Is it May yet?
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George Lucas’ New Idea: Founding an Art Museum
Go ahead and get all of your “It belongs in a museum” jokes out now. George Lucas sat down with CBS this morning and talked about his idea to start up an art museum in San Francisco.
Crucible Gets New Blurb
Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo, and Luke Skywalker return in an all-new Star Wars adventure, which will challenge them in ways they never expected—and forever alter their understanding of life and the Force.
When Han and Leia Solo arrive at Lando Calrissian’s Outer Rim mining operation to help him thwart a hostile takeover, their aim is just to even up the odds and lay down the law. Then monstrous aliens arrive with a message, and mere threats escalate into violent sabotage with mass fatalities. When the dust settles, what began as corporate warfare becomes a battle with much higher stakes—and far deadlier consequences.
Now Han, Leia, and Luke team up once again in a quest to defeat a dangerous adversary bent on galaxy-wide domination. Only this time, the Empire is not the enemy. It is a pair of ruthless geniuses with a lethal ally and a lifelong vendetta against Han Solo. They will stop at nothing to control the lucrative Outer Rim mining trade—and ultimately the entire galactic economy. And when the murderous duo gets the drop on Han, he finds himself outgunned in the fight of his life. To save him, and the galaxy, Luke and Leia must brave a gauntlet of treachery, terrorism, and the untold power of an enigmatic artifact capable of bending space, time, and even the Force itself into an apocalyptic nightmare.
Crucible is due out on bookshelves on July 9.
Rumors: Episode VII focusing on Solo spawn, Disney wants Three Zahn Books
A grain of sodium chloride as seen through a microscope
And it’s time for the rumor mill to sputter to life one more time.
An insider with Nerdvana claims that the Sequel Trilogy will be focusing on a Solo child and grandchild, adding to other rumors and reports that the new films would place a premium on a younger generation of heroes rather than putting Han, Luke, and Leia back in the saddle.
The insider supposedly also had information covering the extent of J.J. Abrams involvement with Lucasfilm and Disney:
JJ’s contract has a clause for all three movies and an additional three of Lucas/Disney choosing if everyone melds well on the first one. This is typical of these types of contracts; gives everyone an out if needed.
So perhaps he’ll be around for more than just Episode VII. Stay tuned? On a final note, there was also a note about Timothy Zahn. If this insider is to be believed, Disney and Lucasfilm are keen on getting Zahn to pen three additional novels. Would these be film novelizations? I wouldn’t think so, but you never know.
Star Wars: 1313 In Limbo
At E3 last year, attendees were given a glimpse at the next AAA title LucasArts was working on. Titled Star Wars: 1313, the game was billed as an inter-trilogy action adventure that might be able to revive the struggling development studio. A cinematic trailer was shown and then … little was said about the project.
There’s no telling how much development had gone into the product beyond the pre-rendered video they had shown. Fans began to get concerned as the months after E3 passed without any additional word. One theory was that LucasArts was being quiet because the title was going to be a launch game on a Next Generation platform, but when Sony’s Playstation 4 press conference came and went without any additional word on the game’s status, Kotaku began to investigate. According to their sources, things are not looking good for 1313.
For weeks we’ve heard from multiple sources that the Disney purchase of LucasFilm (which includes LucasArts) has reoriented the company’s gaming division. The focus is on the new trilogy, not on material that is unrelated to the planned JJ Abrams-directed Star Wars: Episode VII. 1313‘s developers may still be fervently plugging away, for all we know. As LucasArts says, the game “continues production.” But it sounds from our sources like it’s not currently moving forward in any official capacity.
The game’s future is very much in doubt at this point. For more, read the entire article over at Kotaku.
Tim Curry Joins The Clone Wars Cast, Demands for Rocky Horror Mashup Increase
With the unfortunate passing of Ian Abercrombie last year, The Clone Wars has been in need of a new voice talent to play the role of Palpatine. It appears Lucasfilm has found the new voice to play him. Bryan Young over at the Huffington Post has the exclusive news that Tim Curry will be joining the cast.
I have been given the go ahead by Lucasfilm to reveal here exclusively that Tim Curry has joined the cast of Star Wars: The Clone Wars in the role of Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious. Tim Curry might be best known for his roles in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Clue, but he has been doing more than his fair share of excellent work over the last few decades and can now add “Future Emperor” to his resume.
While most people will be hoping for Rocky Horror references now that Curry is on board, I’m hoping for an episode that pays homage to another great film of his: Clue.
Her Universe Secures Expanded Universe Merchandising Rights from Lucasfilm
Under way right now is a chat on the Star Wars Books Facebook page with Her Universe founder and The Clone Wars voice actress Ashley Eckstein. You should go there and read answers to things and such! Early on there was an announcement that’s sure to catch the eyes of Her Universe and Expanded Universe fans. When asked about potential EU gear in the future, Ashely responded:
YES! We are designing Several NEW Star Wars designs this year. Everything will be debuting in May. We are making shirts, dresses, jewelry…We have Rogue Squadron designs AND I am SO excited to announce that Lucasfilm has given us the rights to design shirts for the women in the EU, so expect more Mara Jade and Jaina Solo designs!
