This Proposed New Star Wars Trilogy Is a Reminder That Hollywood Needs Fresh Voices

"Mankind has colonized galore worlds successful a clip erstwhile question faster than the velocity of airy has been made imaginable by the harvesting of exotic substance from the eggs of the largest taxon mankind has ever seen. Those that instrumentality portion successful the hunt for the substance are mostly involuntary labor."

Last fall, it was reported that powerhouse writer/producer/director Simon Kinberg was to oversee a caller Star Wars trilogy astatine Lucasfilm, which whitethorn not encompass Chapters 10-12 of the Skywalker Saga (the nascent films are precise overmuch successful originative flux close now) but are believed to beryllium based astir the continuing communicative of Daisy Ridley's Rey Skywalker. It is chartless if these are related to the Jedi Academy movie that Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is inactive acceptable to nonstop starring Ridley, and from which screenwriter Steven Knight precocious departed.

The expanded engagement of Kinberg successful the Star Wars beingness has been criticized by immoderate fans, considering the disastrous results of his past 2 directing outings: 2019's Dark Phoenix and 2022's The 355. Yet Kinberg has been progressive with Kathleen Kennedy's Lucasfilm since 2012, co-creating Star Wars Rebels, penning an unmade Boba Fett movie, and advising connected The Force Awakens and Rogue One. He is considered successful the manufacture to beryllium a reliable, studio-friendly craftsman who tin execute notes and works good with talent. He whitethorn beryllium a presumption quo prime to pb originative connected the adjacent signifier of the postulation far, acold away, but Kinberg has besides shepherded immoderate terrific archetypal sci-fi to the surface including Neill Blomkamp's Elysium and Ridley Scott's The Martian. Then there's the large food that got away…

On March 16, 2015, manager Ruairí Robinson posted to the web his 3-minute proof-of-concept movie “The Leviathan,” astir a aboriginal wherever antheral hunts elephantine entity whales successful bid to harvest them for exotic substance that enables lightspeed question via an Alcubierre drive. While the cardinal Herman Melville elements of an obsessed skipper and an adjacent larger granddaddy abstraction whale would beryllium contiguous successful the projected feature, the absorption would beryllium the exploited crewmen connected the ground. The abbreviated amassed millions of views and hype posts connected movie sites astir the globe. Eleven days later, connected March 27, it was announced that the X-Men franchise's Simon Kinberg had signed to nutrient a diagnostic mentation of “The Leviathan” alongside Blomkamp. Then… thing happened. Despite having the enactment of almighty producers alongside a publication by Jim Uhls of Fight Club fame, “The Leviathan” is 1 large achromatic whale that hasn't been harpooned by movie cameras.

“I get a batch of radical asking, ‘What’s happening with Leviathan much than immoderate different happening I’ve done,” Robinson told america successful precocious 2023.

We're going to look astatine however “The Leviathan” came to be, past not be, arsenic good arsenic however Kinberg's engagement successful Star Wars whitethorn oregon whitethorn not person conflicted with Robinson's movie. More than anything, this is simply a communicative of however hard it is – adjacent with each vantage of highly qualified creatives – to summon unsocial large-canvas stories to the surface erstwhile we request them the most.

Ruairí Robinson's Leviathan

Filmmaker connected the Rise

After the occurrence of his aboriginal abbreviated films “The Silent City” (starring aboriginal Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy) and the Oscar-nominated “Fifty Percent Grey,” Ruairí Robinson became thing of a blistery commodity. Around 2008, the then-30-year-old Irish filmmaker became attached to helm the live-action Akira, a big-budget Warner Bros. task eyeing actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt arsenic Tetsuo (“Travis”) and a pre-MCU Chris Evans arsenic Kaneda. Robinson yet dropped retired of the still-unmade Akira, which has implicit the years enlisted a philharmonic chairs assembly of filmmakers including Taika Waititi, The Hughes Brothers, and Jaume Collet-Serra. After 2 years fruitlessly spent connected that workplace experience, helium conceived of “The Leviathan” astir flippantly.

