Category Archives: Star Wars

Report: Lucasfilm wants to push Episode VII to 2016, Disney holds firm to 2015

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star-wars-episode-vii-logoIf the Hollywood Reporter is to be believed, Lucasfilm asked Disney to push Episode VII back to 2016 in part to accommodate for the departure of screenwriter Michael Arndt. Disney’s response? Stay on target for 2015.

With the Oct. 24 exit of Star Wars: Episode VII writer Michael Arndt, the studio is under the gun to keep the film on course for a 2015 release despite a script that several insiders say isn’t close to ready.

According to those close to the project, producer Kathleen Kennedy and most of the film’s creative team have asked Disney to push the release to 2016, but studio CEO Robert Iger is adamant that Episode VII — perhaps the franchise’s most anticipated installment since 1999’s The Phantom Menace — not budge. That has created enormous pressure on all involved, with director J.J. Abrams stepping in to take over scripting duties with Lawrence Kasdan, who co-wrote 1980’s Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, considered the best film in the series.

According to the report, while Kennedy is lobbying for a delayed release, director and screenwriter J.J. Abrams is more in-step with Disney CEO Bob Iger on releasing the film next summer.

I know that personally, I’d be more comfortable delaying the film a year to get it as polished as possible. That said, there’s a lot of very skilled and capable people involved with Episode VII, and if any crew is going to be able to hit all the marks to get the film out two summers from now, it’s them.

Of course, remember that this is all unverified. For all we know these insiders feeding information to the Hollywood Reporter may just be latching on to the moved release date idea and rumors because Disney’s got the well-oiled Marvel machine as well. For all we know, at Disney and Lucasfilm are on the same page for a summer 2015 release.

One Year Ago Today…

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holy

The above conversation was probably representative of a number of conversations you all had with your peers. Except you probably didn’t bother to black out the expletives.

One year ago today, the entire fandom was blindsided by the news that Disney had purchased Lucasfilm from George Lucas. That was wild enough, but shortly after those rumbling began trickling out onto the Internet something even wilder happened. Disney confirmed the sale and announced that the one thing that was never going to happen was about to become a reality: The Sequel Trilogy.

At the time of the announcement, I was in a Taco Bell in Moses Lake, Washington having just finished up a work trip. Nanci sent me the above text message alerting me to the news and a few hours later Dunc from Club Jade joined us for the first and only emergency podcast episode we have ever done.

And here we were worried we’d have nothing to talk about after Celebration VI. What are your memories from the day Disney bought Lucasfilm?

Jedi News breaks down yesterday’s Episode VII news

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star-wars-episode-vii-logoThe timing and wording of yesterday’s news that J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan would be “assuming” screenwriting duties of Episode VII was a little odd. It certainly opened up a lot of questions, chiefly what was happening to Michael Arndt and his script? Jedi News UK has a good take on what all of this means.

After a year working on the project, at all times meeting in creative writing groups, Ardnt departed in late August / early September with his work effectively done. He had delivered a script that was being used for creative design and development, and with a long line of films seeking his writing skills he sought a fresh challenge. The evolution of his work will continue through Kasdan and Abrams.

There is no dramatic change of direction, there is no new script being written from scratch. Kasdan and Abrams are getting the credit they deserve for their input to date, and for polishing the script between now and shooting. Ardnt’s story remains intact. We are at an advanced stage in the creative phase. Costumes are being designed, sets are being designed and concept work has begun on the special effects.

Essentially, Arndt’s treatment and draft would form the spine of the film. Abrams and Kasdan are now making their own passes over the script and adding/modifying as needed. That certainly makes the most sense. Throwing out Arndt’s script wholesale at this point would be really strange, given that shooting and photography is set to get under way in a few months.

So, yeah, Arndt’s finished with Episode VII. Not because his script was subpar or because Disney/Lucasfilm are changing direction. He’s out of the picture at this juncture because his job is finished and the next phase of the process is for Abrams and Kasdan to add their touches to the script.

Additionally, last night we also got a good look at the production team for Episode VII. Jedi News again breaks down the crew for us:

  • Director Of Photography – Dan Mindel. An Abrams alumni from Mission Impossible III, Star Trek, and Star Trek into Darkness.
  • Production Design – Rick Carter. A Spielberg and Kennedy alumni from The Goonies, through Jurassic Park to Forest Gump to Lincoln.
  • Production Design – Darren Gilford. A James Cameron alumni from the 3D Terminator experimental pieces, more recently known for Oblivion and TRON: Legacy.
  • Costume Design – Michael Kaplan. A Abrams alumni from Star Trek, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Star Trek Into Darkness.
  • Special Effects Supervisor – Chris Corbould. A Lucasfilm alumni from Willow, and a James Bond regular.
  • Sound Designer – Ben Burtt – Every Star Wars film to date.
  • Re-Recording Mixer – Gary Rydstrom – A Skywalker Sound stalwart.
  • Supervising Sound Editor – Matthew Wood – A Skywalker Sound stalwart, and Abrams collabarator.
  • Visual Effects Supervisor – Roger Guyett – An ILM stalwart and Episode III extra.
  • Producers – Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk.
  • Executive Producers – Tommy Harper and Jason McGatlin – Abrams alumni.
  • Score – John Williams – Every Star Wars film to date.

