Ah, Zack Snyder! He’s made some “eh, they’re alright” movies (Watchmen, Dawn of the Dead), some “wow, that was jaw-droppingly terrible” movies (Owls of Gahoohleheiehy, Sucker Punch), and, to his credit, a film that did even more than Brokeback Mountain to make mainstream American audiences sort-of-a-little-bit more comfortable with homoerotic imagery (300). Next up, he’ll be doing his best Christopher Nolan impression in an attempt to reboot Superman for Warner Bros., but after that? According to Vulture, he’s working on something that has the potential to disappoint fans of both Star Wars and Akira Kurosawa. Let’s just call it Seven Jedi.
He is in fact developing a Star Wars project for Lucasfilm that is set within the series’ galaxy, though parallel to the next trilogy. It will be an as-yet-untitled Jedi epic loosely based on Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 classic Seven Samurai, with the ronin and katana being replaced by the Force-wielding knights and their iconic lightsabers. (Via.)
Vulture adds the film might not be “considered part of the ‘numbered’ episodes, but rather a stand-alone film set sometime post–Episode VI events, meaning the next phase of the franchise development is much broader than previously thought.” So if you were wondering just how many Star Wars movies Disney’s planning on cranking out from now until eternity? Um, a lot. And, just as Lucas did with the first Star Wars, they’ll be leaning heavily on Japanese cinema in order to do so. And Zack Snyder will be directing, which means the film will be at least 75 percent slow-motion. Interpret this as you will! To be honest, I mostly just posted this so I’d have an excuse to make the sweet PhotoShop you see above. You’re welcome, internet.
UPDATE! “Hey, Vulture? You’re a goddamn LIAR! Why do you LIE about EVERYTHING?” —The Hollywood Reporter
I’ll wait for the trailer before I draw any level of judgment, this could be badass, but it has an equal chance of being a train wreck. The thing about Seven Samurai is that it is nearly unbearable for most Americans to watch because of its archaic story telling pace. It is a wonderful and classic samurai film, the type of stuff that boys eat up, but there’s no way a 9 year old is going to sit through the first 40 minutes of the original film. The film has been long due for a recreation, and since Star Wars is just a rip of Kurosawa’s work already, why not steal more of his work to contribute to this franchise? I’m just glad no one is recreating it as an American Western.
I think this country would be better off with a recreation of “I Live In Fear”
But…. it’s not going to happen:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-visi…
Damn, Erik- You didnt like his Dawn remake? I loved it, and thats coming from someone that ditched work to buy the 4-disc set of Romero’s original!