Regardless of how this movie does - I can honestly see it going either way at this point (wildly exceeding expectations and setting massive records,
or an embarrassing wet fart/black eye for Disney that doesn't even win the weekend due to fan backlash/general disinterest), I wonder how all this plays with folks in the entertainment business?
Are actors more, or less, interested in signing on for a major role (especially if their presence is required for multiple movies) with the property at this point? I know everyone is supposed to put on their game face and cheer everything on in that community, but I wonder if the interest/enthusiasm is there for actors, writers and directors who've yet to be involved in any Star Wars project?
Does word get around in those circles about the firings, reshoots and other behind-the-scenes drama/politics to where many would go "if Disney/Kennedy came knocking, I'm not sure I'd be all that interested in being part of this."
Has being part of a Star Wars movie in the past been a blessing or a curse (I'm sure Hamill and the others have things to say about that)? And has that changed over the past five years?
There will always be hungry actors, directors (especially younger newcomers). They'd jump at the chance, I'm sure. But I wonder if these past 4-5 years have caused any more established talent (in front of or behind the camera) to shy away from any potential involvement in the franchise? It's something I've never really thought about, but with this trilogy ending and supposedly new stuff coming at some point, I wonder if "the sell" will be tougher or different than in previous years?
While Star Wars hasn't had quite the amazing pull/cast of the Marvel stuff (seriously, look up all the big names who've populated those movies the past decade, including many you'd never associate with such fare), would the Laura Derns, Benicio del Toros, etc. of the world sign on for any future installments? Might come down to who's writing/directing, like it would for other projects?
I just wonder if maybe the "shine" is off the property in any significant way, to where Disney/Lucasfilm may not get their first, or even second, choices in the future. Never really thought of all this from the "business" angle, just the fan side of things. And you know in those circles, more is talked about/known than outside...for all we know, the property may kinda be seen as "poison" at this point (or, at the very least, an unrewarding, unsatisfying project to attach yourself to) by those in the industry.
Who will be the next Boyega, Ridley and Driver to come on board? Probably younger, unknown actors we're not even aware of yet? I do think
Star Wars works better going that route. That was certainly part of the charm/allure of the originals, in that nobody associated Hamill, Ford and Fisher with much else to where you were thinking of them in the context of other work, which may "break the spell" a bit? In other words, I don't ever want to see a Hanks, Jolie, Lawrence or Clooney turning up in one of these things. That would be a negative, IMO. And what known, established actors they do bring in can't be mega "A-list" types like above. So you go for the quirky, sideways casting (almost the Tarantino type of route...bring in a Greg Evigan or Jaleel White
or some other out-of-left-field choice and put them in a new light, the way Travolta played a heroin-using hitman in
Pulp Fiction, etc.). But I don't think you can, or should, ever go too big or "A list" with this property because it would take you out of it, I think. That's been the best part of this new cast...I'd never seen
Attack the Block or
Girls, so John Boyega and Adam Driver were totally new to me, as was Daisy Ridley. I'd seen Oscar Isaac in a Coen Brothers movie, but that was about it. So even though I wasn't bonkers about their characters/performances, they were easy to buy into/go with because this was the first thing I was really seeing them in, as was the case back in 1977 (Lucas didn't go with Lee Majors, Leif Garrett and Kristy McNichol, with Evel Knievel in the Obi-Wan role
). So I think that was a smart move, and probably done on purpose.
Now that this saga is winding down, where do they go...and who winds up signing on and getting involved? I'm curious to see in the coming years, the choices made. I'm sure they'll find room for some some mature, of-a-certain-age British theatre mainstays, as always. Those seem to work well for the heavies or for some grounding/gravitas. But everything else is pretty open-ended at this point. I'm genuinely excited by the possibility that I may get to love/look forward to
Star Wars again, having gotten this horseshit and unrewarding slog out of the way.
Just interesting stuff to ponder as December 20 nears...