Kevin Smith is here to put into words what Disney planning multiple entries in the "Star Wars" franchise means for fans around the globe.
"'Star Wars' will become as ubiquitous as Starbucks," Smith told THR. "It's now as American as baseball and apple pie and as universal as Coca-Cola. In our current business climate of outsourcing, Star Wars may be America's last remaining dependable export."
Since Disney purchased Lucasfilm last October, "Star Wars" news has come at an incredibly brisk pace. First, plans were immediately announced for "Star Wars: Episode VII." Earlier this year, J.J. Abrams was hired to direct the film, an upset considering Abrams had long said he wouldn't tackle the iconic franchise. (He's already embedded in the "Star Trek" franchise, after all.) Recently, plans for spin-off films were announced by Disney, and rumors circulated that famed "Star Wars" characters like Yoda, Boba Fett and Han Solo could get their own feature films. All of this, and "Star Wars: Episode VII" isn't due in theaters until 2014.
According to Smith, the blow-out of ideas is a "good thing" for the franchise.
"Giving Yoda, Boba Fett and Han Solo their own movies is creatively and financially ingenious," Smith said. "Grouse though they may that it's not 'their Star Wars', every old-school fan will line up to see a Yoda origin story, or to see David Borneaz as a a young Han Solo winning the Millennium Falcon from Donald Glover's baby-faced Lando Calrissian (Yeah, I'm calling it here!)."
Or Glover as Han Solo, if Lucasfilm and Disney want to get really creative.
For more on "Star Wars" and what other filmmakers think about the expanding franchise, head over to THR.
