Today's News: Indy crosses over to the Dark Side

Another newsflash I posted on MS the other day:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/152235/disney_verwerft_rechten_indiana_jones

No real surprise here, since we knew Disney had acquired the rights to all Lucasfilm properties when they took over the company. The exact nature of their influence was unknown until now though. It's interesting Disney made a deal that also works in Paramount's favor, instead of taking it all for itself. This probably has something to do with the fact that Disney won't actually be producing any new Indiana Jones films, but will merely stick to distributing and marketing. So that means Paramount will have to do the hard work which makes Disney all the big bucks, in which case the latter studio will have to cut the former some slack financially if they're to stay on equal terms.

But will this mean the production of Indiana Jones 5, which has been rumoured to be in development for five years now, will soon kick into full gear? Definitely. As we've noticed in the case of Star Wars, Lucasfilm's other major franchise, Disney proved all too eager to start exploiting it pronto. It seems we'll be getting no less than six(!) new Star Wars movies over the next decade, so I'm betting at least one Indy movie is a given and the studio will be announcing a release date soon, as they did with Star Wars Episode VII (as long as J.J. Abrams stays away from this project I'm cool with that!). But will Harrison Ford star as the titular archeologist again? In all honesty, I hope not. Though I agree he's the ultimate and original Indy, I've always envisioned the Indiana Jones persona to be similarly adaptable as, say, the James Bond character. People no doubt viewed the change in actor when Sean Connery quit the 007 role as sacrilege too at first, but some of the following Bond actors proved equally up to the task. Why would the same not be possible in the case of Indy? Do we really need to drag poor old Harrison into this every time? Credibility was already stretched in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in that regard. At the same time, I don't recall so many fans complaining about The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. To my mind, as long as the story, action and fun is well written and perfectly executed, Indiana Jones will survive the departure of Ford just fine. My only fear is that Shia LaBeouf will don the fedora and whip next, and that certainly is not a delightful prospect...

Today's News: Dark Lord of the Sith is coming to the small screen

Here's a bit more news from everybody's favorite Dutch movie news website:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/150995/darth_vader_tv-films_mogelijk_in_de_planning

Disney sure means business with the Star Wars franchise (as it always does when it smells the sweet scent of delicious money). Although they've cancelled a few projects, including the Clone Wars TV-series and the almost finished dark and gritty video game Star Wars 1313, the number of projects slated for release in the next few years far exceeds those left behind in number. Of course you can moan about the overly kiddie-oriented angle and therefore dubious quality of many of these - Phineas & Ferb Star Wars special? A new show on Disney XD? No thanks, says the adult enthusiast! - and many of them seem like blatant cash-grabs, but at least the franchise is exploring new territory now. Whether that will result in worthwhile material, especially for the old fanbase who had just about accepted the franchise's apparent creative demise, is to be decided in later years. But it's hard to deny some of these projects sound intriguing. Of course there's Episode VII, which in that regard will dominate fan speculation until its release, but 'Darth Vader Themed TV Specials' is also guaranteed to pique interest. Basically because it could mean anything at this point. A miniseries that delves deeper into the narrative gap between Episodes III and IV, a few 'made for TV' movies (animated or live-action), documentaries on the cultural impact of this iconic face of interstellar darkness and corruption, guest appearances on currently running shows on the Disney Channel: the sky is the limit. The whole term 'Darth Vader Themed TV Specials' is simply too vague to make heads or tails of it for now, the most noteworthy thing about it at this point being the multiple form. So not a single 'special', but at least two (unless it's a spelling error; you never know). Darth Vader is one of the most instantly recognizable, memorable and popular villains ever created for the big screen, so there's no doubt a tale or two more to tell about him (whether we want to hear it or not). Just what that tale is and how it fits into the franchise so far (Extended Universe or otherwise) has yet to be determined. It's safe to say we won't be able to fully decide what to make of it until summer next year. Which actually isn't that far off at all, so I wouldn't count on anything too spectacular.