Harrison Ford Turned Down Han Solo Role 472
eldavojohn writes "It's being widely reported that Harrison Ford turned down a £20 million deal to play Han Solo once again in a George Lucas spin off of Star Wars. The source of this information seems to be a tabloid called bangshowbiz. Harrison was approached by Lucas with two roles but instead opted for the same amount to play Indiana Jones for the fourth time. Could the spin off centered on the rugged Han Solo save the Star Wars franchise from its prequels or would it have been another mediocre release disappointing demanding fans?"
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The appropriate response is "Have your people call my people".
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And the Web 2.0 response is "Post a comment on my blog.".
Re:Good (Score:4, Insightful)
You realize he does want to play Indiana Jones again, don't you? Indiana Jones is no less youthful or athletic than Han Solo. If he can do one, he can equally well do the other!
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> assuming the movie isn't just about Dr. Jones becoming a crotchety,
> washed up academic.
Potential titles for another Indy trilogy:
Raiders of the Lost Dentures
Indiana Jones and the Hemorrhoid Cream of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Last Bran Muffin
Raiders of the Girls Old Enough to be Their Granddaughters
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Erectile Dysfunction
Indiana Jones and the Little Blue Pill
Raiders of the Shuffleboard Deck
Indiana Jones and the Broken Hip of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Budget Mobility Scooter
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"When modding, I abuse the moderation system."
There, fixed that for ya.
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The article summary is slightly wrong, incidentally (so what else is new?). Ford has already played Indy a fourth time (in the "bookends" wraparound segments for a Young Indy two-parter, "Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues"). For that matter, he's also played Han Solo four times already, too (the second time being in The Star Wars Holiday Special).
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The Real Problem: Harrison Ford or George Lucas? (Score:5, Insightful)
Therein lies the danger. Star Wars I, II, and III suggest that Star Wars IV was just a stroke of luck for Lucas. He is a poor storyteller and could easily cast Ford into the wrong kind of story. Ford's career would then end in a wimper. Of course, I would waste my $10 on Star War VII.
Ford made the right decision.
Re:The Real Problem: Harrison Ford or George Lucas (Score:5, Informative)
Re:The Real Problem: Harrison Ford or George Lucas (Score:5, Funny)
It's always about Marcia!
Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!
Re:The Real Problem: Harrison Ford or George Lucas (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The Real Problem: Harrison Ford or George Lucas (Score:5, Insightful)
Probably not written. He may have had a vague idea of the general story, but he wouldn't have made such incoherences : Obi'wan doesn't know C3PO or R2D2 in 'New Hope', he doesn't know that Luke has a sister before Yoda tells him. Also, the six episodes just "don't work" together. The "I am your father", which is quite a dramatic climax in the original serie doesn't work anymore if you watch Starwars in the correct order.
Re:The Real Problem: Harrison Ford or George Lucas (Score:5, Insightful)
Are you are referring to that little exchange between Obi-Wan's ghost and Yoda in ESB right after Luke left Dagobah?
Ben: That boy is our last hope.
Yoda: No. There is another.
I figure that a way to reconcile that with Ben's knowledge from ROTS would be to assume that Ben knew about Leia, but for one reason or another, he simply didn't feel that she would be up to the task of becoming a Jedi and overthrowing Vader and the Emperor.
Now, how about when the Obi-Wan ghost appeared to Luke on Hoth and told him to go to Dagobah though?
Ben: You will go to the Dagobah system. There you will learn from Yoda, the Jedi Master who instructed me.
I think that was a rather big oversight on the part of Lucas, considering the Jedi Master who instructed Ben was Qui-Gonn, not Yoda. That one might be a little more difficult to explain away.
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Yeah, I thought about the Yoda thing too. The only way to resolve it is if Ben meant that Yoda was one of his Jedi Masters. Truthfully all the Jedi Masters train Jedi not their own in small ways. So if the dialogue was tweaked:
Ben: You will go to the Dagobah system. There you will learn from Yoda, a Jedi Master who instructed me.
