Will ‘Force Unleashed’ be the next ‘Star Wars’ film?…

I was very intrigued to read this article posted by the LA.Times. Basically they are saying that it quite possible that this maybe the next Star Wars movies. This would definitely be a killer story as well as a great movie, at least there wouldn’t be as many glitches… Just kidding…

I thought that I did read somewhere though, that after The Revenge of the Sith, that would be the last real Star Wars movie, although I could be mistaken, if someone wants to let me know.

What do you guys think, should there be a Force Unleashed movie, or would it be a complete waste of time. I’m definitely interested to hear your comments.

I would like to thank everybody on behalf of forceunleashed.org for all their support, during our long wait for the release of the game, I appreciate it very much, with that note I have launched another site covering the news on the rumored, Knights of the Old Republic 3 – MMO. You can check it out here, I could use the support!

Here is the post from the LA.Times:

Haden Blackman, the project leader on “The Force Unleashed” video game, has a daydream: He strolls into the movie theater, buys some popcorn and then sits down and watches his game’s tale of Darth Vader and his secret apprentice flicker to life as cinema.

“Oh, that would be incredible,” said Blackman. “And it’s not impossible. Never say never. George [Lucas] has looked to tell new ‘Star Wars’ stories through the games and with the entire Star Wars Expanded Universe, and then he has also shown a willingness to let the characters come into the films. Look at Aayla Secura, a creation in the [Dark Horse] comic books who became part of the theatrical films.”

More than that, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” released in August, began as a television animated series (and still will be, with tie-in episodes premiering Oct. 3 on Cartoon Network), but when Lucas saw the work in progress he decided to take the tale to the cineplex. That film has gotten mixed reviews, to say the least, but Lucas doesn’t seem to care a bit about the opinion of any detractors when it comes to his historic entertainment enterprise and its directions.

Dark Horse has also released a graphic novel version of “The Force Unleashed” and, to my mind, it’s more satisfying than the game — although in full disclosure, that’s not saying much, because I am far more of a reader than a gamer. Blackman not only penned the story for the graphic novel, he also has a lavish 224-page book titled “The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” that celebrates the images and behind-the-scenes labor on the game as if it already were a major motion picture. An adapatation of the film in a traditional prose novel written by Australian sci-fi author Sean Williams also hit No. 1 on the New York Times list of hardcover fiction bestsellers and now, after four weeks, is at No. 14 on that tally.

Lucas is clearly pleased with this new entry to the broader “Star Wars” story and I would not be surprised for a moment to see it on a theater marquee at a CG-animated project in the next few years, especially with the intensifying Hollywood interest in video games and toys as film properties. There’s also the very real power of putting Darth Vader on a movie poster in the theater lobbies of America.

If the “The Force Unleashed” does become a movie, Blackman said it would be a testament to the priorities and sophisticated ideas of his team, who he says puts storytelling and game-play on equal footing and emphasized “the artistic nature” of the quickly changing video-game medium. “It’s an incredible time,” he said, “to be telling powerful stories in this fairly young medium.”

Perhaps, but like the most recent film addition to the Lucas universe, there was huge pre-release anticipation for “The Force Unleashed,” followed by widespread grumbling. It hit stores Sept. 16 and topped the 1-million units sales mark in its first five days, according to industry retail reports, but the reviews have been decidedly mixed.

Here’s the take, for instance, by Hero Complex contributor Pete Metzger, who reviewed the game for the Los Angeles Times and echoed many other underwhelmed gamers:

Most of the things that make up the “Star Wars” universe these days — movies, TV shows, toys and video games — are lacking the magic that made the original trilogy of films so incredible. Gone are the spectacle and awe. Instead, we get halfhearted disappointments (such as the current “Clone Wars” animated movie).

Sadly, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is no exception. It should be an amazing story bridge between Episodes 3 and 4 and one that boasts groundbreaking new artificial intelligence and gaming technology. But Unleashed fails to register the tremor in the Force we were hoping for.