The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. November 8, 2024
The Skywalkers might be back. John Williams is awesome. And I went to a toy store.
Hello there
Once again welcome to the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. There was some late breaking news on Thursday that there may or may not be a new trilogy of movies and they may or may not be Skywalker related. So I’m going to type a bunch of words about something that may not even happen. I watched the documentary on John Williams and I went to a Star Wars toy store. All good times.
As always, I appreciate your loyal readership here at the Death Star HR HQ. Now, let’s get to it.
This Is Where The Fun Begins
Sunday is laundry day here at Death Star HR. Going to give this a try.
I shared this in the group text with our neighbors that we watch Star Wars shows with. It was a mixed reaction.
You can probably guess which of the 3 people in the text is the one I am married to.
Somehow the Skywalker Saga has (Maybe) Returned
In what might be the least surprising news out of the galaxy far, far away, Lucasfilm has signed a deal with Simon Kinberg to maybe develop episodes X, XI, and XII. Per an exclusive at Deadline:
I heard this will comprise Episodes 10-12 of The Skywalker Saga that began with George Lucas’s 1977 first film, which, along with Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, reshaped the global blockbuster game. Insiders disputed my intel that Kinberg will continue that storyline, saying this instead will begin a new saga, and sit alongside percolating Star Wars projects with James Mangold, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Taika Waititi and Donald Glover. As usual, Lucasfilm and Disney are not commenting.
Kinberg probably isn’t a household name, but he has worked in the Star Wars universe previously. He was a co-creator on Rebels with cowboy hat aficionado Dave Filoni and Carrie Beck. Not sure how Beck feels about cowboy hats. He also was a consultant on The Force Awakens.
I wrote back in August that I was concerned after the cancellation of The Acolyte and the show being dragged through the culture wars, Lucasfilm was just going to play it safe. It doesn’t get much safer than going back to the Skywalker well. It’s their Rise of Skywalker moment when after all the controversy and criticism of The Last Jedi (some legitimate some clearly in bad faith), Lucasfilm went running back to J.J. Abrams and begged him to get people to like Star Wars again. I’m not going to debate the quality of Rise of Skywalker, no need to beat that dead bantha. But I do think, from a certain point of view, it accomplished their goal. The alleged controversy over The Last Jedi largely went away. It might have been replaced by other controversy, but at least the “grumpy Luke ruined my childhood” takes went away.
Other sources say that Kinberg’s trilogy is NOT the next 3 movies of the Skywalker Saga but will be a new trilogy. Per The Hollywood Reporter:
The new story is not meant to be a continuation of the Skywalker Saga, the name of the overall arc of the popular and pop culture-dominating Star Wars movies known as Episodes 1 through 9. The intent here is to have brand new characters and a new story, and not have it be a continuation, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. (Although that does not mean that some characters could not or would not pop up.)
I am of two minds about giving the Skywalker Saga three more movies. On the one hand, I wouldn’t mind seeing a better conclusion to the storyline than Rise of Skywalker. On the other hand, like I stated above, it just seems lazy. It’s a huge galaxy with plenty of other stories to tell. One other thing to note, I really like the idea of putting one person in charge here. Hopefully that will avoid the Sequel Trilogy issue of one movie having a completely different vibe than the other two. Also, give Rian Johnson his trilogy back. News on the next Skywalker Saga is pretty scarce right now, especially since it’s not even officially announced. And given Disney’s track record of announcing projects and then having the slip off into the World Between Worlds even to be heard from again, who knows if this will even happen. Hard to see, the future is. Especially when it comes to Disney.
John Williams: This is Your Life
I mentioned this a few weeks ago, Disney+ is streaming a documentary about composer John Williams, aptly titled Music By John Williams. If you’re asking yourself who that is, I think you’re in the wrong place. How many living composers can people who aren’t into classical music name? Can’t imagine people can name more than one or two, with one of them being Williams.
The documentary itself is your standard biographical documentary. The person’s life story in more or less chronological order, mixed in with clips for friends and collaborators talking about how great the person is. I suppose when you’ve had the career Williams has had, it’s pretty easy to round up a bunch of people to say nice things about you. A short but not complete list of cameos include George Lucas (obviously), Steven Spielberg, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Kathleen Kennedy, Ron Howard, J.J. Abrams, Yo-Yo Ma, Seth McFarlane, Lawrence Kasden, and Ke Huy Quan, who shared a fun story about talking with Williams in 2023 and they both started humming Short Round’s theme. I mean, who wouldn’t have to have their own theme music composed by John Williams.
It’s truly amazing how many instantly recognizable movie scores he’s done. And so many of them you hear the first few notes, and you instantly think about that movie. You hear the Indiana Jones theme and immediately think of whatever your favorite scene is. Or the Jurassic Park theme and thinking about being 13 and seeing it at the theater and just remembering how amazing it was the first time the T-Rex came on screen or the first time you see the dinos on the island. I’ve mentioned I’m too young to have seen the Original Trilogy in the theaters, but I did get to see the Special Editions and everything onward. And every time I see a new Star Wars movie and that opening fanfare hits, I still get chills.
