ROGUE ONE: YOU BROUGHT A WAR MOVIE TO A 4-QUAD FIGHT?
Weeks after we get news that SUICIDE SQUAD is adding some shooting dates, we hear rumors ROGUE ONE will be re-shooting ‘40%’ of the final film.
While people debate whether this is a good thing…I see something else…
DIRECTORS are losing power.
Media outlets have bemoaned the death of new ideas and the rise of Superhero movies.
But we are seeing something very new and exciting at theaters today — the rise of Shared Universes and decade-spanning storytelling.
Sure, this is not a completely new thing — Marvel Comics, soap operas, television serials have been doing this for a long time. Hell, Fonzie, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, Joanie & ChaChi shared a universe long before GI JOE and the Transformers.
But for theatrical films, we’re still at the dawn of ‘generation-spanning storytelling’. We’ve had sequels, we’ve had trilogies, many of them accidental or ret-conned. George Lucas had no idea he was going to get three movies (though the second two movies in the series were certainly one of the first examples of modern multiple film storytelling). Until recently, Bond is closer to an ‘anthology’ than an arc-spanning story.
Even in television, aside from Soap Opera, episodic entertainment dominated with only an occasional serial show appearing. I remember when a show like MURDER ONE (a legal show focused on a single case) was considered innovative.
I look at LORD OF THE RINGS as one of the first times a decision was made to tell a single story over the course of multiple movies. This was considered a HUGE risk at the time. Something like splitting KILL BILL into two parts was another experiment that mostly paid off.
Book series seemed an obvious choice to continue this model, HARRY POTTER being the perfect choice. HUNGER GAMES came later.
And then we have SUPERHEROES.
Marvel has a strong FRANCHISE RUNNER — Kevin Feige — who has total control. They maintain careful control over their movies. The directors they hire seem mostly TV-guys. It feels like directors with the stronger independent voices have a rougher time. Whedon and Favreau started with a bang, but had difficulty flexing their creative muscles on second go arounds. So far, Kenneth Brannagh, Shane Black, Louis Letterier have been one and done, going off to work on their own projects.
In the end, Marvel feels less Director Driven letting the universe shine.
This may be the age of the FRANCHISE RUNNER. A creative producer. A writer at heart. Much like a Showrunner in television. Someone who is shepherding the entire story much the way a comic book editor would do. Or a TV showrunner.
I think a Franchise Runner works best when — like Marvel — you hire directors who do not have the enormous track record and generally play nice with their toys. While talented, I’d say the emphasis is to hire people who execute well, as opposed to directors who bring their unique vision and voice to a film.
Tim Burton wouldn’t work for the Marvel Universe. Zack Snyder wouldn’t either. Chris Nolan, nope.
Marvel needs directors who WANT to adapt. Who want to execute someone else’s vision — Marvel’s vision.
This is typically the job of screenwriters. We’re often hired on projects where we’re executing a producer’s vision or doing a rewrite or writing for a show where a strong voice needs to be mimicked.
DC doesn’t seem to have a strong Franchise-runner(ie — I’m not sure who it is?). People tend to think of Zack Snyder as the guy. It’s unclear if he is…but certainly the Grim-tone of his Superman movie has been painted on what’s come later. But recently we’ve heard of Suicide Squad reshoots trying to inject some Marvel-esque levity to the film — I find it hard to believe Zack is making that call.
Which brings us to ROGUE ONE.
ROGUE ONE is a Disney joint. When Disney began announcing the directors of the Star Wars movies, it felt like they were going for the DC style ‘director driven’ approach. Less so with the directors — I love JJ but aside from lens-flares he’s not a mind-bending stylist. In fact, he’s a great mimic. Super8 was a great Spielberg impersonation. His Star Trek reboot did a wonderful job of invoking the original character. Force Awakens was less of an innovation and more just a tonal reprise of the original trilogy.
The jury is still out on Gareth Edwards. Rian Johnson is an interesting choice, but every movie he makes feels different — Brick vs. Brothers Bloom vs. Looper. Perhaps his TV directing career belies the fact he can play-nice with someone else’s franchise. Colin Trevorrow did a strong Spielberg impersonation.
But who it the Franchise Runner? Some say JJ is over there. But I wonder. It seems like he has a busy enough career. He’s got his own production company and projects to worry about. Is he reading all the drafts and watching dallies and involved in hiring over there?
Kathleen Kennedy is a strong force. But she doesn’t strike me as someone who cares what Mandolorian Armor looks like or knows the nuances of the Thrawn trilogy or even what a Gungan is. I assume — and I might be wrong — she works at a much higher-level dealing with all things LUCASFILM.
So…ROGUE ONE…
When announced, it sounded to me like there was going to be two series here. One, the main series which would be tonally streamlined. Then the ‘anthology series’, which would be random stories, set in the Star Wars universe — a heist movie, a western with bounty hunters, a standalone Solo movie…
After the tremendous success of FORCE AWAKENS and the disappointment of BATMANvSUPERMAN, first guess is someone is pumping the breaks on being too serious.
But I wonder in this case if something else is going on. Some retroactive Franchise Running. The Marvel Model showing up and bringing these anthologies into the fold.
The fact that decade-spanning shared universes are in their infancy, there’s no clear model to follow. Marvel is the best example. So following it is safe.
I’m sure there will be a future where another model emerges and is greatly successful. There’s already been one wildly successful blip — Guardians of the Galaxy.
The one positive (for me, a screenwriter), this model is largely writer-driven. Much like television, it means hiring directors to best execute episodes in a story, with careful attention to continuity and attention paid to setting up and paying off what’s come before.