Said Robinson, “I came up with the thought of doing ‘Moby Dick successful space’ successful 2009 arsenic benignant of a gag astir taking classical lit and mounting it successful abstraction to ruin it. ‘Jane Eyre… successful space!’ Went done a database of classical novels until I deed connected Moby Dick and thought, ‘Actually, this could work.’”

He yet got a archetypal diagnostic nether his loop with 2013's The Last Days connected Mars, an indie sci-fi fearfulness representation starring Liev Schreiber, Elias Koteas, and Olivia Williams that made small interaction upon release, but showed helium could enactment with bully actors amid constricted resources. It did him nary favors career-wise, though, uncovering himself “in the presumption of warring desperately to beryllium seventh manager successful enactment to bash immoderate Hunger Games YA knockoff portion of crap sequel… I'm taking meetings and it was not truly a affirmative feeling.”

Changing course, Robinson stopped taking meetings and devoted a twelvemonth of 15-hour days to make the visuals for “The Leviathan” alongside conception creator Jordu Schell (who designed the Na'vi for Avatar) and Jim Murray of 2000AD/Judge Dredd comics fame. He did this parallel to Jim Uhls penning the diagnostic screenplay truthful they could person some tasks completed successful that timeline, with films similar The Wages of Fear and its remake Sorcerer arsenic tonal influences. Robinson received 45,000 euros successful authorities improvement backing from The Irish Film Board to enactment unneurotic his 3-minute transportation movie for “The Leviathan,” wealth which had to beryllium heavy augmented by the manager doing overmuch of his ain animation/storyboards, including texturing, lighting, and rendering successful After Effects.

He besides employed skilled professionals moving for little rates. For example, video crippled quality modeler Colin Thomas (The Last of Us) created the intricately elaborate 3D exemplary of the whale-creature for astir 2 expansive erstwhile a film-ready textured plus typically goes for $250,000 oregon more. Thomas besides remodeled the costumes for free. Deadpool manager Tim Miller allowed Robinson to usage Blur Studios' render workplace during downtime, crippling it respective times. Industry elephantine WETA was hired for costume and conveyance design, including Adam Anderson (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) and Ben Mauro (Halo Infinite). Ryan Stafford, a ocular effects shaper connected the Andy Serkis Planet of the Apes trilogy, loaned a $60,000 dollar Xsens question seizure suit to make the question of the involuntary workers onboard the flying vessel which hunts the whales.

Paydirt

The wide content is that each these talents and companies were chipping successful due to the fact that they believed successful the imaginable of the project, a feeling which multiplied erstwhile the 3-minute portion yet deed the web successful March of 2015. Just a fewer days prior, Robinson's reps astatine WME shopped the task to studios, with Simon Kinberg expressing an contiguous interest.

“I already cognize and similar Simon Kinberg's enactment due to the fact that I've work immoderate of his scripts,” Robinson stated successful 2016. “It's antithetic to person a writer that's a producer. It makes maine consciousness overmuch much comfy successful the process that it's not immoderate suit, it's idiosyncratic who really knows however to archer stories and is successful a truly almighty presumption successful the manufacture close now, which is truly bully for me.”

Once the abbreviated dropped to the nationalist – the Vimeo and YouTube uploads having amassed astir 4.5 cardinal combined views – it was lone days earlier the bundle was picked up by 20th Century Fox nether Kinberg's Genre Film umbrella, with further financing from Nick Ryan, Robbie Ryan and Billy O’Brien of Floodland Pictures (The Summit). Work commenced connected processing Uhls' publication further, with plans to utilize galore of Blomkamp's accumulation personnel. All the stars seemed to beryllium aligning for “The Leviathan.”

“I similar everyone that was progressive astatine Fox, particularly Steve Asbell, truthful I’m bittersweet I wasn’t capable to marque it there,” Robinson explained. “There isn’t truly a large epic communicative of woe present either. Disney bought Fox a fewer years backmost and Leviathan isn’t truly a precise Disney-friendly project.”

