Star Wars Episode 7 News

Monday, May 19, 2014

Rumor: Drew Struzan Might Be Returning to Star Wars: Episode 7 After All!

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Drew Struzan made some of the most iconic film posters of our time. He has made many memorable posters for movies like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Back To The Future, Blade Runner, Harry Potter and many more. Although now officially retired, there were some rumors from last year that Drew has been asked to do the posters for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode 7. Later he denied the rumors. Now I new report suggests that the legendary artist might return to the galaxy far far away after all...



Here's the scoop from the guys from SchmoesKnow:
We here at Schmoes Know have learned from a close source to Drew himself that none other than JJ Abrams has contacted him to come OUT OF RETIREMENT to do the poster art for Star Wars Episode VII. Not only will this tie in the fan base and magic of the original trilogy, but it will connect the new saga to the original feelings we all have based in part from the wonderful posters we all know and love. And Drew has agreed to return!

I’m told this is a done deal and something Drew is interested in doing, even though as I mentioned, he’s “technically” retired. We’re hearing an announcement will be made very soon.

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Drew Struzan returning to Star Wars is yet another great move by Abrams. If you read Struzan's previous interviews (above in gold) you can definitely sense that although retired if asked he would gladly return to the galaxy far far away. I really hope this is true and I can definitely see it happening.






67 comments:

  1. It's all falling into place. I truly hope that this is not another Kingdom of the Crystal Skull situation. They tried to recreate the magic but failed on an almost monumental scale.

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    1. Primarily because the general storyboard was left to Lucas to develope. That should not be a problem now that trusted fans and OT veterans are in the positions of leadership.

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    2. I feel the same way! This could be so cool, and yet... so could Crystal Skull have been.

      I think the script is the key to the whole thing. Had they kept Darabont's original screenplay for Crystal Skull, I think it would have come out a lot different and much better than the utter shambles that the Lucas rewrite turned into.

      If the story and screenplay are really good for Episode VII, I think it'll all come out okay. Here's hoping!

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    3. I think with the reaction the world had towards Crystal Skull, Kathleen Kennedy and the others that worked with Lucas on Indy 4 have learned their lesson...
      At least I truly hope so.

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    4. If Lucas directs he gets bashed. If Lucas doesn't direct and just writes the script he gets bashed. How about blaming Spielberg for the shoddy directing job in Crystal Scull? No? Or, how about the fact that Harrison Ford was over 70 and the story made no sense from the very start?

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    5. i enjoyed KOTCS. it's not as good as Raiders, but i see it as an equal to the other two sequels.

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    6. No way, it only had maybe ten good minutes hole movie.

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  2. If this is true, perhaps that announcement could come paired with some EpVII artwork as well?

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  3. I'm probably going to catch some heat for this but I don't like the Struzan art work. The OT posters personify SW...especially episode iv (before it was called episode iv). The Hildebrandt poster IMHO was part of what made the original trilogy so great. The Struzan posters seem like glorified photoshop to me.

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    1. Now that'd be a real retrospect to the OT with EpVII!

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    2. For clarification - I meant the Tom Jung Poster- Style A. Sorry for the confusion. Regardless, I prefer the original OT posters compared to the Struzan posters.

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    3. I apologize because I know I'm the ultimate contrarian... I agree that the Jung poster is superior to the Struzan, the new hope poster is more intriguing. Buuuuut I think Struzan captures that "feel" or "spirit" or whatever you would call it of Star Wars in general... there is something about walking up to the theater and seeing the Struzen poster with all the character's faces up close that gives me the goosebumps... be it potter/Indy/starwars... there is a certain vibrancy to the images because of his painting technique. I'm all for more Sturzan posters.

      Though I agree... glorified photoshop but his technique is pretty decent as a painter... I'm a classically trained oil painter myself so quite different as I think his is are water color/gauche... it is impressive.

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    4. And just to clarify I think it's the branding that I like. I'm a PC dude but I could see why Mac users getting excited whenever they see that Apple logo, it's very simple and elegant. I'd imagine it's the same feeling I get when seeing those Star Wars posters when walking up to the theater. Hell, I even made my own Struzan-esque posters in highschool haha.

