Probably because I never said that The Phantom Menace or anything like it releases in 1999. I'm rather curious why that's stuck in your head, because to my knowledge I've never even said whether there would be SW Prequels ITTL.
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- Thread starter Geekhis Khan
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I think you might have mentioned an upcoming 'SW Episode One' as the framing device for the review of Legacy of the Jedi, but that was so far back in the TL that it could probably be easily retconned without too much difficulty if Prequels aren't on the table.
And tbf Lucasfilm does have more successful non-Star Wars franchises ITTL so George might not feel as trapped by SW as he did OTL and thus have less incentive to get something out (which would be a massive change in and in of itself)
Good catch. I wrote that one long before I'd put much thought into things and totally forgot about those passing lines. I literally threw that post together the day before I posted it and hadn't thought things out yet. Retconned.
Honestly, I think Star Wars prequels (and sequels) are far more likely eventually than not. It was a proven box office draw and the supposed 9-movie plan was well-known by at least the mid-1980s, so there was definitely a kind of expectation or hope that there would be more episodes eventually. If Lucas dies at any point, sells the film rights for any reason, or just needs money, more Star Wars is pretty likely. Of course, these movies are not likely to look anything like the ones IOTL except perhaps in broad strokes.
and not to forget its carrying rocket the Energiya, that rocket def had some potential
Well Robocop wasn't that much of a success in this TL, so unlikely. Maybe a comic at most or a game like IOTL.
Hmm, this is quite a development. I wonder what IPs those include, and if at least one will become more prominent ITTL.
*Checks Hemdale movies*
Maybe some Hoosiers movies? Return of the Living Dead seems more viable in the regard.
Miracle Mile II seems unlikely. While excellent, there isn't exactly room for a follow-up.
Of course. And Miracle Mile II was a joke on my part because at the end of Miracle Mile everyone dies in a nuclear war. I was just answering the question raised and Return of the Living Dead seems the most likely IP to get some boost going in the 90s rather than the IOTL movies that, from what I understand, are quite bad. I haven't seen any of them, so I can't really say.
Looking at the movies that Hemdale had cooking right around this acquisition there seem to be some arthouse type pictures that Orion could take credit for and perhaps even churn out some of the same buzz that led to Platoon and The Last Emperor, other Hemdale movies, getting their Oscars. Roger Ebert seemed to like them anyway.
I also appreciate this kind of alt Star Trek exploring the aftermath of a huge war like this. There's lots of opportunities to vastly expand the worldbuilding of Star Trek that might not even be possible OTL with the lack of follow up from DS9's Dominion War arc. I'm sure that Trekkies will find it very surprising that instead of exploring strange new worlds in the frontiers of Federation space, it's within Federation space or in the Klingon Empire/Romulan Star Empire, and the like. Of course, I think once the sequel series ties everything up and the UFP returns to normal, they'll return to something similar to the standard format (like with alt Voyager), but it's an interesting reprieve that gives writers a lot of potential for new stories within the world of Star Trek.
Spacing TV shows and movies in a timely manner could avoid the huge franchise fatigue that doomed the TNG-era of Star Trek, which is ostensibly a good thing.
I was genuinely surprised that Geekhis retconned the confirmed release of the Prequels since the year was the same as OTL and gave a lot of leeway towards how the Prequels could've looked like. A shame, but I understand his reasoning.
As for the viability of the Prequels, it's actually likely that George Lucas might not be interested in making the Prequels or the Sequels, not only because of Willow, but because of other film franchises like Dinotopia if he ever decided to adapt it. At that point, he's simply too distracted to write such a massive story, and considering his desire for creative control, he's not going to try and lease it out to other writers so easily, even if it meant Star Wars stagnates. He's not a man beholden to Star Wars unlike OTL.
