Category Archives: The Force Awakens

Tosche Station Radio Discussing Scoundrels and J.J. Abrams Tonight, Send us your Questions!

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What are you up to tonight at 5PM Pacific? Nothing? Great! You should join us in the Livestream chat for an all-new episode of Tosche Station Radio.

Joining the usual hosting duo today are staff writers Bria and Emily as part of a Scoundrels roundtable discussion. We’ll also be discussing the Prequel Trilogy 3D postponement as wel as the J.J. Abrams news and what it could mean for Episode VII and Star Wars as a whole.

As always, we would love to take your questions! If you have questions specific to the topics we’ll be discussing, send them our way and we’ll work them into our roundtable. Any other questions relating to Star Wars or geek culture you can also submit and we’ll answer them at the end of the show.

THR Profiles Kathleen Kennedy

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The new guard and old guard.

When Lucasfilm was sold to Disney, long-time film industry veteran Kathleen Kennedy was given the reigns of the company and one of the most valuable intellectual properties in Hollywood. Today, The Hollywood Reporter sat down with Kennedy to talk about how she got J.J. Abrams to sign on, how she met her husband, and her relationship with some of the biggest names in the film business.

On getting J.J. Abrams to work on a different Star franchise:

Abrams agreed to meet with Kennedy on Dec. 14 at his Bad Robot offices in Santa Monica. Famously plain-spoken, she summarizes her pitch like this: “Please do Star Wars.” And she had cards to play. Not only was Oscar winnerMichael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3) writing the script, but Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back and 1983’s Return of the Jedi, was on board to consult. Abrams “was flipping out when he found out that Michael and Larry were on the movie already,” says Kennedy.

Abrams tells THR, “I learned firsthand how incredible and persuasive she is.” Some — but not all — of his reservations were dispelled. “The thing about any pre-existing franchise — I’d sort of done that,” he says. “But when I met with Kathy, it was suddenly very tantalizing.”

For more, read THR’s full profile of Kathleen Kennedy.

A Trekkie on why J.J. Abrams Is Good for Star Wars

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220px-J.J._Abrams_by_David_ShankboneNow that the official confirmation has come down from on high, Bria and I have made an executive decision: Brian and Nanci are never allowed to go on vacation again. We are simply not equipped to deal with breaking news.

That said, this analysis probably would have been my responsibility anyway. Being one of the resident Trekkies on staff, I’m in the position to pick apart how J.J. Abrams performs when given an existing sci-fi franchise, and personally, I feel rather optimistic about this turn of events.

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J.J. Abrams Is Directing Episode VII

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JJ AbramsAfter a day of speculation, we finally have official confirmation that J.J. Abrams will be directing Star Wars: Episode VII.

From the official press release:

After a bevy of emails and phone calls, the formalities have been wrapped up, and at long last everyone can exhale and properly share the word with an excited Internet. Yes, J.J. Abrams will direct Star Wars: Episode VII, the first of a new series of Star Wars films to come from Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy. Abrams will be directing and Academy Award-winning writer Michael Arndt will write the screenplay.

“It’s very exciting to have J.J. aboard leading the charge as we set off to make a new Star Wars movie,” said Kennedy. “J.J. is the perfect director to helm this. Beyond having such great instincts as a filmmaker, he has an intuitive understanding of this franchise. He understands the essence of the Star Wars experience, and will bring that talent to create an unforgettable motion picture.”

George Lucas went on to say “I’ve consistently been impressed with J.J. as a filmmaker and storyteller.” He’s an ideal choice to direct the new Star Wars film and the legacy couldn’t be in better hands.”

“To be a part of the next chapter of the Star Wars saga, to collaborate with Kathy Kennedy and this remarkable group of people, is an absolute honor,” J.J. Abrams said. “I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid.”

J.J., his longtime producing partner Bryan Burk, and Bad Robot are on board to produce along with Kathleen Kennedy under the Disney | Lucasfilm banner.”

