The Force Awakens Michael Arndt Officially Announced as Episode VII Screenwriter!

[Solidus]

He said in the first video that he's giving Disney the treatments for VII-IX, but they were not "his' per say. Michael Arndt was confirmed to be the writer of these heavily detailed treatments for the NT (new trilogy sounds better then ST I think) And now he will write the screenplays as well.

 

[Spider-Who?]

He said in the first video that he's giving Disney the treatments for VII-IX, but they were not "his' per say. Michael Arndt was confirmed to be the writer of these heavily detailed treatments for the NT (new trilogy sounds better then ST I think) And now he will write the screenplays as well.

Agreed.

 

[TheDreamMaster]

Agreed.

I disagree, only because this may not be the last trilogy given what we've heard. So I think Sequel Trilogy works, and then following that either NT or SST. I think Next Trilogy should got for the one following this because I think it'll be distanced enough to have little to do with the OT like we belive these films will.

 

[Solidus]

Nah, ST is too close to SW and just Star Trek in general, even among our nerd fans we need to have a little bit of a difference. The thing is we don't know what the next trilogy will be it may be a Knights of the Old Republic going way way back. So New Trilogy sounds best to me, just calling it the NT. We are getting ahead of ourselves. ST just does not have the same ring as calling it NT.

 

[paladinryan]

I like NT/OT too, especially if these films are the equals of the old ones (and with a director like Bird or Cuaron at the helm, they may just be). The New Testament/Old Testament way of looking at it would then work for me.

 

[LegendAssemble]

Has it been confirmed anywhere that Lucas wrote treatments for this?

It's been confirmed multiple times that Lucas, as well as Kurtz wrote outlines.

 

[LegendAssemble]

I like NT/OT too, especially if these films are the equals of the old ones (and with a director like Bird or Cuaron at the helm, they may just be). The New Testament/Old Testament way of looking at it would then work for me.

Why it's the Sequel Trilogy, maybe it just doesn't bother me because I'm not a Treky but I mean it's stupid to change it. You have the Original Trilogy of films (The OT), the Prequel Trilogy of films (The PT), and the Sequel Trilogy of films (The ST).

 

[Lead Cenobite]

I'm just making sure. A lot of things are taken for granted on the internet, like Christopher Nolan's level of involvement in Man of Steel.

 

[Doc Ock]

Pretty excellent news, I only hope we get a good director to match!

 

[Gianakin_]

Amazing, amazing choice of writing talent. This is arguably the best possible first step. This gets better and better every day.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

His storytelling short on how to set up a story on the Toy Story 3 disc is great. It's on Youtube and it's called "BEGINNiNGS: Setting a Story in Motion". Arndt later commented "I’m aware the model I set up here applies imperfectly to TS3 itself. (It applies much more cleanly [for example] to TOOTSIE, which I consider one of the best comedy first acts of all time.) The broader point is that the emotional fuel for your first act break is largely set up in your inciting incident — and that is something that does apply to TS3."

Some of his points were:

1. Show Your Main Character
2. Introduce the Universe that They Live In
3. Show Your Character’s Grand Passion
4. Show Your Character’s Hidden Flaw
5. Hint at Storm Clouds on the Horizon
6. Turn Your Character’s World Upside Down
7. Add Insult to Injury
8. Have Your Character Make the Wrong Choice

Arndt was at the 2014 Toronto Screenwriting Conference a few weeks ago. Here is some of what he talked about:

No matter how basic it may seem, you can always learn more about three-act structure.

That was one of the prominent takeaways from my time at the 2014 Toronto Screenwriting Conference, a quickly growing gathering of screenwriters and producers where advice on perfecting the craft and navigating the industry comes fast and furious.

http://www.screencraft.org/blog/oscar-winner-michael-arndt-structure/

Here is a photo from the event:

http://instagram.com/p/marsvLRmsx/

Here's a recent interview from a few weeks ago:

PB: You’ve become something of a go-to writer for big studios with a major franchise on their hands, whether for an original script or a good polish. What are some of the most important things you’ve learned working not only under the pressure of big studio budgets and mega fan expectations?

MA: The lesson I learned at Pixar on Toy Story 3 is that working on one of these big franchises is a team sport. There’s just no way I could have written the TS3 script on my own — it’s just too dense and narratively detailed. As the screenwriter on TS3, I was just one guy on a team that included the director, the producer, the story artists, and the Pixar brain trust of other directors and writers.