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    5. I look at the Struzan Posters and they make me think of the particularly bad star wars toys in the 90s and VHS boxes. To me, they represent how Lucas went wrong with SW, solo shooting second, and so on. Its interesting to hear some of you talking about goosebumps when they see them in the theatre. PT notwithstanding, they just make me think of rereleases and second wave marketing. Sound like I may be a little older than you guys...lol

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    6. I can see that, I'm a bit on the older side too (I was 6 when return of the Jedi came out) But I didn't get to see the OT in the theater, so I don't have a frame of reference (never saw the old posters really aside from looking at them in my Star Wars art books).

      Ultimately the Jung poster to me is very telling of the time period, like as in I wouldn't be able to distinguish the Jung from other painters of the era... Boris Vallejo comes to mind. When you see the Struzan posters you can tell it's a Struzan, there really is no mistaking it. But I know that alone doesn't make it good, as there is no mistaking a Thomas Kinkade haha.

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    7. I totally agree with the comment about it representing the 2nd wave of marketing. The Struzan posters for Star Wars looked SO generic and frankly boring. The original Tom Chantrell poster for the Star Wars ('77) is the 'classic' poster but by far my favourite was the wonderful poster for done for Empire done by Roger Kastel.

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    8. I'm not a big fan of Struzan. He's a great painter but I think his posters are a bit dull. I loved the Prequel teaser posters, but the theatrical posters did nothing for me. Like a poster above mentioned, they bring up memories of foil-stickered POTF2 figures, crappy "high-end' collectibles being hawked in Star Wars Insider magazines, and the other deluge of mediocre Star Wars far we got in the 90's.

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    9. This conversation is going *way* over my head. Who is responsible for the OT posters if it wasn't Struzan? If the ones shown above aren't the originals, where can I see them?

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    10. Google Star Wars style A for the jung poster and then just google the episode names for the OT and you should be able to find them.

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    11. I'll concede Chantrel was the best... not a big fan of the Jung... too similar to Boris Vallejo who they should have used in the first place if they wanted to "sexify" episode IV (He did national lampoon Euro vaca cover). I just never had seen the Chantrel cover... Jedi never had a good poster in either era... the old one sucks compositionaly (very distracting seeing Luke's light saber go up to the left and out of the picture frame, maybe it was cropped?)

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    12. Thanks. I take it then that the OT had more than one poster artist? Was Jung the original or did each of the OTs have a different artist?

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    13. Different artist I believe for each OT movie and each movie had more than 1 poster.

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    14. Jung did IV, Chantrel did V, VI was Kazu Sano? I don't know why they ditched Chantrel because he was the best of the 4 artists.

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  4. of course he's returning - who would turn down a million dollars?

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  5. If it's true, probably this will be the best news from Episode VII by far, even better than the film itself, Lawrence kasdan, the original cast, and so on....
    How many pieces of art do you see in actual posters? none

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  6. Please not! Struzan is SO overrated.

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    1. Overrated? LOL
      Tell me which kind of posters do you like man...
      Word overrated is overrated lol

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  7. Wow. Great artist in his own right of course but it's so cool knowing the original artist is back. I'm 100% looking forward to putting up that official Ep VII poster if it's done by the same king Drew Struzan.

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  8. You can see the appeal to JJ. Drew does a lot of lens flares ;) But in all seriousness, brilliant news if true. I just found a Drew styled poster of Star Trek Into Darkness.
    http://static.squarespace.com/static/50710c28c4aa65eb3b63d154/t/51901bbfe4b065f56494d2af/1368398785869/StarTrek_INTODARKNESS_illo_FIN1_S_e.jpg
    Much more classic and awesome than the lame official one
    http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/Star-Trek-Into-Darkness-Teaser-and-Theatrical-Posters-John-Harrison.jpg

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    1. Haha I like that one better than the real cover for Into Darkness... though the Star Trek covers leave something to be desired anyway.

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    2. I agree. Loved the Drew styled version.

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    3. Yes Aras,

      EVERYTHING about Star Trek Into Darkness left something to be desired.

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  9. They might as well rehire this guy... They're bringing back all the other old fossils.

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    1. old ? go back and continue your worthless education from Jersey Shore and the Kardashians....... the OT trilogy will always be the best no matter how old it iz.

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    2. they've aged like fine wines. Leave your closed-minded ageist cynicism to yourself thanks

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  10. I, for one, am not a big fan of collage-style posters—especially not collage-of-faces—but hey, it's just a poster. I'm glad that other people are excited about this.

