Rumor/Spoiler: EW accidentally leaks Star Trek 2 villain identity?

Posted on by

Benedict-Cumberbatch-Star-Trek-Into-DarknessBelieve it or not, it’s a rumor that has nothing to do with Star Wars. We’ve all been wondering for months now, with breath just a little more baited after the Super Bowl teaser trailer…just who is Benedict Cumberbatch playing in Star Trek: Into Darkness?

Well, it turns out that Entertainment Weekly may have just accidentally let this carefully kept cat right out of the bag. According to The Atlantic Wire, as EW was working on updating their back issue pages, someone put a descriptor on the page.

So who is it? We won’t say right here, but if you’re ready for the big reveal, there be spoilers after the jump.

Continue reading →

Zahn Talks Writing Han Solo and Standalone Films He’d Like to See

Posted on by

With the barrage of rumors surrounding standalone films in the Star Wars, Hollywood.com decided to catch up with Expanded Universe author Timothy Zahn to discuss what it takes to write Han Solo and the kinds of standalone films and spinoff projects he’d like to see in the Disney Star Wars era.

On the topic of new projects beyond regular episodic installments:

Hollywood.com:First of all, none of this has been confirmed by Disney or Lucasfilm, and I’m not looking to you at all to confirm it. I’m just interested in your perspective as a Star Wars author, and even more importantly, as a Star Wars fan, on the rumor today that the first two standalone Star Wars movies will be about Young Han Solo and Boba Fett respectively.

Timothy Zahn: All of this is at the rumor stage of course, but, the fact is, I would like to see more Star Warsbeyond the core saga. I’d like more Star Wars TV, and certainly more Star Wars books. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. The Galaxy Far, Far Away is impossibly huge with story ideas and possibilities.

On writing Han:

HW: Is there a difference between the way you wrote Han in Scoundrels as opposed to the way you wrote him in the Thrawn Trilogy or Hand of Thrawn Duology?
TZ: Oh yeah, he’s much more mature in the later books. He’s taken on more responsibility. He still chafes at it at times. But he does the jobs that need to be done. He’s more aware of what’s at stake, what the consequences could be if he succeeds or fails. And that’s because he has a family at that point, which brings a whole new set of responsibilities with it. In Scoundrels on the other hand, since that’s set right after A New Hope, he’s much more footloose and fancy free. But even then you can see that once he’s assembled the team he’s working with, he’s not going to abandon them. The seeds of “Responsible Han” are already there. But he would deny it probably.

On spinoff Star Wars projects he’d like to see:

HW: What other characters from the movies would you like to see get the movie spinoff treatment?
TZ: Lando is an obvious one. You could do a lot with Lando during the time leading up to The Empire Strikes Back. If we’re going post-Jedi era I would frankly like to see Wedge put together Rogue Squadron. I think you could have a whole series of Rogue Squadron movies that would be great. Wedge is peripheral, but he is verypopular and rightfully so. Who else helps take out two Death Stars? You could even do an X-Wing TV show focused on Rogue Squadron that, just like the books, would be peripheral to the main Skywalker-Solo saga. That means you could introduce a lot of new characters anchored by Wedge. You could make wonderful stuff out of the X-Wing books.

See, I’m not the only one who thinks a Wedge-centric film and an X-Wing television series would be absolutely fantastic viewing.

The whole interview is fantastic and there’s a lot more to read. Head to Hollywood.com’s interview for more with Timothy Zahn.

Rumor: Entertainment Weekly Reports Solo, Fett Potentially Getting Standalones

Posted on by

Yesterday Disney’s Bob Iger confirmed that, yes, there will be standalone films coming to the Star Wars universe. Today, Entertainment Weekly suggests that two of those films may center around a young Han Solo and Boba Fett.

Sources close to the projects confirmed this was the direction the development was taking, although they cautioned it’s still very early in the process and, well, the deal could always be altered futher. Lucasfilm and Disney declined to comment on the information.

The Han Solo story would take place in the time period between Revenge of the Sith and the first Star Wars (now known as A New Hope), so although it’s possible Harrison Ford could appear as a framing device, the movie would require a new actor for the lead — one presumably much younger than even the 35-year-old Ford when he appeared in the 1977 original.

The Boba Fett film would take place either between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, or between Empire and Jedi, where the bounty hunter was last seen plunging unceremoniously into a sarlacc pit. Exactly who would play him isn’t much of a complication – in the original trilogy, he never took off his helmet. And in the prequels, we learned he was the son of the original stormtrooper clone, played by Temuera Morrison, who’s still the right age for the part if his services were required.

Keep in mind that this rumor kind of flies in the face of Iger saying yesterday that the standalone films would focus on characters not involved with the Saga.

You can probably guess that I’m very meh oh the possibility of a Fett movie (must he be in everything?) and intrigued by the possibility of a young Han Solo movie, even if it will likely wipe out years of established Expanded Universe canon. Seriously folks, embrace the multiverse. It’ll make your head hurt less in the long run.

As for why I’m meh on Fett? Come on. Dude is terrible at his job. 

Stuart Freeborn Passes Away at 98

Posted on by

Original trilogy makeup supervisor Stuart Freeborn has passed away at age 98.