At this point, I feel like it would be suicidal as a writer to take on one of these giant projects and try to write the script entirely on your own. You just need other people there to give you feedback once you’ve done that first draft. If I have one talent as a writer, its in stumbling blindly into situations where I find myself working with people who are vastly smarter and more talented than I am.

http://playbackonline.ca/2014/04/03/in-the-writers-room-michael-arndt/ (April 3, 2014)

Here's another recent interview with Michael Arndt from a few weeks ago. Avoids any direct mention of Star Wars.:

Lucky for me, I had my own personal session with Michael, getting to chat with him for nearly an hour on the phone. He’s found immense success, his work in indie film taking him to a gig co-writing The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and working continuously with Pixar. We talked about his journey from making his own work, to working on others and everything in between. But he was all the while eager to expose just how much perseverance it takes.

..........

ATW: You’ve got Inside Out coming up with Amy Poehler and Mindy Kaling! How was it tackling animation again and from a female point of view?

A: Little Miss Sunshine, Catching Fire and Inside Out- I’m doing a lot of female protagonists! I spent a year at Pixar working on Inside Out and it was great. It was both a brilliantly creative idea but also incredibly challenging because you’re building a universe inside the mind of this little girl. I left that project in early 2011, knowing the Pixar process, there may not be a single word written that remains in the final script! They’ve had writers work on it since then. I’m interested to see what they come up with.

http://thescriptlab.com/features/al...dt-talks-screenwriting-and-offers-some-advice (April 6, 2014)

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

This thread also needs an update as to what's gone on since that November 2012 announcement. So here goes (without gossip):

Interview and profile on Kathleen Kennedy, January 30, 2013:

Abrams agreed to meet with Kennedy on Dec. 14 at his Bad Robot offices in Santa Monica. Famously plain-spoken, she summarizes her pitch like this: "Please do Star Wars." And she had cards to play. Not only was Oscar winner Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3) writing the script, but Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi, was on board to consult. Abrams "was flipping out when he found out that Michael and Larry were on the movie already," says Kennedy.

Abrams tells THR, "I learned firsthand how incredible and persuasive she is." Some -- but not all -- of his reservations were dispelled. "The thing about any pre-existing franchise -- I'd sort of done that," he says. "But when I met with Kathy, it was suddenly very tantalizing."

Mark Hamill, February 21 2013:

They're talking to us. George [Lucas] wanted to know whether we’d be interested. He did say that if we didn’t want to do it, they wouldn’t cast another actor in our parts—they would write us out. … We’re in the stage where they want us to go in and meet with Michael Arndt, who is the writer, and Kathleen Kennedy, who is going to run Lucasfilm. Both have had meetings set that were postponed—on their end, not mine. They’re more busy than I am.

Playboy interview with JJ Abrams, April 2013:

PLAYBOY: As recently as last fall you said that directing a new Star Wars comes with a burden of “almost fatal sacrilege.” Do you feel that?

ABRAMS: I meant if I viewed this from a fan’s point of view—and no one’s a bigger Star Wars fan than I am—or from a legacy standpoint, it would scare the hell out of me. But instead of trying to climb this mountain in one giant leap, I’m just enjoying the opportunity and looking to the people I’m working with. I’ve known Kathy for years. I’ve worked with the screenwriter, Michael Arndt, for a long time. I’ve known George for a number of years and he’s now a friend. Even if this wasn’t Star Wars, I’d be enormously fortunate to work with them.

JJ Abrams, June 15, 2013:

It's funny because I have admired the screenwriter Michael Arndt since 'Little Miss Sunshine'. 'And these last few months I've been suggesting he work with me and he kept saying, 'I can't, I'm already working on something'. And then one morning I read that he was doing 'Star Wars' and I finally got it.'

JJ Abrams, May 16, 2013:

I'm working with a great writer and some other wonderful writers....

Kathleen Kennedy, July 28, 2013:

It's going fantastically well. I mean JJ...we meet almost every single day. We have Michael Arndt writing, [he] had previously been with Pixar doing Toy Story and won an Academy Award for Little Miss Sunshine. We have Larry Kasdan, who had worked on Empire and Jedi as a writer. And we have Simon Kinberg. And I think the team that we've assembled, everybody gets along so amazingly well. It's just, it's been fantastic.