 

 

Top Tips for Fansites and Other News

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While we continue to wait for confirmation one way or another on directorial news for Episode VII, something else was going on yesterday via Twitter: the first Star Wars Fansite Seminar, where Star Wars fansite creators, writers and readers came together to offer advice on running fansites. The official Star Wars blog put together a list of ten of the best tips here that you can check out. (Yes, I am totally and completely geeking out at the fact that one of them is from me. DUDES.)

Want to see more than just some of the tips? Fear not: Club Jade comes to the rescue with a Storify of the tweets made with the #SWFS hashtag yesterday here.

Club Jade has also reported that Drew Struzan has not been officially approached to do the poster artwork for Episode VII and that any chats to the contrary have simply been with friends at Disney and not with the company itself. Still, I think fans would love to see Struzan come out of retirement to work his magic once again.

Updated: JJ Abrams Rumored to be Directing Episode VII

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It’s time for another round of Episode VII director rumors.  The Wrap is reporting that JJ Abrams has been tapped to direct Episode VII despite saying last year that he would not be.  The source for this information has not been named although the source does say that Ben Affleck was in the running for the job/

The Hollywood Reporter is also saying that Abrams will be at the directing helm of the new film as is Variety.

As a reminder, nothing is confirmed UNTIL we hear it from the Official Star Wars website announces and therefore confirms the news.

Update 6pm EST: George Lucas’s son just tweeted saying that “J. J. Abrams will do wonders!”

Update 6:21pm EST: Entertainment Weekly and Yahoo also reporting this as are numerous other websites.  There is still no source for the news and EW cites the original Wrap article in their piece.

Update 8:51pm EST: Rolling Stone has also picked up the story but has also cited the Wrap article.  Still nothing from Lucasfilm.

Struzan Approached for Episode VII

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It’s already going to be weird enough seeing Episode VII without the Fox Fanfare. I’m not sure if I could handle a new Star Wars film if it were missing something else iconic. Something like Drew Struzan poster artwork.

For those that don’t know, Struzan has been retired for a number of years, which makes getting new art from him for the sequel trilogy potentially problematic. Thankfully, there might be a bit of hope. From a joint interview with Sam Witwer, Drew said…

I got a couple calls already this week on Star Wars from Disney. Oh my god, I’m trying to be retired! You know, I spent 35 years painting Star Wars. [laughs] I painted Star Wars before most of you were born! But I guess there is always a chance. There’s no intention. But I would love to have a day off every now and again, and I have to work a weekend and all through the night. If the opportunity arises, it will be a real temptation.

Here’s to hoping Struzan returns for at least one more Star Wars film.

(Via)

The Sequel Trilogy Isn’t Real Star Wars

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star-wars-episode-vii-logoSequel trilogy fans need to grow up.

All the excitement, all the speculation, all the angsting. All for something that really doesn’t matter. It’s absolutely baffling why so much thought and effort is being put into something so meaningless. It kills me to see people wasting their time on all of this because, come on, let’s be perfectly honest.

The sequel trilogy isn’t real Star Wars.

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Tosche Station’s Gratuitous 2012 in Review Linkdump

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In January, Nanci and I started a podcast. In April, we spun that podcast off into a blog. All sorts of crazy things have happened since. Welcome to our gratuitous 2012 in Review Linkdump. As a note, thanks for bearing with us over the holidays as we took time to visit our friends and family. We’ll be back Wednesday with regular coverage and posts. Be sure to also check out Club Jade’s 2012 retrospective.

For our year-in-review, to the jump!

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Kathleen Kennedy Announces an Episode VII Announcement

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According to ComicBook.com, Kathleen Kennedy told ABC News Radio that we should be hearing an announcement for Episode VII sometime in January and that pre-production for the film will begin this coming spring. What’s the announcement? No one knows, since this is just an announcement of an announcement. One presumes that it could be a director.

So if that’s the case, speculate while you still can.

(via)