Freeborn’s accomplishments in the film industry were remarkable, having worked on notable films such as 2001: A Space Oddysey and Superman. Perhaps most notably were his contributions to the original Star Wars trilogy. Many of the alien character designs you saw in places like the Mos Eisley cantina in A New Hope as well as Chewbacca were his creation.

Disney’s Bob Iger Confirms Standalone Films in the Works

Posted on by

So here’s what we know now. First and foremost, Star Wars spinoff movies are in the works and that is indeed why Kinberg and Kasdan were brought into the fold. Furthermore, these films are not going to center around characters involved in The Saga.

Episode VII is still slated for 2015 and hasn’t been officially pushed back a year or moved up as the AP erroneously reported a few weeks back. Iger also mentioned “concurrent” releases, which may mean that there will be films released between major episodes.

There are some other details in the interview with CNBC that may interest you, but the confirmation above was the big bit of news.

Update: StarWars.com adds that Kinberg and Kasdan will be working on separate movies.

One of the standalone films will be written by Lawrence Kasdan, screenwriter of The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and co-writer ofReturn of the Jedi while the other will be penned by Simon Kinberg, writer of Sherlock Holmes and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The movies will be separate from the upcoming Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, on which Kasdan and Kinberg are also consulting, and are expected to be released sometime after Episode VII. Each standalone film will focus on a specific character, and two spinoff films are currently confirmed.

In a call to investors, Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, revealed while the original focus was on the highly-anticipated sequel trilogy, the idea of spinoff films was bandied about early and the additional films are now becoming a reality. “We are in development of a few standalone films,” he said, “that are not part of the Star Wars saga…there are now creative entities working on developing scripts for what would be those standalone films.”

(via)

EU Retrospective: Rogue Squadron

Posted on by

I’ve finally reached the first batch of X-Wing books and there was much rejoicing!  Obviously we here at Tosche Station are very pro-X-Wing books and I always enjoy getting to read them again.  So sit back and enjoy me gushing about the first four books focused on the flyboys and flygirls of Rogue Squadron as they do the impossible which is absolutely what they do best.

Rogue Squadron
I love these books.  I really do.  But WOW IS CORRAN HORN AN ARROGANT PAIN IN THE BUTT in this book.  I do like him as a character especially with some of the character development he’s gotten over the years but he is infuriating to read about in this book.  The arrogance and the monologing do get a bit old after awhile.  At least I know he gets better.  Corran will always have some of that arrogance because that’s just who he is and I appreciate that but it’s at an all time high here.

I do enjoy reading this book though because it’s a solid read that offers both a good story and some great characters.  It simultaneously tells the story of the squadron’s reassembly and also sets up the overarching plot for the next three books.

With the exception of certain arrogant Corellian and a certain Bacta Queen-who-was-clearly-a-traitor-the-whole-time-in-retrospect, the characters are rather enjoyable!  (Okay, maybe I was a little harsh grouping Corran with Erisi there.  That was mean, I’m sorry, Corran.)  I always love getting a chance to look into Wedge Antilles’s head and Stackpole does such a good job of it.  I also enjoyed getting to meet such great characters like Tycho Celchu, Mirax Terrik, and Gavin Darklighter.  Poor Tycho though.  Like his backstory wasn’t already tragic enough without adding in the ‘he might be a traitor’ thing.  At least Mirax gets to balance it out by being sassy.

Continue reading →

Rumor: First Star Wars Standalone a Yoda Film

Posted on by

Yes as per usual, this is a rumor. Take it with the biggest grain of salt humanly imaginable. Ain’t it Cool News is reporting that the first standalone film in the new Disney-owned Star Wars era will be a Yoda feature.

The first Stand Alone film is going to center upon YODA. At this stage specifics are sparse, but Kathleen Kennedy is putting together a STAR WARS slate… I’m wildly curious for more details on the YODA film – would this be a young or old YODA tale?

I’m rather hesitant on posting this, but a number of other (and larger) fansites have picked up on this rumor. If I’m being honest, I highly doubt that this film ever gets made, if for no other reason than two hours of Yoda-speak wouldn’t be the easiest thing to sit through. Don’t get me wrong, Yoda is an interesting character! But he’s interesting because he’s a character shrouded in mystery. Whenever the backstory of a character like this is explained, fans are rarely happy with the result.

Cosplay Monday: Gamorrean Warrior

Posted on by

We’re back with another edition of Cosplay Monday: the weekly post where we try and awe you with an awesome costume and distract you from your case of the Mondays.  This week, we’re spotlighting an incredible looking Gamorrean costume spotted at Dragon*Con 2010 by photographer Insane-Pencil.  (If you know who the costumer is, please let us know and we’ll add in credit!)  Everything about this costume looks great and super impressive.  Well done!  (Who thinks this costumer should tackle a certain Wraith Squadron pilot next?)

Gamorrean_by_insane_pencil

Billy Dee Williams Attending Dragon*Con 2013

Posted on by

Going to be attending Dragon*Con this year? If you’re a Star Wars fan, you may be happy to hear that Billy Dee Williams will be in attendance again.

Bring along your copy of Scoundrels to pose with him for photo opportunities.