May the Fourth be with you! In celebration of the official
Star Wars "holiday",
Hero Complex has posted an interview with screenwriter Simon Kinberg that was conducted earlier this year. Here, the
X-Men: Days Of Future Past and
Sherlock Holmes writer talks about how working on those two franchises is different from
Star Wars, as well as stating that the upcoming films from Disney will focus more on character development like the original trilogy (and unlike the prequel trilogy). He's also asked how he will approach the franchise, saying that he thinks the spirit of the original trilogy will influence them.
On How Star Wars Is Different From Working On Sherlock Holmes And X-Men:
"Well, I’ve worked in franchises where they have a long legacy, like the X-Men, or like Sherlock Holmes even, where you have a big fan base, and you have a lot of material to draw from. But I haven’t worked in anything like “Star Wars.” It’s definitely like the cultural referent for our generation. So it’s daunting and exciting."
On His Approach To The Franchise And Where He'd Take It:
"We’re really at the early phases of figuring out the details, but the spirit of the original movie is the thing I fell in love with, so it’s the spirit of that that I think will guide us."
On His Favorite Star Wars Character And Whether Or Not The New Films Will Focus On Character Development Like The Original Trilogy:
"Completely. I think what worked so well in all of the “Star Wars” movies is the characters. I think the reason that they’re different than other science fiction or other genre movies is because George [Lucas] created a universe of people that you wanted to go back and see over and over again, and that’s why it’s spanned and spawned so many different mediums, so many different generations, every different language. You want to go back and see those characters, like I did when I was a kid. “Empire Strikes Back” was the first movie I saw in a movie theater more than once. And I went back 10, 15 times in the theater, and I’ve seen it probably over a 100 times since. But I saw it that many times in the theater because I loved those characters. I loved Han, I loved Leia, I loved Luke, I was right at the age when I was old enough to start to understand the nuance of that movie. I think I was too young for “New Hope” when it came out in the theater, although I loved it and it was my favorite film until “Empire.” And then really, that changed my life, that movie.
"There’s so many that I love and for different reasons. I really love Han Solo. He does that thing that Larry does so well. He’s really human and real, but also really fun and banter-y and larger than life. And when I was a kid, I wanted to be Han Solo."
Kinberg is writing one
Star Wars spin-off for Disney, with Lawrence Kasdan (
The Empire Strikes Back) working on another. Both will also consult on
Episode VII, which will be directed by J.J. Abrams and written by Michael Arndt. It has been confirmed that that film will be released in the summer of 2015, with a new
Star Wars movie to follow every year. It was also rumored that Yoda, Boba Fett and young Han Solo will be the focus of three stand-alone films, but that has yet to be officially confirmed.