Press Release, October 24, 2013:

As Episode VII continues pre-production, Lawrence Kasdan and director J.J. Abrams have assumed screenwriting duties for the film. Kasdan, who has been serving as a consultant on the film, is a veteran of several classic Lucasfilm productions, writing the screenplay for Raiders of the Lost Ark and serving as co-screenwriter for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Acclaimed director and screenwriter Abrams' credits include Super 8, Mission: Impossible III, Fringe, and Lost.

"I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and J.J. working on the script," states Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy. "There are very few people who fundamentally understand the way a Star Wars story works like Larry, and it is nothing short of incredible to have him even more deeply involved in its return to the big screen. J.J. of course is an incredible storyteller in his own right. Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point and we have an amazing filmmaking and design team in place already prepping for production."

Abrams comments on taking over the scripting duties, November 7, 2013:

It became clear that given the time frame and given the process and the way the thing was going that working with Larry in this way was going to get us where we need to be and when we needed to be. Working with Larry Kasdan, especially on a Star Wars movie is kind of unbeatable.

Working with Michael was a wonderful experience and I couldn't be a bigger fan of his or adore him more, He’s a wonderful guy and was incredibly helpful in the process. That doesn't preclude working with Michael again in the future. He is one of the best writers around.

Alan Horn, April 2, 2014:

Larry Kasdan co-wrote it with JJ Abrams and the early draft was done by a guy named Michael Arndt, who wrote Toy Story 3 and [undiscernable]--

Interview w/ Simon Kinberg, April 20, 2014:

Q: Now you also of course have the Star Wars spin-offs in development. I mean the assumption is that 'oh, it would be Boba Fett first.' Is that a character that you have a particular affinity for? Might be cool, or might it be cool to just sort of introduce an original story in this universe?

Kinberg: Um, well, I'm definitely not allowed to talk about the content of the Star Wars stuff. I can say I'm a ridiculously huge fan and I love Boba Fett and I love, you know, sort of honestly all of the characters in that world. So...for me, and I know that it was true for JJ, and Larry Kasdan obviously, and Kathy Kennedy, and Michael Arndt, it was all about like being sort of honoring the original movies and yet wanting to take a step forward too and tell a new story.

 

[slumcat]

The new press release skips any mention of Arndt at all and says the screenplay is written by Abrams and Kasdan.

That kinda proves that Ardnt's work was completely thrown out and the script was entirely re-written from scratch.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

"Written by Lawrence Kasdan & J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt"

 

[BatLobster]

If it turns out elements of Ardnt's draft survived, that means by extension some of Lucas' original treatment ideas survived.

I think between Ardnt getting a credit here and Pablo Hidalgo confirming that a lot of the history between ROTJ and TFA is based on notes from Lucas and Ardnt, we can safely put to bed any concerns the notion that Lucas' ideas were totally disregarded by JJ and Kasdan. I think certain things like the age of the characters, and maybe some of the focus of the characters got changed around but I'd bet a decent amount of Ardnt's original structure made it into the final picture.

I hope so anyway, as Michael is a great writer and he spent a lot of time laboring over this. There had to be some vital stuff he cracked in that time.

 

[Doctor Jones]

I was prepared if Ardnt didn't get a credit but I'm more pleasantly surprised he did get one. A part of me always thought he would. I think it's a WGA rule. I don't know if his stuff did survive, but the fact he wrote drafts of the script and was deeply involved in the story process from the beginning qualifies for a credit, even if most of his stuff isn't in the film. This happens all the time. I'm surprised he's credited after Abrams and Kasdan. The AND after them means he worked on the final shooting script for the film which isn't true. So that's where I'm confused. His name would be first.

 

[Octoberist]

I'm glad that he got credit.

 

[VM1138]

I was prepared if Ardnt didn't get a credit but I'm more pleasantly surprised he did get one. A part of me always thought he would. I think it's a WGA rule. I don't know if his stuff did survive, but the fact he wrote drafts of the script and was deeply involved in the story process from the beginning qualifies for a credit, even if most of his stuff isn't in the film. This happens all the time. I'm surprised he's credited after Abrams and Kasdan. The AND after them means he worked on the final shooting script for the film which isn't true. So that's where I'm confused. His name would be first.

Is that how it works? Wouldn't he go last if his contribution was least?