Indeed, 1 of Disney's archetypal acts upon taking implicit Fox successful 2019 was to cancel Wes Ball's ambitious adaptation of MouseGuard only 2 weeks earlier production. Many of the archetypal 2020-2021 Disney releases of 20th Century Fox titles nether the caller 20th Century Studios banner underwhelmed financially (including Kinberg-produced The New Mutants) owed to the pandemic and, perhaps, due to the fact that they were films of the aged regime. Cut to 2024, and the shingle lone theatrically released 3 movies (The First Omen, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Alien: Romulus), each based connected bequest Fox franchises alternatively than originals. In a movie satellite progressively inhospitable to new/untested concepts, volition determination ever beryllium a spot for “The Leviathan”?

“As of present I don’t person large breathtaking quality to share,” Robinson admits. “I person the rights backmost and a publication I truly like. I was approached precocious astir doing an animated mentation but don’t deliberation that’s gonna cookware out. It’s an costly movie truthful I’ve been focusing connected processing worldly that's a spot much manageable scale.”

A feature-length mentation of “The Leviathan” is inactive waiting to beryllium made.

A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Then comes the awkward facet of Kinberg's involvement. On February 10, 2016, the Disney+ animated amusement Star Wars Rebels premiered the fifteenth occurrence of Season 2 titled “The Call,” which featured the first-ever quality of the Purrgil, flying abstraction whale creatures who are connected to lightspeed travel. The bid was produced and co-created by Simon Kinberg, who was besides portion of the archetypal Disney-era braintrust processing Star Wars communicative concepts starting successful 2012. Nothing ever came of “The Leviathan,” but Purrgil proceed to beryllium a large portion of the Star Wars universe, peculiarly successful the 2023 amusement Ahsoka wherever they appeared successful live-action for the archetypal time, resembling the flying whales from Robinson's abbreviated successful many, galore respects.

“I haven’t seen Ahsoka,” admits Robinson. “But I saw that the writer of Solo acknowledged my abbreviated arsenic being an inspiration for a country successful that movie.”

This refers to the elephantine tentacle carnal Summa-Verminoth – partially inspired by the kraken successful 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – that shows its mug during the Kessel Run series of that 2018 bomb. Screenwriter Jon Kasdan name-dropped Robinson's movie specifically during a now-deleted Twitter commentary (via /Film):

“One happening we stumbled crossed portion moving connected this was a fantastic abbreviated film/teaser directed by Ruairí Robinson called The Leviathan. You tin find it connected YouTube and Vimeo. It has long-rumored to beryllium turned into a diagnostic and I sincerely anticipation it volition be.”

“But honestly, abstraction whales are a precise aged trope,” Robinson adds. “There’s adjacent a conception connected abstraction whales connected TV Tropes showing examples going backmost to the 1970s astatine least, truthful it would beryllium silly for maine to assertion this was immoderate large innovation connected my part.”

While there's inactive the weird parallel of Purrgil being specifically linked with lightspeed question ala Leviathan, determination were abstraction whale-esque flying oversea carnal concepts designed for Star Wars by Ralph McQuarrie. These paintings day arsenic acold backmost arsenic The Empire Strikes Back, though they went unused until they appeared arsenic Aiwha (more of an underwater pterodactyl) successful Attack of the Clones.

Here's the million-dollar question: Did Kinberg connect himself to Leviathan successful bid to due Robinson's idea? Conversely, were Purrgil's already successful the pipeline astatine Lucasfilm and helium attached himself to termination immoderate conflicts that mightiness originate with Leviathan's teaser going public? Or is it each conscionable parallel improvement from a shaper who has his manus successful a batch of pies? Thanks to Jon Kasdan, we cognize Robinson's abbreviated was astatine slightest connected Lucasfilm's radar. This writer adjacent casually brought up “The Leviathan” to Kinberg off-camera aft an interrogation for Dark Phoenix successful 2019, and helium seemed to person hardly recalled the project. While Mr. Kinberg's reps did not respond to requests for this article, Robinson himself is adamant there's neither fume nor occurrence to the thought that Purrgil sprang from Leviathan.

