Yesterday, StarWars.com confirmed that Michael Arndt, scribe of Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3, has got the gig of writing the next Star Wars film. Prior to 2015’s Star Wars: Episode VII, Arndt’s scripts to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Tom Cruise vehicle Oblivion, Phineas and Ferb and The Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside The Mind will hit cinemas, possibly making him the hottest screenwriter in Hollywood right now.
As pre-production of Star Wars: Episode VII begins, Lucasfilm has confirmed that award-winning writer Michael Arndt will write the screenplay for the new Star Wars film. As revealed in the ongoing video series posted here on StarWars.com, Kathleen Kennedy and George Lucas have begun story conferences with Arndt. Arndt won an Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay for writing Little Miss Sunshine (2006), and was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing Toy Story 3 (2010).
The immediate difference between Arndt and Lucas should be obvious. Arndt took a collection of toys and gave them life, love and allowed the audience to invest time in them. Meanwhile, Lucas took characters that we loved and had invested time in, and turned them into toys. The chance of somebody who isn’t Lucas working on the films is exciting, as the last time that happened, we got Empire Strikes Back.
Of course, Lucas isn’t completely out, with ol’ George still talking about having a hand in the creative process. The last time that happened, we got Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. According to the new video below, producer Kathleen Kennedy is looking for people who have “enthusiasm, having a sense of how to tell stories in a complex world…who don’t already have an affinity to Star Wars“.
We already know that list won’t include Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino and Zack Snyder, and we predict that until an official announcement is made, we’ll just be working this out via a process of elimination.
