Rian Johnson Says The Creative Freedom On Star Wars Is Exciting; J.J. Abrams Continues The Viral Games With Zack Snyder

One of the more heated debates around The Playlist water cooler often centers around how "assembly line," so to speak, the upcoming “Star Wars” films will be. Perhaps we are jaundiced with respect to the prequels from 1999-2005, or we are cynical regarding Disney’s involvement —the studio reportedly pushed for "Star Wars: Episode VII" to be released in 2015 rather than giving the filmmakers an extra year— but in any case, the more skeptical members of the team assume 'Star Wars' may be compromised from the get-go. The thinking among these quarters is that the movies will have to include things like Jedis, Empires and the original characters of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, etc. and will thus play it safe to appeal the broadest audience possible. And even being far more optimistic about the reborn franchise then many of my colleagues, I have to admit that any inclusion of familiar elements —the Millennium Falcon, R2D2, C-3PO— would be disappointing....