Rumor: Meryl Streep Replacing Carrie Fisher in STAR WARS EPISODE IX

[AndyDursin]

Considering that Disney missed the perfect place to kill Leia off in THE LAST JEDI, I truly cannot fathom this rumor (and it may not have any validity at all) , yet nothing would shock me given the collective dump Disney has already taken all over Lucas' franchise.

If it happens STAR WARS is dead to me. It basically is already but this would be the last nail in the coffin.

Why didn't they just axe the character in Last Jedi? Instead they killed off her replacement (Laura Dern) which would've been the perfect place to make the transition . Just terrible planning and storytelling in general. If they're making this up as they go, why didn't they take the obvious route and send the character off with dignity when they had the chance?

https://movieweb.com/star-wars-9-meryl- ... sher-leia/

[Paul MacLean]

If it happens STAR WARS is dead to me. It basically is already but this would be the last nail in the coffin.

Star Wars Episode IX: Postcards From The Edge?

Honestly, these movies are already dead to me. Fanboys whine "George Lucas raped my childhood" but he did not despoil the characters from the original films the way these new movies have.

What is appealing about the rebel alliance's fight and sacrifice having been in vain? What is appealing about the idealistic Luke Skywalker becoming a sour old codger? What is appealing about Han Solo and Leia having split-up (and then Han being murdered by his own son right after his reunion with Leia)?

[AndyDursin]

Absolutely Paul. I just know I'm not going to pay to sit through another one of these if this happens. Is Samuel L. Jackson available to play Lando? I'm surprised they haven't announced that yet. Lol

[Monterey Jack]

You DO what tomorrow is, yes?

[Monterey Jack]

Fanboys whine "George Lucas raped my childhood" but he did not despoil the characters from the original films the way these new movies have.

[Eric Paddon]

Let's face it, these "sequels" are basically the "Jaws-The Revenge" version of the characters.

[Monterey Jack]

Hyperbole, much?

[AndyDursin]

In so far as to pissing all over George Lucas' characters and the entire POINT of those original trilogy films? No, it's not hyperbole at all.

I mean, I must have watched a whole different set of movies to come away thinking Luke Skywalker was going to spend the rest of his life as a sheltered hermit, throwing in the towel because...actually I have no idea why he threw in the towel, even now...while the Empire rebuilt itself (a suspension of disbelief I can't even begin to make, as these Disney films have done such a laughable job trying to establish its central premise).

Or that Leia was the "heart and soul of STAR WARS" and was constantly setting all the male characters straight about what they were doing and how they were doing it (Disney Girl Power in full effect).

But beyond all that, and the Disney-ification of the material, the central question here you have to ask is -- is it effective storytelling to bring back characters people know and love -- just to kill them off one by one in an arbitrary manner at that?

You don't remember how PISSED people were when the ALIENS supporting cast was thrown away at the start of ALIEN 3? For me, this is scarcely more satisfying a continuation of RETURN OF THE JEDI, and logically, makes even less sense in terms of its central premise.

You DO what tomorrow is, yes?

Hey look, Mark Hamill thought what they did to Luke sucked as much as the average fanboy sitting in his seat. And there are a LOT of people who thought THE LAST JEDI sucked altogether (which is why it was at least $200 million short of projections), and they're not all buried in their basements shaking their fist at Disney's changes to "canon".

If you think that's a good movie, with coherent storytelling and effective drama, then I can't argue with you. I just couldn't possibly disagree more. It's not my definition of a good movie, either on its own merits, OR how it fails to relate to the original stories, their characters and their entire existence for being. You can go in either direction and rightfully be critical of it on either score.

But, if it floats your boat (and floating SPACE LEIA, ten times more embarrassing than any moment in the prequels), then that's fine, I'm not going to deride you for it. My issue is you seem to think everyone who dislikes it is just some jilted fanboy, and that's not the case. There are plenty of rational reasons for thinking it's a crap movie, which I think it is, in many respects.

[Eric Paddon]

My point about "Jaws The Revenge" as a parallel example would have been even more spot-in if they had given Roy Scheider a million dollars to do a cameo at the beginning where he gets eaten by a shark in the opening reel to set up the rest of the film. That wouldn't have gone over well to anyone who reveres "Jaws" not just for it being a great action film but because of its rich character nuance. And similarly with what we're seeing with the SW films, yes, I don't think we want to see beloved characters return so they can get abruptly killed off or turn into versions of their characters totally unlike how we thought they'd be. It's not being fanboy obsessed, but it does cheapen the effect overall of how we appreciate the original IMO.

[Johnmgm]

I don’t necessarily see Star Wars lackluster contemporary sequels as a Disney issue. I just don’t think the framework is there for anything other than the original three stories—personally I feel Star Wars works best as a stand alone story (which I suspect all George Lucas meant it to be back in 1977).

[KevinEK]

I seriously doubt this rumor - just as I doubted the rumors we've heard every six months or so that Disney was about to release the original theatrical cuts of the original trilogy on Blu-ray. Sounds to me like some fans with way too much time on their hands. My understanding of Episode IX is that they completely rethought what they were doing after her death.


BTW - as far as the original plan for Star Wars, I understood it to be planned to be a single fairy-tale movie. When that movie turned out to be a big hit, Lucas was able to expand it to sequels, and went over the top in announcing that his second movie was actually the 5th in the story. But the plan mentioned by Gary Kurtz as having been their original intent with the two sequels for 1980 and 1983 was one where it was a simple coming-of-age story, where at the end, Luke, Leia and Han have won their various battles and with the war over, they go their separate ways. Kind of the same kind of ending as American Graffiti. The idea that this moment in their lives is over, and we turn the page.

The new idea coming in from Disney's iteration of Lucasfilm is clearly to milk the heck out of anything they can from the original movies. They made a bunch of money from this for Abrams' first attempt, and it's clear that the amount of money they're going to be making will be dropping with each successive offering. I have to wonder whether the threatened Rian Johnson "trilogy" will actually happen, or if they'll just try making a few stand-alones for a few years. If they push their hand too far on this, they're going to find that they've Rick Berman-ed the Star Wars franchise...

[Paul MacLean]

You also have to wonder if John Williams' recent announcement he's done with Star Wars has more to do with the quality of the films than his age.

[mkaroly]

You don't remember how PISSED people were when the ALIENS supporting cast was thrown away at the start of ALIEN 3?

That's a really good point. Never thought about that...

[KevinEK]

Paul, I think it's a mixture of both. And there's a factor that at this point, he's written the music for 9 of these movies. At a certain point, the well runs dry, particularly when the stories you're putting to music aren't particularly imaginative or interesting anymore. The man is 86 years old, and his output has appropriately slowed down. I honestly don't imagine him continuing to compose into his 90s, but I could be wrong.

[Paul MacLean]

The man is 86 years old, and his output has appropriately slowed down. I honestly don't imagine him continuing to compose into his 90s, but I could be wrong.

I go to the annual "Film Music Night" at Tanglewood, and over the past few years Williams has been conducting only the second half of the concerts. Of course it's still remarkable a man in his 80s is conducting at all, but it is also a sign he is slowing down. I can see him retiring from conducting altogether before the decade is up, but still continuing to write concert music, and (hopefully) score the occasional quality movie.