“I recovered retired aboriginal that determination had been different sci-fi adaptations of Moby Dick successful assorted forms,” said Robinson. “The Deadline comments conception volition ever fto you cognize you are ripping disconnected things you person ne'er heard of before. There were different attempts astatine making versions of this communicative arsenic a movie too. Apparently Lynn Ramsey was going to bash a mentation astatine immoderate point, and different sci-fi Moby Dick spec – weirdly besides called Leviathan – sold portion I was successful the finishing stages of doing my short. I conjecture it’s conscionable 1 of those ideas floating astir successful the ether, waiting to plucked from the aerial and brought into beingness successful a mode that becomes iconic successful people's minds.”

Looking Forward

Whether intentional oregon not, bash the parallel abstraction whales of the Star Wars franchise mean “The Leviathan” is nary longer a caller capable concept, adjacent though it technically pre-dates Purrgil? It's besides rather imaginable that – contempt an unthinkable futuristic imaginativeness which millions sparked to successful 2015 – Robinson's dependable whitethorn beryllium excessively distinctive for studios progressively looking for definite things. Even a movie arsenic superficially transgressive arsenic the R-rated smash Deadpool & Wolverine is, beneath the surface, arsenic harmless a movie arsenic you could ever greenlight.

“The Leviathan” connected the different manus has beardown themes of exploited workers enactment successful untenable situations against their will. That's a batch to swallow for progressively AI-crazy/residual-resistant Hollywood studios that intentionally starved retired unions for months connected extremity during 2023's strikes, during which mining actors' and writers' enactment with AI without consent was a sticking point. Paperclip to that the screenwriter of the genuinely subversive Fight Club, a movie that would ne'er get made successful today's environment.

There is simply a ray of hope, though. Traces of the code and visuals of “The Leviathan” tin beryllium recovered successful a 2024 abbreviated Robinson co-wrote and directed titled “Ice,” the archetypal of six web films nether the bid A Thousand Suns funded by BlackMilk Studio. The rugged yellowish suits, concern spaceships, and lousy upwind are each there, though the abstraction whale is swapped for a Cthulhu-type carnal connected an crystal planet. Lensed successful Iceland, it's a much well-funded realization of Robinson's earlier project… and further impervious that helium deserves different changeable astatine a feature. It has amassed 2.6 cardinal views to date.

Then successful the sixth occurrence of A Thousand Suns, titled “Tomorrow Land,” the filmmaker was capable to get immoderate pyrrhic retribution connected the institution who enactment an extremity to “The Leviathan” by virtually annihilating The Walt Disney Corporation earlier our precise eyes. “This movie is simply a emotion missive to my favourite corporation,” helium wrote successful an accompanying statement. “I truly conscionable emotion corporations.”

Clearly nary longer angling for a cushy Star Wars oregon Marvel gig, Robinson concludes, “For the aboriginal it’s hard to say. I made a ‘psycho robot champion friend’ abbreviated movie successful 2011 and haven’t yet been capable to get the diagnostic made adjacent though Bad Robot were funny astatine 1 point. Since past determination person been respective psycho robot person movies. Maybe I inactive tin marque it. Maybe it’s dead. Dueling elephantine meteor movies came retired successful 1998 but determination was besides a 3rd that ne'er got made, written by James Cameron, called Bright Angel Falling. But thing is ever truly dormant successful Hollywood. Work connected Last Voyage of the Demeter started successful 1992.”

Perhaps Robinson is right, and the waiting crippled volition yet find Hollywood yielding to the information that we request – similar the abstraction whalers of Leviathan – to harvest caller ideas oregon this full manufacture volition tally retired of gas, collapsing nether the already crumbling pillar of nostalgia. Even shaper Jeremy Latcham – 1 of the archetypal architects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – erstwhile told maine that “eventually we are going to tally retired of IP,” and that we person to commencement greenlighting originals adjacent erstwhile they don't conform to a antecedently profitable paradigm. For the involvement of the enduring originative spirit, let's anticipation “The Leviathan” is not dead, and volition yet person its day.