I think also, Lucas tries to smooth this out at the end of Episode III by having Yoda show Ben how to communicate with the dead.
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He never claimed he didn't know them. All he said was "I don't seem to remember ever owning a droid.
Ohh, come *on* now. It's called "suspension of disbelief". We empathize with Luke's character at this point because for *him*, it's a shock. Seriously, bubbalaroo, this revelation was made nearly 27 years ago. Yo
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Basically, Lucas spent most of the filming in California doing exec producer-y stuff, while Kirshner and the actors were holed up in Pinewood actually shooting the movie. Kirshner was also doing his own editing on-set and, occasionally, sending reels over to Lucas to show him what he was doi
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I saw an interview with him around about the time of the Star Wars: A New Hope re-release. He was asked if he would ever consider reprising the role of Han Solo. He said, no. He said he didn't like the character of Han at all. When asked if he would consider playing Indiana Jones again, his immediate response was "In a second".
Ford like Jones and doesn't like Solo. It's as simple as that. He has the luxury of being able to pick his roles.
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I don't get it. Why can't George Lucas just digitally remaster things so Harrison Ford agrees to play Han Solo?
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you tell me... (Score:5, Funny)
Given that Lucas most likely would have partnered Han with a squadron of Jar Jar's children and a midget in a monkey constume, I think that questions answers itself.
Dont rejoice (Score:2, Insightful)
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Star Wars 7 (Score:4, Funny)
HAN SHOT FIRST (Score:5, Informative)
Re:HAN SHOT FIRST (Score:4, Insightful)
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Thank god he declined (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't want to see Han Solo's great character trashed by a bad script and the over-use of special effects.
Lucas helped kill my vision of the star wars universe with the prequals, I will never watch another Star Wars thing he does again.
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Re:Thank god he declined (Score:5, Funny)
Does it matter? (Score:5, Funny)
Would they have to pay to do that? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Would they have to pay to do that? (Score:5, Informative)
If a reasonable person were to view the CGI character and identify it as Harrison Ford, and the filmmaker had not secured prior permission from Ford for the use of his likeness, then Ford would have grounds for a right-of-publicity action against the filmmakers.
Re:Would they have to pay to do that? (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course, I doubt that Ford would have anything to sue over if Lucas used his likeness for profit, without permission. It's the business model of most, if not all, tabloids.
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All they would have to do (Score:2)
Or just play it like the James Bond films, a new face, same character, no explanation to the fans at all. I hear that the daytime Soap Operas do that to their characters quite a bit when they ask for too much money, they simply get a new acto
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Re:Does it matter? (Score:5, Interesting)
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R2D2 (Score:5, Funny)
contract stipulation... (Score:5, Funny)
George Lucas has lost credibility (Score:5, Interesting)
George Lucas, on the other hand, has lost a tonnes of credibility with the Star Wars prequels. As Brent Spiner said, "it took him twenty years to come up with something lousey". George's quickness to return to the Star Wars well is more evidence that he has become a sell-out of the highest order.
George should forget about Star Wars spin-offs, go back to his roots and start a new project. Maybe a remake of Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers ... something he loved as a child.
boxlight
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Did you see "Firewall" or "Six days, Seven Nights"?
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Yeah, but Ford is boring now too (Score:5, Insightful)
I mean... looking at IMDB... the Tom Clancy movies, Air Force One (Worst Idea Ever), The Fugitive, Firewall, K-19... the guy's become a grim automaton. Some of those movies were decent, but his characters were pretty much the same in every damn one. Anyway, let's hope that IJ4 breaks the long grey-brown streak.
So he's playing Indiana Jones instead (Score:5, Insightful)
Second, we don't know the details there. It could be simply that the Indiana Jones role paid better.
