Is Time The Biggest Obstacle For The New Star Wars?
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Now that Disney and Lucasfilm are gradually building their team to deliver Star Wars: Episode VII in theaters for its 2015 release date, there are some in the industry who aren’t sure if a movie of the scale of Star Wars can come together on such a short timetable. Science fiction screenwriter Ron Shusett thinks it’s a harder job than Disney and Lucasfilm have indicated.
According to THR, Shusett, who wrote the screenplay for Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall, contends that finding a director sooner than later is the most important element in bringing Star Wars: Episode VII to the big screen. Even though Disney and Lucasfilm have hired top-tier screenwriters Michael Arndt, Lawrence Kasden, and Simon Kinberg to pen Episode VII, it would be all in vain if they don’t hire the right director, and the sooner the better. Shusett believes,
I don’t think you could put a timetable on that, because the director isn’t even there yet. What if they’re not on the same page?… It takes you until it takes you. Who directs it is crucial. But I don’t think getting a director is a formidable challenge… “I think the next barrier or challenge would be the casting. That’s the tricky or difficult part.
Ron Shusett, who received story and an executive producer credits on Ridley Scott’s 1979 film Alien, is a big fan of the science fiction genre and the Star Wars franchise. His concern is for the overall well being of the quality of Star Wars: Episode VII for fans and enthusiasts of the Saga. Shusett confesses,
I, like every other Sci-Fi fan in the world, am waiting for a new Star Wars movie that works… It’s sad that this generation is deprived of seeing Star Wars at its dazzling best.
Other notable credits under Ron Shusett’s belt are Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report’s executive producer and for Paul W.S. Anderson’s Alien Vs. Predator’s screen story.
But it sounds like Shusett wishes he got a call from Kathleen Kennedy to pen the new Star Wars movie. Perhaps these quotes are better suited as a public display of derision for not getting that phone call than a fan’s concern for the quality of Star Wars: Episode VII.
