It's been a while, I know. Of all things that put me back in front of the blog-o-board, it's been the recent acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney.

So why so quiet on the blog front, Hughesy? Busy times. So many things happening, none of them good. I may go into them on another post, but not yet. Not until the stories have reached a conclusion.

Anyway. Disney Wars. It's a big thing in the entertainment world. Lucas has done a lot for filmmaking, giving us Lucasarts, THX, Pixar and ILM amongst other things. The first 20 years of his career were rather good. It's a shame he pissed it all away by creating the Prequel Trilogy and the Special Editions, really.

I think that's the real reason he's passed it all on to someone else. He does know, somewhere deep down, that he shouldn't keep creative control of Star Wars (since that is the sole reason he's as big a name as he is). If it wasn't for his creation of those lightsaber wielding nutters, all those things I listed above wouldn't exist and he'd just be another second-rate director with a string of mediocre films under his belt.

Instead he's a media icon with a string of mediocre films under his belt.

So what happens to Star Wars? Well, that's the hot topic right now, isn't it? They've all announced that the next installment will be along in three years. That's a tight deadline for a SW film. Rumours abound everywhere about the subject matter. It will or will not be an adaptation of the Thrawn trilogy. It will or will not be an adaptation of the Dark Empire series. It will or will not have all the old cast in it (Hamill, Ford, Fisher, droids etc).

The official line SEEMS to be that it will have the original cast but will be a completely new story. The original cast will be happy to be in work again (apart from Harrison Ford) anyway.

So how do I feel about it? Cynical comments aside, I'm quite happy about it. Now that Disney have control I feel that if a decision is to be made then it will GET made, and things will move forward quite quickly. I have doubts as to whether 2015 will be a realistic deadline, but it depends on the amount of meddling they let George have. Disney have created some great films recently, such as the Pirates of the Caribbean series and Tron: Legacy, proving that they can manage an epic and/or established franchise and give it the respect it commands.

The formula that would work is for Lucas to do what he does best - come up with the overall storyline and the arc and work on the visuals, letting someone else put that vision into a coherent, sensible, well written plot and letting a talented and experienced director get the best out of the actors.

So it's a good thing. Isn't it?