Daniel Scheinert and Dan Kwan, better known as the Daniels, and after having swept the last Oscars ceremony with their multiverse dramedy ‘Everything at once everywhere’, enter the jaws of the mainstream with a million-dollar franchise : ‘Star Wars’. According to ‘The Hollywood Reporter’, both are working on the new series of the saga for Disney +, ‘Skeleton Crew’.
His participation would not be a decision after the Oscars, but before the awards ceremony, both would have appeared in the series, directing at least one episode. It makes all the sense in the world: not only Disney keeps the lists of directors of its series with extraordinary secrecy until the premiere is not over (it has done so, for example, announcing those responsible for the seasons of ‘The Mandalorian’ ), but it’s unlikely the Danielses would accept the commission after the Oscars, just when every step they take is going to be scrutinized to the point of exhaustion.
The only proper names we knew of ‘Skeleton Crew’ so far were Jude Law and Jon Watts, director of Tom Holland’s ‘Spider-Man’ films. The series is focused on the time of the New Republic, a time in the Star Wars chronology where a good part of the franchise’s audiovisual proposals of recent times are being developed: from the latest trilogy of films to series like ‘The Mandalorian’ or ‘The Book of Boba Fett’. We will be told how a group of lost kids tries to find their way home.
Star Wars and independent filmmakers: a road full of obstacles
It is curious that Disney has turned to the Daniels (remember, at that time only signatories of two films: ‘Everything at once everywhere’ and ‘Swiss Army Man’) as independent authors who could give the series an authorial stamp, because It’s not a strategy that has worked well for you in the past. ‘Star Wars’ is a franchise tightly controlled from the offices, and does not get along with the innovations of independent creators.
For example, one of the most famous cases is that of Gareth Edwards (‘Monsters’, ‘Godzilla’), who began as the director of ‘Rogue One’, but his ideas never materialized. He was fired for filming sequences in a very different way than Disney wanted and was replaced by Tony Gilroy. Other: Josh Trank was fired before landing on what appeared to be a Boba Fett spin-off. of his projected film for the saga after his erratic behavior on the set of ‘The Fantastic Four’ (owned by Fox before the purchase of Disney, in addition).
More famous was the case of David Benioff and DB Weiss (creators of ‘Game of Thrones’), who signed for a mammoth project (first a series, then a trilogy of films) set in the Old Republic. They ended up leaving and going to Netflix due to creative conflicts with LucasFilm. Another flashy duo were Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (writers of ‘Spider-Man: A New Universe’), expelled from the filming of ‘Han Solo’ for directing the production too much towards comedy and improvisation.
By his own foot he left Colin Trevorrow (‘Jurassic World’), who was going to be in charge of ‘Episode IX’. Also entered into creative conflicts with Disney and encountered too much pressure from LucasFilm. And finally there is the case of Patty Jenkins, who has just learned that she is leaving her projected ‘Rogue Squadron’. Although the reasons are not clear, the possibility of creative conflicts is already rumored.
Some with a more personal stamp, others more within the industry, something characterizes all these creators: their outbursts from Disney due to creative clashes with the company. It certainly doesn’t seem like a place that allows for excessive inventiveness in its products: just the place where the Daniels might not feel too comfortable.
Image: GTRES
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