Do be sure to visit the Jedi News link above, because they’ve done a great job breaking down just what yesterday’s news means and why there’s no need to be worried.

Abrams and Kasdan assuming Episode VII screenwriting role. Arndt out?

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Well this is certainly something. Maybe this is cause for alarm, maybe it isn’t. We don’t know much more beyond this little bit of information:

This was confirmed a few minutes later on the official site.

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.”

What exactly this means is a mystery right now. Does this mean that Abrams and Kasdan have Michael Arndt’s screenplay in hand and are in the polishing stage, or does it mean that Arndt is out?

So we know a little more than we did before about Episode VII, but as often happens with these things we’ve now got even more questions and concerns.

A Unapologetic Love Letter To The Young Jedi Knights Books

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yjk11

Sometimes, there are books that you classify as a guilty pleasure and sometimes there are books that you find yourself apologizing for every time you say that you enjoy them.  In the past, the Star Wars: Young Jedi Knights books have fallen into this category for me.  For those unaware: it’s a series of 14 young adult books by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta that focus on the Solo twins and their friends Tenel Ka and Lowbacca during their first few years at the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4.

From here on out, there won’t be any more apologies for liking these books.  Despite clearly being written for the younger crowd, they are entertaining reads with fun plot lines and great characters.  Most importantly though, they are some of the best gateways for younger fans to ease into the Expanded Universe and discover a whole new galaxy.  And years later? they still have plenty of fans who look back fondly at the books.  Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why they’re still some of the well-creased and beloved novels on some people’s shelves.

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Review: Star Wars: Legacy #8

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Star Wars: Legacy is back again this month as issue #8 by Corinna Beckho and Gabriel Hardman hits stores today.  We’d consider attaching the label of ‘trouble magnet’ to Ania Solo from here on out but honestly, now she’s just diving head first into it.

This review contains mild spoilers for the issue.

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Star Wars release windows through Episode VII

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Jedi News UK has gotten a hold of a release brochure from the European Brand Licensing Show that appears to detail what Lucasfilm has planned through the 2015 release of Episode VII. Take a look for yourself:

Okay, so what can we take away from this? First and foremost, if nothing on this sheet changes, Episode VII will indeed be hitting theaters in spring/summer 2015, and NOT winter 2015 as many people have suggested would be the case because of the Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Another thing of note is the Darth Vader themed TV specials. What is this? No clue, but color me intrigued.

Finally, there’s the Digital Library Launch slated for autumn/winter 2014. Initially I thought this had something to do with the Expanded Universe, but Dunc suggested something that makes a lot more sense.

Digital distribution of Star Wars film and television assets? Now this I could REALLY get behind. I’ve got everything on a physical medium, but I would kill to get things like the films in a digital format. Digital distribution for Star Wars makes all the sense in the universe, especially in this day and age where so much is consumed through outlets like Netflix. I love my Blu Ray discs, but there’s no denying that being able to stream Star Wars via an Internet source of some sort is far more convenient.

Obviously, there’s a lot of speculation about what these items actually are, so don’t take any of what I’ve written as confirmation or truth. Stay tuned, because the next year and change looks to be a very exciting one for Star Wars fans.

Jaegers In Star Wars

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We’re a sucker around here for not only a good crossover but also for Pacific Rim.  With the awesome kaiju versus jaeger film out this week on DVD, it seemed like a good idea to ask those of you on Twitter just who you all thought would be drift compatible if there were jaegers in the galaxy far far away.  (Before anyone asks, my contribution was a joke.)


And because some of you had locked Twitters… a few last entries via copy and pasted:

@[locked user 1] Ultra Thunder Music Cloud. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figrin_D’an_and_the_Modal_Nodes …
@[locked user 2] idk but the wraiths definitely have like five and are always altering the way they work and pissing everyone off
“YOU CAN’T HAVE A FIVE PILOT JAEGER GOD DAMMIT TAINER.”
but kell and shalla would probably have one and they’d want to call it Facepunch Bam but command probably wouldn’t go for it so
it’d be like Restless Rager or something everyone could agree sounded violent but also someone dignified (which is no fun).

Have some of your own thoughts about what Star Wars characters duos (or trios!) would make a good Jaeger pilot team?  Let us know in the comments!

Star Wars: Rebels Weekend Roundup

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New York Comic Con was this weekend and among the events was the first Star Wars: Rebels press panel of sorts. While we don’t have a release date or any animation from the show yet, new information and artwork was revealed. Most importantly, we learned that Rebels is set to take place fourteen years after Revenge of the Sith and not the eight years that was originally rumored.

Dave Filoni also checked in with a video and made it clear that a large number of The Clone Wars creative crew will be returning for Rebels.

He also introduced the series’ new villain tasked to hunt down the pockets of Jedi that survived Order 66, the Inquisitor.

Rebels Inquisitor

 

There was also a look at some concept artwork, such as this great look at the interior of a TIE Fighter.

One sight you may want to keep an eye on moving forward is SienarFleetSystems.com. That certainly is some pretty propaganda material.

Fore more details and artwork, be sure to head over to Club Jade to check out Dunc’s Storify compiling tweets from the event.