Third, after what George Lucas did to Episodes 1 to 3, can you really blame him? I mean, it's ok to bitch and moan about it as a fan, but he's the one who gets it on his CV and maybe conscience. Maybe he's good at knowing a dud when he sees one. Or maybe, especially given the choices of roles as a good guy, he doesn't want to star in Lucas's recent moral relativism (and revisionism) lectures.
SW started as a simple kids' story, a SF version of a mix of fantasy and swashbucklers and WW2 carrier battles. Brave knights with magic swords against clear super-villains. (You'd be hard pressed to paint blowing up a planet they already knew was not a rebellion planet, just to make an example, as a moral grey zone.) The rebels are good, the Empire is evil, and it tells you so right in the opening text. Even when the good guys tell a little lie (e.g., Ben saying that Luke's father is dead), it's with the best intentions, and even when the evil guys tell the truth, you know it's just scheming to some evil end. Follow your heart, do the right thing, don't let old farts tell you what to do (even if it's Yoda), don't fall for the excuses and promises of the dark side. And, oh, trust your own skills, not some targetting computer gizmo.
Not entirely applicable to RL, but it's a simple (or simplified) story, that's easy to digest and entertaining.
And it's not _that_ far off the mark either. While RL situations are a lot less black-and-white, it's not as impossible to have some principles as some people try to tell you. Just because neither side is pure black or white, it doesn't mean there's no difference. If one side is only 75% right and the other 75% wrong, it still doesn't mean that they're perfectly equivalent and it doesn't matter which you choose. Moral relativism is a subject very dear to both philosophers (since that's their job) and sociopaths (who just love muddying the waters and justifying any evil they do), but RL isn't _that_ relative. Just because some details varied across time and space, doesn't mean that the entire concepts of good and evil are purely arbitrary and irrelevant. But I digress.
So a long time after Episode 6, Lucas seems to have decided to undo that whole simplicity. Most of what Episodes 1 to 3 do isn't as much about showing you the history of it, as about trying to undo the good-vs-evil theme of the original trilogy. It's a lecture in how, see, the good guys weren't really good, they were just some self-serving self-indulgent caste, and, see, the evil guys weren't evil as such, they were really just another point of view and at most a bit mis-guided. And Vader (you know, the same guy who supervised blowing up a planet full of innocents) didn't as much fall to the dark side by some act of selfish evil, but was just yet another guy who thought he's doing the right thing, if in a bit of a mis-guided way. Etc.
It's been about rewriting the SW universe in more profound ways than "Han shot first." The whole "A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack" got kicked into the garbage bin, for example, and that was a far more central idea than Han shooting first.
It's not just the bad acting and bad scripting and bad directing and Jar Jar that make the prequels hard to swallow, it's also that it's a moral ambiguity lesson with some special effects and badly acted/scripted/directed at that. Once the whole monomyth structure and clear cut sides fly out the window, it becomes a lot harder to empathise with the heroes or follow why did they have to do this and that. Or to what (justifiable) end.
Contrast Episode 4 where it followed a logical and archetypal structure to destroy the evil Death Star, to Episode 1 where the grand achievement is finding Anakin
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Re:George Lucas has lost credibility (Score:4, Insightful)
Indiana Jones 4
You know what, I actually would like to see the spin-off Star Wars with Ford. Unlike you crazy fans, I enjoy light fantasy/sci-fi movies for what they are.
The dialog and some plot lines in the prequels surely were very odd at times, but Lucas has enough feedback to know better now. He learned from Jar Jar-s feedback in the first one.
The problem here stems from insane fans with impossible to meet standards. I personally like Star Wars, like the sound track, most of the characters, and mostly, I enjoy exploring huge fantasy worlds executed in incredible detail and imagination, which is something we rarely see in movies, even for the sheer amount of people and effects required to make them a reality.
The rest is just fan snobbery.
Re:George Lucas has lost credibility (Score:5, Interesting)
So, if he spent a little more time polishing the dialog/plot instead of the effects, we would have had passable movies.
The only feedback I'd give him at this point is: If you want to make more Star Wars movies, get some good writers.