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  11. Great news! Can't wait to see the Episode VII poster w/ title, it's going to be awesome to see Jedi Master Skywalker and Adam Driver in Mandalorian Armor. Oops wrong topic! ;)

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  12. I wonder how many faces will make the cut? I imagine Drew's poster will be quite crowded... ;P

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  13. I accidentally ran across this on google:

    http://geektyrant.com/news/2013/3/24/fantastic-drew-struzan-style-poster-for-star-wars-episode-vi.html

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  14. My newest theory: Disney forgot it's the year 2014. They think they're still in 1983, hence all the catering to the OT. When they cast Meyhew as Chewbacca and the guy can hardly stand, you know things are wrong.

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    1. "I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere."

      'nuff said. Plus Peter will probably only be doing the head shot scenes.

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    2. It's a shame we had to begin the new Millennium with that abomination. I sure hope Disney learned from Episode II.

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  15. Yeah great news !! man is a true artist . All the other star wars poaters are amazing with so many other movie posters.

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  16. Pff those Struzan original trilogy posters aren't that good. The original posters for ESB and ROTJ are much better.

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  17. Never was a Struzan fan that much.

    Much more a Tom Jung type of guy. Original design, instead of just copying head shots.

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  18. Just PLEASE do something more imaginative than simple floating heads and lens flares.

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    1. um what do you want exactly? No lens flares and the heads be upside down??

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    2. Start with no nonsense responses.

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    3. Try starting with no nonsense original posts then

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  19. Indiana Jones 4 Poster: Crap
    Star Wars EP2 and 3 Posters: Crap
    Harry Potter Posters: Crap
    Star Wars Special Edition Posters: Crap

    Struzan was good back in the 80ies, but his later work sucks. One Poster looks like the other, it's always the same.

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    1. Gotta agree with this (unfortunately). Loved his work on the Back to the Future posters. But his stuff lately has been very......meh.

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    2. Can you do better ? I don't think so and there not crap.

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    3. Do you like Justin Beiber? Can you do better? Whether we can 'do better' is totally beside the point.

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    4. I wasn't talking about "Justin Beiber" was i ? I see you're trying to make a point with that comment but how you're trying to do it doesn't work. No i don't like Justin Beiber but thats because of what kind of person he is and not his vocal talent. No i can't sing better than him but i'm also not the person saying he's "crap", you're saying someones artwork that is legitimately good is "crap". So i would like to see you do better instead of criticizing it




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  20. Bar NONE -- Drew Struzan is the best movie poster artist ever! His loss, although not quite the level of say John Williams or Ben Burtt, would be huge nonetheless. So for JJ to ask him to come back and for him to agree is another boon for us fans!

    Kudos JJ! (if true)

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  21. Jedi Master Marwa AzabMay 20, 2014 at 12:14 PM

    Love these posters so much.
    SIDE QUESTION:
    Do you guys think there will be Episodes X, XI & XII someday? Or will we only get the 3 spinoffs and the sequel trilogy?

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    1. I foresee, not only X-XII, but episodic Star Wars movies 'til Kingdom Come, with periodic breaks in between.

      I hope I'm still alive to see Episode XXV! ;P

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  22. There will be Star Wars films from now until the end of time if Disney have a say. The cash cow still needs a whole load of milking...

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    1. Don't worry. Plenty of teats on this beast.

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  23. Master Kylder MarinMay 20, 2014 at 1:52 PM

    Realistically speaking though, won't people get tired of Star Wars movies eventually? I wouldn't, but I'm referring to the general population.

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    1. Are people starting to get tired of superhero movies yet?

      I think as long as the new movies give us what we want, periodically do something new and don't give us too much at once, Star Wars will do well for a long time.

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  24. Honestly, I can take or leave Struzan's posters. To me, they've always just looked like generic commercial art projects - a collage of photo-realistic copies of head shots and production stills. He's very good at what he does, no question about it. But I've always felt that his posters all sort of look the same.

    I've always very much preferred the original posters for the OT films. Each had a very distinctive look and style, and to me they were a lot more memorable than the posters that Struzan did for them later on.

    (Your mileage may vary...)

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  25. I've skimmed by that documentary on Netflix so many times not realising what it was. Guess I'll be watching it right away.

    His artwork is amazing!

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  26. Star Wars movies will be around until they are irrelevent, or the franchise is ruined. Time will cause one of those.

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