Category Archives: Sequel Trilogy

Rumor: Star Wars actors to make appearance at D23 Expo

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According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Disney insiders, there may be some familiar faces making an appearance at the D23 Expo this year:

The bi-annual event, taking place Aug. 9-11 at the Anaheim Convention Center, will feature a strong Star Wars presence, with Disney planning events like Darth Vader: The Evolution of a Villain, showing the development of the villain, to Crash Course in the Fourse: Star Wars Saga 101.

Insiders say some Star Wars actors may be making appearances during the D23 Expo, confirming their participation in the J.J. Abrams-directed sequel trilogy — which is expected to hit theaters in 2015. (Filming is expected to begin in early 2014 in the U.K.)

Confirming their participation in the Sequel Trilogy? Possible, if it isn’t confirmed first at Celebration Europe.

The Golden Age of Star Wars

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golden age

Standing next to Tim Zahn, holding my two copies of Heir to the Empire, has blinded me.

It’s no secret that the Tosche Station staff holds the Expanded Universe close to our hearts. We may disagree on our favorite eras and characters and series, but we all agree that the EU helped develop and cultivate our love of the Star Wars saga as a whole. For me, it was Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy. For Brian, it was the X-Wing series. For Bria, it was the Young Jedi Knights. Without the EU, none of us would be here today, running a Star Wars-centric blog and podcast.

But it’s never all happy-go-lucky in the world of fandom. Lately, with all the rumors swirling around about the Sequel Trilogy, some fans have become jaded (pardon the pun). They despise the idea that the EU as we know it will cease to exist canonically, and feel betrayed by Lucasfilm after all these years. They mourn the “death” of the EU.

We’ve already written about why that’s not necessarily true, and why it’s possible that some EU elements will remain in the Sequel Trilogy. We’ve also discussed why canon vs. non-canon shouldn’t matter in the long run. The books will always exist on my bookshelf and e-reader, no matter what Leland Chee calls them.

That’s not the point of this blog post. Even though I think those fans are misguided–more Star Wars is always a good thing, right? Right?–I understand why some fans feel betrayed. To them, the EU is Star Wars, and ending the EU ends their enthusiasm.

For a long time, the EU was my Star Wars, too.

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More Episode VII News and Rumors

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Star_Wars_logoThis weekend brought us more in the way of Episode VII news and rumors so here are a few pieces of news you might’ve missed.

First, Episode VII has a costume designer and it is not Trisha Biggar who worked on the Prequel Trilogy.  (Farewell gorgeous and elaborate dresses!)  Michael Kaplan confirmed with Clothes On Film that he will be the costume designer for Episode VII.  Kaplan has previously worked with JJ Abrams, mostly recently for Star Trek: Into Darkness, and is considered to be a regular collaborator with the director.

Next, we turn to the land of rumors.  According to Latino Review, actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors) is supposedly in the running for a part in Episode VII.  The report does not specify what staring role Rhys Meyers could be up for and only that he is supposedly in talks.  Rhys Meyers is best known for playing Henry VIII on Showtime’s The Tudors and will be in the forthcoming Dracula show this fall.  As with all rumors, we’d like to remind you that this is not confirmed and should not be treated as fact.
(via Club Jade)

Finally, although Kathleen Kennedy has said that Episode VII won’t be surrounded with the same sort of secrecy that Star Trek: Into Darkness was, producer Bryan Burk’s comments in an interview with /Film indicate that there still might be a fair amount of secrecy:

I guess what I’m saying is it’s always that balance. It’s a hard thing. If I were to right now tell you all of the things that were going to happen in Star Wars in detail, the left side of your brain would say  ’Awesome,’ you guys would have this exclusive and know all of this stuff. But the right side is going to sit down one day and see the movie for the first time and you’d have all of that kind of spoiled, so it’s that balance of wanting to know everything and not wanting to know everything at the same time.

It’s like a magic trick and there’s nobody who wants to know how all of the magic tricks are done more than me. Then the second I learn how they are done, it’s like “Oh” and it kind of goes away.

So we might all be playing the ‘wait and see’ game in regards to spoilers or facts about Episode VII.  You can read the rest of Burk’s comments along with Damon Lindelof’s at the linked interview above.

Kathleen Kennedy says Lucasfilm won’t go all Into Darkness on Episode VII

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Star Trek fans have been having to deal with J.J. Abrams being tight-lipped for ages in regards to Star Trek Into Darkness. He still hasn’t explicitly said who Benedict Cumberbatch is playing. Can you imagine trying to shroud Episode VII and the Sequel Trilogy in that kind of secrecy for the next two years? Thankfully, it appears Kathleen Kennedy can’t either.