Re:George Lucas has lost credibility (Score:5, Insightful)
Hell it even allows the musical score to shine much brighter. Most of that huge fight scene is done almost entirely without dialog, hinging instead on the tone of the music.
I'll agree with you on the other parts - those were just silly. But that one shouldn't be changed. Ever.
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And destroy it.
KFG
Re:George Lucas has lost credibility (Score:4, Interesting)
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the books that prominently featured solo (Score:2, Interesting)
Demanding fans? (Score:5, Insightful)
There's no way that the grown-up fans are ever going to be satisfied the way they were when they were 11 years old.
Brett
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SW1-3 were about character conflict.
SW-3 to -1 were vapid special effects with no conflict.
It wasn't that they failed to meet expectations. it was that they really did suck.
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That would be the Christmas Special.
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Lucas, unfortunately, is just not a great director.
Episode II is the only one of the prequels that I found anything I really liked about. Ep III was tolerable in parts, and just bad in others. I will watch it if it's on HBO HD.
Episode I, I'll never watch again. It jus
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Poul Anderson
H Beam Piper
James Schmitz
James Blish
Keith Laumer
You can fi
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That's nice, but the characters in the prequels completely lacked the depth that they had in the originals.
Take, for example, the Millennium Falcon. It looked like an incredibly beautiful, complicated, high-tech piece of futuristic machinery. The first think Luke says when he sees it: "What a piece of junk!" Later, when Leia first sees it: "In that thing? You're braver than I thought!"
The character with the most depth in first prequel was Jar-Jar.
Good point, but doesn't capture it all (Score:3, Interesting)
HOWEVER... Star Wars was also the first time anyone had done the space opera for which everyone had been pining since, I dunno, Jules Verne finally came to fruition with grandeur. 2001 was great, but it was semi-mystical hard sci-fi. It wasn't the cowboy movie in outer space that spoke to the munchkin in everyone. Except Brett, perhap
Re:Demanding fans? (Score:5, Insightful)
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I'm afraid I would have to disagree with this. What made the original movies enjoyable was not my age then. I can even enjoy them now. What makes the original SW trilogy better than the prequels is the fact that the original SW trilogy didn't take itself too seriously. The original trilogy was a bit cheesy and campy, but it was ne
MOD PARENT UP (Score:2, Funny)
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So whether Lucas in particular can do anything with Star Wars or not may be the pe
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I disagree. I got the exact same amazing rush, for the same kinds of reasons, from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies. George Lucas should look at those movies and feel utterly ashamed.
Baloney! (Score:5, Insightful)
That's partially true, but the prequels *DO* objectively SUCK waayyyyyy more than the originals. Remember the original 3 movies were re-released a couple years *before* any of the prequels came out? I went back and saw the re-released originals as an adult, and yeah, you're right...they really weren't the same watching them as an adult.
However, they were still FAR FAR FAR FAR BETTER than any of the prequels, with their wooden acting. As far as the special effects, the technology of the special effects used on the prequels may be better than that of the originals, but the actual use of the technology (you know, imagination, etc) was way inferior. The special effects in the prequels was just shamelessly piled on, without any art to it. Take the battle scenes for instance. It's all just a bunch of random chaos, with lasers shooting every which way, and stuff blowing up all over the place, and the camera doesn't stay on one shot for more than 50 milliseconds until it switches over to some other scene, making it impossible to really follow the flow of the battle. You basically just sit there, completely overwhelmed, and it's only after the battle is done that you finally figure out what the hell just happened. There's no tension, just confusion. Special effects just for the sake of special effects is crap. You can't just pile it on endlessly and hope it will automagically coalesce into something wonderful. More is not always better.
Hooray for the geezer patrol (Score:5, Funny)
I guess if "rugged" is the new word for "over the hill", then possibly.
Is Lucas TRYING to emulate Trek here? ie: Keep re-using the same geriatrics until enough are in the grave that you have no choice but to finally re-cast the character?
