Lucasfilm's writer/director choices
After seeing that Chris Terrio will be writing IX with JJ I can't help but wonder how Lucas film are choosing their talent. I know he won an Oscar for Argo so I'm sure the guy has talent but does Star Wars want to be going in the direction of the much maligned DCCU? For a franchise 'in trouble' it seems crazy to bring in a guy who helped kill off the DC franchise before it even got going.
But this is nothing new, the other pics for writing and directing have been bizarre. JJ Abrams we all know about and I suppose whatever his faults his films make money so I can see why they went for him but the other choices? Even if you're a fan of Disney Star Wars do these people seem like good picks for Star Wars?
Michael Arndt (fired for taking too long on the TFA but still credited on the screenplay):
Little Miss Sunshine - A quirky Indie comedy
Toy Story 3 - Animated adventure/comedy
That's it
Lawrence Kasdan:
Had an amazing career in the 80s, writing Empire, RotJ, Raiders, and the fantastic Body Heat So it's obvious why they brought him in but unfortunately his sole credits over the past 20 years have been:
Darling Companion
Dream Catcher
Mumford
All critical and financial failures.
Gareth Edwards (director of R1)
Monsters: Low budget indie love story. With a few monsters.
Godzilla: Big budget monster movie.
Chris Weitz & Tony Gilroy (writers on R1)
So these two at least have lots of films under their belts. Weitz record is a little erratic with films like Antz, Cinderella, and Golden Compass, Gilroy a bit more respectable with films like the Bourne series.
Rian Johnson:
Brick - A post modern take on Dashiell Hammett (Which I thought was great)
The Brotherbloom - Caper story. Flopped.
Looper - Sci Fi Thriller
Jonathan Kasdan:
In the land of women - Romantic Comedy (low budget, disappeared without a trace)
The First Time - Teen Comedy (low budget, disappeared without a trace)
Also wrote some of Dawson's creek...
Lord & Miller (fired from SOlO)
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs - Animated comedy
21 Jump Street - Action Comedy
The Lego Movie - Animated Comedy
22 Jumpy Street - Action Comedy
Ron Howard (brought in after L&M sacking)
Tons of stuff from Willow through to Rush etc, but he was obviously only brought in to be a safe pair of hands.
Chris Terio (writing IX with JJ)
Argo - Historical Drama
Batman v Superman
Justice League
So what seems to be a recurring theme is: Little experience, quirky low budget Indie stuff, comedies, flops, and a surprising lack of sci fi/fantasy films. Not the stuff you'd expect on the CV for writing/directing Star Wars.
So what is their method? Names out of a hat? Spin the rolodex? Any guesses?