No telling exactly how much information they’ll release or when, but at the very least it seems like they won’t be masking who’s playing what two weeks before the film releases.

Jedi News’ Mark Newbold talks yearly Star Wars films on BBC Breakfast

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Last week we had Jedi News‘ Mark Newbold on the podcast. The result was perhaps the most fun episode of Tosche Station Radio we’ve ever recorded. Suffice to say, we’re fans of Mark (and you bet we’re looking for chances to get him back on the show).

After recording with us, Mark got to talk to a (hugely) bigger audience and sat down with BBC Breakfast to discuss the news that Lucasfilm will be producing a yearly Star Wars film starting in 2015 with Episode VII. Definitely give the above video a watch, Mark’s a tremendous personality and really knows his stuff.

After that, listen to him on the podcast linked above! /shamelessplug

New Star Wars Films to Be Released Every Summer Starting in 2015

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star-wars-episode-vii-logo

You get a Star Wars film! And you get a Star Wars film! And you…well, you get the point.

Today at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Disney and Lucasfilm announced that a new Star Wars film will be released each summer starting in 2015.

Episode VII will come first, followed by a standalone film in 2016. This alternating “episode-standalone” schedule will continue until, presumably, Episode IX is released (it felt really really really weird to type Episode IX as an actual thing that will happen, by the way). Bob Iger confirmed upcoming standalone films back in February, but this is the first we’ve heard of this aggressive release schedule. No note of how many standalone films will be produced, or if they will continue after the Sequel Trilogy ends.

We’re recording a new episode of Tosche Station tonight, so be sure to look out for a new episode with all of our thinky thoughts.

(via IGN and /film)

Michael Giacchino Says John Williams Should Score Episode VII

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michael giacchinoThese days, there are seemingly two constants in the film universe. First, if there’s a Star Wars movie, John Williams is scoring it. Second, if there’s a J.J. Abrams movie, Michael Giacchino is scoring it.

Uh oh.

Given these two virtual certainties, a number of fans are wondering exactly who is going to score the next episodic installment of the Star Wars saga. Will it by franchise legacy composer Williams, or will J.J. Abrams bring in Giacchino? There’s no telling for sure yet, but Giacchino himself seems to think it should be Williams back at the conductor’s stand.

“He has been a great inspiration to me over the years,” he continued. “He has been a great teacher to me and good friend and I would love nothing more than to hear more of his music from that universe.”

“If it were up to me I would say ‘John, you must do it.’”

For whatever it’s worth, I do agree with Giacchino. If Williams is able and willing, he should be the one that scores Episode VII. If nothing else, maintaining a constant presence on the film score side of things will go a long ways in linking these three distinct eras of Star Wars together.

Star Wars, Marvel, and the Multiverse

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In the Star Wars fandom, there’s always some war of words brewing between fans. We’ve seen the Ship Wars, the Prequel Trilogy consternation, the Clone Wars skirmishes. One that has been on slow simmer for years is cold war between Expanded Universe Completists and Film Purists. Countless words have been written defending the merits of one and tearing down another.

To say things have blown up since the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney and the announcement of the Sequel Trilogy would be an understatement. There seems to be a belief among the most ardent of Star Wars fans that the Expanded Universe and the Sequel Trilogy cannot exist simultaneously. One has to vanish in order for the other to thrive.

To borrow a phrase from Nanci earlier this week, I say bullshit.

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Joss Whedon discusses what he’d like to see in new Star Wars films

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I meant to blog this on Monday but, well, things happened.

Digital Spy sat down with Joss Whedon over the weekend to chat about, among other things, what he’d like to see in a standalone Star Wars film if he were hypothetically given the opportunity to direct one.* Long story short? He wouldn’t bring back the original characters for them and would move in a new and fresh direction.

*Could you imagine the fandom’s reaction to that? 

Bob Iger says no Decision Made on Original Trilogy Actors Yet

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Disney CEO Bob Iger sat down again with CNBC today to discuss the state of Disney. As these interviews seem to go, he was asked point blank about whether the Original Trilogy actors would be making a return to the new films.

But fans won’t know whether the old cast will make an appearance in the new movies. “George Lucas was quoted as saying they would, but we haven’t made an official announcement yet,” Iger said.

The takeaway from Iger in the video in the CNBC link is that there have been discussions with the actors, but everything is going to hinge on Michael Arndt’s script. Until that script is finished, no one will know for sure what the extent of the OT actors involvement with the new films will be.