No! That's not why!!! (Score:2, Funny)
This isn't the reason why he didn't want to play the role again... he knew he was supposed to be married to Carrie Fisher! And have you seen her lately?! YIKES!!! I think he'd *RATHER* kiss a Wookie!
Re:No! That's not why!!! (Score:5, Informative)
Look as good at fifty-something you will not.
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What about the twins? (Score:2, Funny)
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IJ4 should hand off the Indy role (Score:2, Insightful)
Swi
For those unfamiliar with modern Harrison Ford... (Score:3, Insightful)
Gonna light a bonfire, fuel it with my karma... (Score:5, Funny)
Harrison Ford took the Indiana Jones role over the Han Solo one because it's going to be a much better movie.
The rumour that it takes place in the sixties is true, and fits in nicely with the Mr Ford's present age.
What hasn't been widely revealed is that Sean Connory *will* be in the movie, although the role will probably surprise many people.
Since Satan owns the pink slip for the soul of pretty much everyone who has ever worked in motion pictures, he can shuffle the deck however he sees fit... and some interesting studio mergers mean that Sean Connory will play an elderly James Bond who fell through a temporal rift as the result of Xindi interference with Earth history - the theory being that if they could get all the kids hooked on beer and acid and dope then warp drive would never be invented. Little did they realise that Optimus Prime would ride in on My Little Pony and save the day by assassinating Kennedy and illegitimately fathering Rosie ODonnell with, you guessed it, Rosie ODonnell - who fell through the same temporal rift James Bond fell through. Pygmies re-discover left-over gou'auld technology that permits them to build hypersonic blow-dart weapons, which are capable of destroying ICBMs and thereby save the USA from the tyranny of total destruction when they decide to make the Ukraine glow in the dark...which happens two-thirds of the way through the movie, because the Ark of the Covenant (which was stolen from Area 51 by the Xindi) has been given to the Russians, who are using it to try to re-animate a cut-n-shunt SuperPolitician they've made from the cryogenically preserved remains of Adolph Hitler, Josef Stalin and Walt Disney - but exposure to nuclear fallout causes this re-animated monstrosity to sprout wings and fly to Tokyo, where as Mothra it does battle with Godzilla until Indiana Jones...
Sorry, I've given too much away already. You'll just have to buy a ticket like everybody else.
aaaaaagh! (Score:4, Funny)
Disappointed? (Score:4, Interesting)
Should newbies watch 1-6, or 4-6 then 1-3? (Score:3, Interesting)
As someone who has never seen them, should she watch IV through VI, then I, II, and III, or should she watch them in series?
And so, should I pull out my original release VHS tapes of IV-VI and have her watch them in their original glory, or should she watch the new DVD releases?
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My reasoning is that if you watch the prequels first it ruins many plot points (ie Leia and Luke are brothers, Vader is Luke's father, etc.). However if watched 4 5 1 2 3 6, the prequels serve as a cool flashback, fleshing out the characters, and drawing out the conclusion to the cliffhangers left by Empire. Or you could just watch the original 4 5 6, and ignore the terrible prequels. E
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So /. is now a third rate knock off of a third rate rumor web site?
What Lucas project is in the works that needs an older Solo? B.S.
But, the bigger thing is, why is /. doing entertainment rumor?
Since when are Star Wars rumors not nerdy enough to go on /.? /. user I feel that this not only news for me, but also it does matter.
As a
(all said while pointing at Solo, Leia, and Fett action figures on the bookshelf)
Yeah, Han in carbonite, Leia in slave bikini, and Boba Fett.
Re:Oh god... (Score:5, Funny)
Probably because you've done it three times already and he knows a cheap date when he sees one.
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They have nothing to proclaim, because if you'd read the fucking summary (let alone the article) you'd see that Harrison Ford "instead opted for the same amount [of money] to play Indiana Jones for the fourth time" (emphasis added).
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