Dave Filoni is Star Wars new creative boss and in a recent interview he talks about his vision for the franchise and what he learned from mentor George Lucas. Filoni is the co-head of Lucasfilm since Kathleen Kennedy’s departure and his remit is the creative side. That means it’s now up to Filoni to decide which films and shows to greenlight and which ones to bury on a shelf.
Filoni is out promoting Star Wars latest cinema outing in The Mandalorian and Grogu. We must stress one caveat is that Filoni didn’t decide to greenlight this film, which happened before his tenure began. However, Filoni is a co-writer on the film and has a close relationship with director and writer Jon Favreau.
Speaking with USA Today, here’s what Filoni had to say,
“I’m very excited and feel very privileged to be in this position,” Filoni, 51, says. “I learned from the best – not just George, but the people that were foundational to Lucasfilm during the prequel era, some from the original era.”
“You’re always looking for new things, and I point out to people, when George made (’The Empire Strikes Back’), he didn’t just sit on what he did in ‘A New Hope.’ He furthered things,” Filoni says. “I didn’t know there were walkers. I didn’t know there was a city in the clouds. I didn’t know that Yoda existed. We’ve taken them for granted now. It’s a much more flexible galaxy, and a point of creativity, than I think people realize because they get so burrowed into all the facts and things that they believe in.”
RELATED: Is This The Way? Apparently Not Say The Mandalorian And Grogu RT Score And Reviews
“Adding new stuff is just as important as honoring the past. You understand the great, giant shoulders you’re standing on when you get to work on something like ‘Star Wars,’ but you also want to add your own page to it as you go forward. So I’m very excited about the future we have.”
Whilst Filoni didn’t decide to bring Mando to the big screen, I’ve not heard from a single person who claimed it brought anything new to the franchise, even those who liked it. So for now at least it seems Filoni’s vision for new has not yet been fulfilled.
“Oh, I have a lot of vivid plans, I’m sure you can imagine,” Filoni says with a smile.
Filoni is “a great guiding force because he will encourage creativity. He’ll steer you away from unforced errors,” Favreau says. He also has “a really good sense of how (something’s) going to play and how the audience is going to feel. He’s very much in touch with that.”
My worry is the audience he is in touch with is kids who grew up watching Dave Filoni’s cartoons and just want to see cartoon level content in live-action.
What Filoni Learned from George Lucas
“He used to tell me things like ‘Dare to be great’ because when you do that, you’re really putting yourself out there, you’re taking risks, you’re taking chances,” Filoni says. “You’re Luke going down the trench run: ‘Am I really going to be able to do this?’ And you push through it, and you can do something amazing.”
“I enjoy helping get the best out of everybody around me, and being kind of like a little Obi-Wan when people need it to help them understand the Force and guide them through this galaxy.”
Other things he should have learned from George Lucas, it’s better to have good ideas and let actual filmmakers and writers make them work. That despite his wish it was otherwise, Star Wars was never really a silly kids film and it’s most ardent fans are middle-aged folks with money to burn. Kids gave almost no interest in Star Wars and yet Disney try to capitalize on the one Star Wars component they have heard of and like, Grogu.
Let’s just be thankful we did get Andor. As always, leave any thoughts you have below.
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