Rogue Squadron material launching in May, licencing rights to the Expanded Universe. If you’re a Her Universe fan, you’re appear to be in for some real treats.
Tosche Station Radio #47: Too Corellian To Function
On this episode of Tosche Station Radio, the hosts are joined by Bria from the blog to discuss the lessons the new Star Wars films can learn from the Expanded Universe.
In a bit of housekeeping, we’ve got another sponsor for the blog and podcast! Listeners of this podcast can get a free audio book from Audible.com when they sign up for a free trial subscription.
Kicking off the show, Nanci highlights what’s New on the Blog. The Waru Express stopped at The Thrawn Trilogy and Bria got to enjoy some of the EU’s better novels. Cosplay Monday featured an Adorable Airbender family. Finally, Bria reviewed The Last Jedi by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bonhoff. In other words, Bria’s been manning the blog over the last week.
In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci’s been busy writing and visiting the new Fantasyland at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Both the hosts caught up on The Clone Wars, so stay tuned for our Season 5 retrospective! Brian’s been gearing up for the start of a couple sport seasons, so he neglected to pay attention to his nerdier pursuits. Bria, on the other hand, revisited an old favorite novel and marathoned Season 2 of Game of Thrones.
Deak’s Dirt this week starts with an Oscars recap. Did any genre fiction fare well? Eh. Kinda. Star Trek Into Darkness is bringing back some old enemies. The Leia novel and Kenobi get new release dates – October 29 and August 27, respectively. The Last Jedi is released, should you go pick up a copy? In the Episode VII rumor department: Simon Pegg and Alfonso Cuarón may be involved? Are the writings looking to draw from the Original Trilogy’s tone and themes?
This week in Fixer’s Flash, the hosts and Bria take a look at the Expanded Universe and wonder what kind of lessons the new Star Wars films can take away from the novels. Are there things worth saving? Ignoring? Fixing? While some might want the EU to be ignored completely or preserved entirely, there are elements worth saving and chucking.
Wrapping up the show, the hosts field questions in the Ask Us Anything segment.
Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of Majestic Giraffe Productions. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.
Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.
This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.
Rumors: Cuaron, Pegg, and Matching the Original Trilogy Tone
Grain of salt, etc.
MarketSaw’s insider sources claim that Alfonso Cuaron (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Children of Men) and Simon Pegg are being courted for roles for the sequel trilogy. MarketSaw has had a decent track record reporting details of both Avatar and The Hobbit, so allow that to influence what you think of this rumor if you like.
Cuaron could make some sense as a director for one of the films, but Pegg’s role would be more uncertain. Perhaps he’s being considered for a role of some sort in the Abrams-directed Episode VII, but given that the screenplay isn’t even finished yet, it’ll be some time before we know whether or not he’s actually involved. That said, Pegg is a uniquely talented actor that would offer a lot to any film.
Edit: Pegg responds
No idea where this silly rumour about me attached to the new Star Wars film came from but I can confirm that it’s absolute Bantha poodoo.
— Simon Pegg (@simonpegg) February 26, 2013
So much for that. Also of note from the MarketSaw post:
The focus is on the original trilogy in regards of reverence and tone. Remember I told you before that the tone was important, well I believe they are really taking that seriously. From everything I know, they’re focusing on that directly. Remember everything has the ability to change drastically, as Star Wars right now apart from the twin trilogies is a huge blank canvas. However, the trilogies ongoing narrative will continue to focus on that particular branch, whereas the stand alone movies, will fill and expand the voids in between in multiple timelines, and have potential to then be franchised themselves in regards to the worlds they open up.
That certainly would be in line with what Mark Hamill is hoping for. A return to the more hopeful tones of the Original Trilogy and a step away from the fatalism of the Prequel Trilogy.
And again, grain of salt, exercise caution.
Housekeeping: Advertising on the Blog and Podcast
If you’ve taken a look over at the sidebar on the right or listened to the last episode of the podcast, you’re probably aware that we’re running with advertisements now. Specifically, we’re running Her Universe and Audible.com advertisements.
I’ve been hesitant to run with advertising on the blog/podcast for all sorts of philosophical reasons, but the reality is I could use a bit of help financially to cover the costs of webhosting and keeping the lights on here. Thankfully we can be picky with the ads we run, so we decided to chose these two programs because the products offered are pretty cool. Chances are you already know about Her Universe‘s line of geek-inspired wardrobe and jewelry aimed at female fans. Audible is an Amazon.com affiliate that sells digital audiobooks.
In the interest of full disclosure, here’s the breakdown of what we’re getting with these ads:
- Her Universe: 10% of each sale (before tax/shipping) that originates from an ad on this site.
- Audible.com: $10 for each free trial subscription, $25 for each paid subscription, 10% per single download.
As for what we’d be using this advertising money for, primarily it’s going to go to paying for our webhosting and domain registration costs. Occasionally we might use some of it to get some material (books, comics, movies) for the staff to review. Honest, we won’t be squandering this on the quarter slot machines in Vegas.
For reference, every 18 free Audible trial subscriptions that originate from the blog/podcast will pay for one year of webhosting for the blog. /ShamelessPlug
If you’ve got any questions or feedback (even if it’s that you don’t want to see us run advertising), feel free to leave a comment here in the post.