just realized that Princess Leia can now be considered a Disney Princess.
I’ll go off on this later. Right now, I just want to get drunk.
The Perils Of Making a Darth Maul Halloween Costume On a Budget [Comic]
Hey, I’ve seen worse ideas for Halloween costumes. Now where did I put those bottle caps…
Cartoon by Katie Cook.
(via The Official Star Wars Blog)