I imagine a lot of his character and universe-building remained. Last I heard the main disagreement was the role of the OT cast. They probably started a brand new script but kept his world building and characters.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Rumor has it that at one point "Jakku" was a snow planet and that's where the movie would start. Some of the unreleased concept art written about depicts this. One of Rey's code names was Snow Girl. And BB-8 was sometimes referred to as Snow Girl's pal.

 

[Doctor Jones]

I'm glad that he got credit.

I am too. Always glad to see a writer get proper credit and not shut out.

Is that how it works? Wouldn't he go last if his contribution was least?

I imagine a lot of his character and universe-building remained. Last I heard the main disagreement was the role of the OT cast. They probably started a brand new script but kept his world building and characters.

To my understanding, I always thought credited goes from the top to bottom in the order the writers contribute.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

I kind of figured he may have received a "story by" credit if not anything else.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

During an interview at D23, Abrams said his favorite Disney movie is Toy Story 3.



Also, Michael Arndt goes by the pseudonym Michael deBruyn when he feels that it's not his work.

ATW: Michael DeBruyn is your writing pseudonym. It’s like you’re a screenwriting super hero. Why the double identity?

A: I’ll begin by saying I spent 4 years writing Little Miss Sunshine and 3 years writing Toy Story 3. In both cases I was the first and last writer on the project. After I left Pixar, I started doing a lot of script polishing jobs. I worked on Catching Fire and Oblivion and they came back to me and said that I had done enough work that they would give me credit on them. It felt like in that case it wasn’t my original story and then there had been other screenwriters from the process before and afterwards. Spending a few weeks working on a script as a craftsman as opposed to 3 or 4 years as writer, they felt like different kinds of writing. It was something that should just be clarified in my own mind. I’m trying to help out someone else’s story. On the other hand, it’s more something that has my own voice in it.

http://thescriptlab.com/features/al...dt-talks-screenwriting-and-offers-some-advice

 

[BatLobster]

^ That's an interesting tidbit. Not entirely sure it applies here necessarily though, as this is so high profile. If "Michael DeBruyn" randomly showed up on the poster it would've raised all these red flags and I'm sure LFL wouldn't have wanted that.

But maybe it does mean he feels his voice is still in there.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Movie's out. Arndt can talk now:

https://twitter.com/Breznican/status/678391292812857345

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Michael Arndt talks about his early work on the script on what became Rey and the conundrum of the Luke Skywalker character:

www.ew.com/article/2015/12/20/jj-abrams-answers-burning-question-about-r2-d2-star-wars-force-awakens

Michael Arndt, who helped craft the story before Abrams and Kasdan penned the script, said Kylo Ren began merely as a way to separate the heroes we remember from the original trilogy.

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/21/jj-abrams-kylo-ren-shocking-act-star-wars-force-awakens

In the TFA art book,

Spoiler

there's a piece of art where "Kira" is holding a Lightsaber, with "Sam" behind and beside her with a gun, Kira is described by Michael Arndt as a "loner, hothead, gear-head, badass" and Sam is described as "pure charisma". In this particular piece, Kira looks just like Natalie Portman's Padmé Amidala. Sam is a long brown-haired white guy.

Well, I want to go back to the beginning, the earliest stages of this…So the decision is made to create new Star Wars films. And, Michael, you were there to break the story. You, Simon Kinberg, you went up to the Lucasfilm archives, right, and began thinking about this?

Michael Arndt: Yeah, it was I think May 2012, and I was just sort of doing nothing. I was back in New York and trying to figure out what I was going to do next. I just finished working on The Hunger Games, and I was like, “Okay, like no more big Hollywood franchises. I’m going to go back and do my own original stuff.” And then [Kathleen Kennedy] called me up and the initial thing was she wanted me to write VII, VIII, and IX together, and I said, “There’s no way I can do that because it’s just too crazy and daunting.” And then the story that she pitched me was she just said it’s an origin story of a female Jedi. And I was like, “I’m in. I can’t say no to that. I have to do it.” I went to the ranch and I met with George and we spent a lot of time talking about samurai movies basically. I passed that test, you know? I had spent five years at Pixar and became a big believer in writers helping each other out, so Kathy was just brilliant in having Larry come onboard, having Simon Kinberg come onboard, and have all of us get together and sit down and just start kicking around ideas about what we wanted Star Wars to be. So that was the beginning of it.

http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=6130