When you're dealing with an established brand that's as valuable as Star Wars, nobody would be surprised if they learned that Lucasfilm was the one calling the shots so as to be sure that nobody went too far off the reservation. However, when you hire a pair like Phil Lord and Chris Miller you can expect that things are going to go off on their own. However, according to the new cinematographer of the upcoming Han Solo movie, Lucasfilm isn't just allowing the team to try new things with established Star Wars characters, they're offering to help.
We're doing our own thing, that's why we're there. Phil and Chris are there to bring what they bring to their films, their very unique vision, their perspective on story and they asked me to come bring what I bring, and so just for that it won't feel like any of the other films. And nobody at Lucasfilm is asking us to betray that, they're saying 'We're in full support of what you do and we wanna make sure that we're able to help you do it in the best way.' It's gonna feel like a Star Wars film, but we're definitely gonna break some rules, and we're encouraged to do that. Visually, narratively that's a good mandate. They really are about, from what I've seen so far, supporting up and coming artists, artists who have a strong vision and voice and perspective, and they really wanna permeate the films with those kinds of voices. So it's interesting, very interesting. Not what I thought it would be, that's for sure. I'm pleasantly encouraged and pleasantly surprised.
As franchise based filmmaking is becoming a core part of most studios' business models, keeping that franchise intact is vital. It would shock absolutely nobody if the word coming out of Lucasfilm was that they were giving all of their directors marching orders whenever they came on board. Star Wars is the franchise in the movie business and especially following the success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens it's clear that the money available in it is nearly limitless. One has to say that hearing Bradford Young tell Collider that they have so much freedom is at least a little surprising.
However, the downside of keeping that level of control is that eventually all of the movies start to look the same. It appears that Lucasfilm doesn't want to see that happen. This is good news for movie fans in general. Giving different filmmakers creative freedom to break the rules means that even people that aren't necessarily fans of Star Wars might still be fans of a particular Star Wars movie now and then if it's done a certain way.
Star Wars may actually have more freedom than other franchises at this point to try new things. The worst thing that happens is that somebody makes a bad movie. Star Wars has already done that by most people's estimation with the prequel trilogy, and the fact is the brand didn't suffer all that much. People still love Star Wars. Lucasfilm knows they can weather that storm if it happens, and on the other side of the coin if somebody creates something truly unique they could end up with an even bigger than average hit.
What do you think of Lucasfilm's decision to give filmmakers more freedom? Will this make for better movies, or are they in danger of losing what makes a Star Wars movie in the first place?