Honestly, if you REALLY wanted to kill Star Wars, you could just butterfly the EU, here and now. Remove Dark Empire and the Thrawn Trilogy (along with the possibility of new SW material) and it's very likely the revitalization of the franchise will be halted and it remains dormant. The franchise dies a very slow, painful death as people move on to franchises like Ringworld, Star Trek, Babylon 5, or even anime like Gundam or Evangelion once those arrive in the states. The OT is still the OT and people will still remember it fondly, but Star Wars wouldn't be the media juggernaut it is now if George Lucas and Lucasfilm don't care about the franchise anymore.
However, I find it to be highly unrealistic, if only because the OT was such a huge cash cow that Lucasfilm might be interested in releasing new material anyways and I don't think George Lucas would reject the stories that Tom Veitch and Timothy Zahn came up with. In that case, I honestly think George Lucas should just give up trying to make stories for himself and leave Star Wars entirely to Lucasfilm and the EU if he's distracted by multiple franchises. That includes the Prequels.
Also, I'd find it to be insanely ironic if Marvel got to release all of the SW EU comics like Dark Empire or Disney Publishing through the Thrawn Trilogy. In that case, fans would praise Disney for saving Star Wars instead of destroying it OTL with the Sequel Trilogy and the removal of the EU.
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Also, are there any plans for Stephen King adaptations, ever present in the 90's?
Or maybe Star Wars goes animation instead of live action for the Prequels/Sequels?
Could certainly tell a wide, sweeping EPIC with animation, and given the influence here could we see a Japanese animation house invovled for a slightly 'exotic' look?
Though the allure of live action is always there, animation is probably easier for Lucas/Lucasfilm to tell their 'vision' into??
Could certainly tell a wide, sweeping EPIC with animation, and given the influence here could we see a Japanese animation house invovled for a slightly 'exotic' look?
Though the allure of live action is always there, animation is probably easier for Lucas/Lucasfilm to tell their 'vision' into??
Plus I personally have always thought live action epics are more epic than animated epics.
I doubt this will happen, as Lucasfilm would maintain live action to retain visual consistency with the OT, regardless of animation's elevated status and prestige. Plus, with film technology and CGI accelerating faster ITTL, I don't see a reason why Lucasfilm can't tell a sweeping epic in live action when it's even easier to do so in the 90s or 00s. It'll be expensive, but there's confidence in its success if Star Wars receives a similar resurgence in interest with the EU.
Although, animation, both television and film, is bound to be in some Star Wars work. Even anime is possible like an earlier Star Wars Visions with the way Japanese media is permeating through Western audiences.
I personally imagine that something like an Old Republic story would be adapted into an anime/cartoon like the Tales of the Jedi stories.
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The MMO seems like a good place to start for a KOTOR franchise. Have a Jedi kid fleeing the Siege of Coruscant and raised on Tython, and a Sith kid taken from slavery to be trained on Korriban - the trilogy/series follows them as they grow up to be rivals, grudging allies, potentially lovers.
Yes, this exactly; it all stuck in my head, and until now you didn’t say anything about it no longer being the case. But good to know either way.
My thoughts too. This definitely would breath a new life into the franchise by giving the Federation a newer goal after the Borg war ends; while TNG might essentially wrap the post-war elements it doesn’t mean we can’t get some material for the sequel series to build off further. What makes this even better is they might have thought Season 7 would be the last (like IOTL), only to get renewed further and letting them have a Coda to everything they had built up with the then-current cast.
Thinking about it more, while the Dominion War arc helped DS9 stand apart and distinguish itself from the rest of the franchise, it also became a noose around Trek’s proverbial neck. Putting into perspective the fact we got reboots (the Kelvin timeline) and then another prequel-then-sequel (Discovery), then after THAT we got a sequel that dealt with established fallout from the “reboot” (Picard)… Stew on that for a little while.
Agreed. Of course, we still don’t know the shape of STVI yet, let alone if Dropped A Bridge On Him becomes a trope ITTL. Fingers crossed.
Put more simply, regardless of whether George L. makes the PT in any way, this TL lets him get a creative boost and everything THAT implies. Which can only be a good thing.
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