The most interesting part of me, and there wasn’t enough of it, is just seeing how a piece comes together. I get why, the point of the documentary is about John Williams the person and the movies. That isn’t to say the music is an afterthought, far from it. But it more focuses of the finished piece and how it fits into the movie or TV show. I mentioned a couple weeks ago that the idea of composing a orchestra piece of music just boggles the mind. Like my brain absolutely does not work in way that would allow me to do it. You might as well ask me to build a working lightsaber out of whatever I have laying around in the garage. I would have liked to see more about his actual process for creating music.
Two points that stood out to me. First, if your album is number 2 on the charts behind Rumours, that’s pretty good. You’re selling a lot of albums.
And second, some of the parts about Star Wars were interesting. I didn’t know that Williams almost turned down Star Wars to do the World War II movie, A Bridge Too Far. That movie had the movie stars, just look at the list of who’s in it. Star Wars had, outside of Alec Guinness, unknown actors and director who had one hit movie and it was 3-4 years ago. But as Williams tells it, Spielberg talked him into it.
Williams talks about how the opening fanfare and the main theme was the last thing he wrote for A New Hope, and when they needed to play, it was suggested they just call up the London Symphony Orchestra have them do it. And of course, my mind immediately goes to The Simpsons and the Homerpalooza episode.
Music By John Williams isn’t a hard hitting or extremely deep look at Williams. However it is a great way to spend a couple hours. Lucas gets right when he says Williams is “[a] brilliant guy who really understands the relationship between pictures and sound.” Much like Star Wars wouldn’t be Star Wars without James Earl Jones (RIP) as Darth Vader, Star Wars absolutely wouldn’t be Star Wars without John Williams score.
Things My Wife Has Said About Star Wars
There is a store in Fort Worth, Texas that just sells Star Wars stuff. Mostly toys with some other assorted things like books and whatnot. The Holocron Toy Store is, as far as I know, the only brick and mortar Star Wars store in Texas. They have two locations, one it Fort Worth and one in Austin. I finally had an excuse to visit last month. In short, it’s an amazing place. Some might even say it’s the happiest place on earth. That’s a pretty good slogan, someone should use it.
Although I could have easily maxed out the credit card, it thought better of it and limited my purchase to a Funko and a patch.
My wife is called Emperor Palpatine’s #1 Fan for a reason, namely that Palpatine is her favorite, and I thought she might like it.
Me: I made it to the Star Wars toy store today, check out what I got.
Her: Hmmmm.
Me: It’s your boy, Palpy! Do you want to put it in your office?
Her: No…
Me: Come on, Palpatine is your favorite.
Her: I don’t want people at work to know I have a favorite character.
I get that the “Ask me about my husband’s Star Wars substack” t-shirt I made her isn’t appropriate for the office, but I thought she’d at least give ol’ Palpy some love.
This Day in Star Wars History
Only two entries to mention for November 8th.
Ted Burnett was born in 1926. Burnett was a British actor who played Wuher the bartender and droid racist in A New Hope. Burnett’s 3 lines of dialog were overdubbed with an uncredited American actor, guess nobody wanted to hear a Cockney accent on a desert planet.
Roger Kastel passed away in 2023. An artist who created the poster for Empire Strikes Back. You know the one I’m talking about. Kastel was inspired by the movie posters for Gone With The Wind. Fun fact about that movie, it look less time to fight the Civil War than it does to watch that movie.
Frankly my dear, I’d just as soon kiss a Wookiee.
From the Depths of Wookieepedia
It’s a well known fact here that food is my favorite topic on FTDOW. This week we’re back. Anyone hungry for some Felbar?
I can’t decide if it looks like pizza…or maybe an orange slice? It’s a popular pet food made with flower fruit. Weirdly, flower fruit does not get it’s own Wookieepedia entry. I almost skipped past Felbar, but it was featured in Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, and specifically “Nightlilly: The Lovers’ Tale.” I talked about this specific short story in the November 17, 2023 Death Star HR and noted it was easily the horniest Star Wars property - book, movie, tv show - out there. Just look.
Reylo’s got nothing on “Nightlilly.”
News From the HoloNet
Greg Hildebrandt, iconic Star Wars and Lord of the Rings artist, has died at 85
Hildebrant was discussed back in July. He and his brother were prolific.
Hayden Christensen lets the fun begin in new Star Wars-themed NASCAR vehicle
I want to hear “rubbin's racin’” but in the Darth Vader voice. Also, Doug Chiang did the design.
Phantom at 25 | Iain McCaig Talks Darth Maul, Queen Amidala, and working with George Lucas
“Give me your second worst nightmare,” is a hell of a design prompt.
Makes sense. Pretty sure the Stranger Things “kids” have a mortgage and lower back problems by now.
Star Wars Outlaws Is Getting an Even Bigger Overhaul Than Anticipated
Is this a big deal? It sounds like a big deal.
That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.
Felbar's shape looks strikingly similar to a pierogi, at least to this reader living in the wild woods of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Fried in some butter and onions, this could be consumable for humans, as long as flower fruit is not poisonous.
That album chart is, in fact, fire! If I owned the Star Wars soundtrack on vinyl, I'd have the top 4 covered.