He gave Wolverine the perfect send-off in Logan (well, until Deadpool and Wolverine gave us the perfect resurrection), delivered a criminally underrated Indiana Jones adventure with Dial of Destiny and is set to enter the galaxy far, far away with Dawn of the Jedi, and speaking to Movieweb director James Mangold explained why he chose this era to tell his Star Wars story.
“The Star Wars movie would be taking place 25,000 years before any known Star Wars movies takes place. It’s an area and a playground that I’ve always [wanted to explore] and that I was inspired by as a teenager. I’m not that interested in being handcuffed by so much lore at this point that it’s almost immovable, and you can’t please anybody.”
He may say he doesn’t want to be ‘handcuffed by so much lore‘ but this era not only sees the creation of the droid Huyang in 25,020 BBY, but the foundations of what will become the Jedi Order. In terms of handcuffs, that’s inescapable, but….Mangold did such a stellar job of honouring the past of Indiana Jones and Logan he may well be muffling the bullet before it leaves the barrel to allow his development of Dawn of the Jedi to move on unhindered. He continues.
“Success is never guaranteed, but the reality is that the way to get most people to agree is to move them; to somehow find the humanity in a situation. Whether it’s a mega-franchise or a smaller dramatic movie, whatever they are, usually the movies you remember are the ones that move you. The ones that leave you cold, even if they’re clever, even if they’re spectacular, even if they’re dazzling, somehow just become replaced by the next dazzling object a year later. It’s the feelings, it’s “the feels,” right? That truly defines how we feel about these movies and whether we care to visit them again.”
Wise words indeed. The reason Skeleton Crew is building a growing fanbase – one that’s only going to swell over time – is the warmth and depth of the central characters. Technical innovations are always impressive, but technology is designed to grow, improve and stand on the shoulders of the dreamweavers who came before them. The heart and soul of a film affects, or it doesn’t; E.T. still entrances because of the core relationship, and the visuals, design and music supplement that.
With rumours of the project kicking off later this year in the UK, let’s hope Mangold has factored all of this into the fabric of Dawn of the Jedi and with it delivers a new era with characters we can root for, grow with and appreciate as the architects of the modern Star Wars eras.
