Tag Archives: News

Lucasfilm Departure From Lucas Valley Could Hurt For Years To Come

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A few weeks back, Lucasfilm eighty-sixed plans to build a brand new movie studio in Lucas Valley in San Rafael, California. Citing too much pushback from estate homeowners in the region, Lucasfilm abruptly pulled up stakes and shifted their efforts towards finding a new home elsewhere in the state.

The victory for homeowners may ultimately prove to be tragically short-sighted, reports the North Bay Business Journal.

Several professional firms had been contracted to work on Lucas’s Grady Ranch project during its development, providing services such as environmental consulting and architectural planning. Including the indirect economic activity for restaurants and other local businesses, the two-year construction phase was expected to add nearly $134 million per year into the local and regional economy, according to an impact study released last month by the Marin Economic Forum.

That phase was also expected to generate 690 new jobs in Marin County during construction, and nearly $5 million in combined annual state and local tax revenue, according to the study.

Yet with the announcement on April 10 that George Lucas and his real estate company, Skywalker Properties, would no longer proceed with the project, the possibility of direct and indirect economic stimulus for the region’s economy has evaporated.

In efforts to keep a movie studio out of their estate communities, the residents of Lucas Valley may have cost the region countless potential jobs and a staggering influx of hard cash. According to the article, for every 100 employees Lucasfilm brought in, Marin County businesses could have generated as much as $82 million in revenue and $3.8 million in combined state and local taxes.

Via Parker Publicity

George Lucas Approves New Book Project

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While no one’s sure just how deeply involved George Lucas is with Star Wars Books, there’s always reason for excitement/optimism/fear/loathing when word gets out that he’s personally approved something. Take it away, Lucasfilm executive editor and writer J.W. Rinzler:

If I had to wager a guess, I would say it’s some kind of reference book ala the Essential Guide series.

Del Rey Acquires Original Trilogy By Drew Karpyshyn

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Expanded Universe author and guru of all things Old Republic Drew Karpyshyn has to be thrilled with how his week is going. On Monday, he announced that his agent had closed a deal Del Rey to publish an original trilogy.

I can finally announce that my agent – Ginger Clark of Curtis Brown Ltd. – closed a deal with Del Rey to publish  my original fantasy trilogy! Here’s the official announcement in Publisher’s Weekly, though I should clarify that this is a fantasy series, not sci-fi. I’m really excited about this, and I’m ecstatic to be working with Del Rey and Tricia again. (I worked with her on some of my Mass Effect novels.)

The plan is to publish the first two books of the trilogy (Children of Fire and The Scorched Earth) in 2014, with the final installment (Chaos Unleashed) coming 9-12 months later. Some of you may remember that I’ve mentioned this series before – I’ve been working on it sporadically over several years… basically squeezing in time to write between my work-for-hire novels (SW and ME) and my work at BioWare.

Karpyshyn notes that the first book in the trilogy is nearly finished but he’s waiting to publish it until he can get started on the second entry.

Originally well-known for his work at game developer Bioware, Karpyshyn has branched out to write numerous media tie-in novels both for the studio and for Lucasfilm Licensing. His novel Revan revisited the protagonist from the critically acclaimed videogame Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. 

For more information, see the announcement post on his blog.

‘John Carter’ Breaks Even

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Good news for Disney, John Carter managed to make back what was sunk into it thanks to overseas revenues.

BoxOffice Mojo reports that John Carter has grossed $254.5 million, a $4.5 million over its budget—currently not technically a profit, considering its advertising budget, but it’s far better than the epic loss that many had feared.

Unsurprisingly, most of this coin has come from overseas. While John Carter earned over $66 million here in the United States, international markets have pulled in over $188 million. Film Buff Online writes that John Carter was #1 in box office receipts for two weeks in a row in China. This profit will keep increasing, as John Carter has yet to be released in Japan, where it will surely put the movie several million dollars in the black.

While it’s good that the film didn’t wind up costing Disney their collective shirts, they’re likely never to escape the bad press it garnered for them. Make no mistake, a $66 million gross in the United States is an embarrassment. The media reviews seemed to get caught up in a revolving narrative of how poor the film was, perhaps overplaying the criticism and driving some theater patrons away. Ultimately, the reason it failed lies squarely at the feet of Disney and the film’s creative staff.

It was a poorly marketed movie. Just about all of my friends who saw it had no idea going in that it was a science fiction film*. Or that it was based on a book that was foundational for sci-fi as we know it. More than that, it just wasn’t that special of a film. The narrative was disjointed, the acting was wooden. It had some pretty visuals going for it, but that was easily the highlight of a very forgettable movie.

*Dropping the ‘Mars’ part of ‘John Carter of Mars.’ Not the most savvy marketing you’ve ever done, Disney.

If you’re looking for a good book-to-film adaptation, you might want to give this a shot instead.

Forbes via Aaron Allston

Two More Guests Confirmed for Star Wars Weekends

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Last week the initial guest list for Disney’s Star Wars Weekends hit. As of last Friday, you can add two more names to the lineup.

Star Wars Weekends takes place from May 18th to June 10th at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park in Orlando, Florida. As someone living on the other side of the country, let me just tell those of you in closer proximity that I’m insanely jealous of you all.

New Mystery OT Era Project from a Big Dark Horse Talent

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James Haley spotted some interesting Dark Horse-related news coming out of the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2).

The second arc of “Conan” by Brian Wood will be a three-issue arc by James Herring, but Becky Cloonan will continue to work on the series long term. “Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi” did well for the publisher, Parkinson said. There are more plans for the original trilogy characters including the death of Boba Fett as written by Tom Taylor in “Star Wars: Blood Ties.” More plans are in store for Darth Vader and Darth Maul comes July. Atkins also announced that readers will soon see a “Star Wars” book set in the original trilogy era written by one of Dark Horse’s biggest talents.

Edit: Not a trilogy, but some sort of project set in the OT era.

Speculate, readers! Speculate!

Via James Haley

Gary Ross Will Not Direct ‘Catching Fire’

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After a weekend of confusion over whether or not The Hunger Games director Gary Ross would return to for Catching Fire, news dropped late Tuesday that he was officially leaving the franchise.

Despite recent speculation in the media, and after difficult but sincere consideration, I have decided not to direct Catching Fire. As a writer and a director, I simply don’t have the time I need to write and prep the movie I would have wanted to make because of the fixed and tight production schedule.

I loved making The Hunger Games – it was the happiest experience of my professional life. Lionsgate was supportive of me in a manner that few directors ever experience in a franchise: they empowered me to make the film I wanted to make and backed the movie in a way that requires no explanation beyond the remarkable results. And contrary to what has been reported, negotiations with Lionsgate have not been problematic. They have also been very understanding of me through this difficult decision.

Lionsgate Studio also issued a statement.

We’re very sorry that Gary Ross has chosen not to direct Catching Fire. We were really looking forward to making the movie with him. He did an incredible job on the first film and we are grateful for his work. This will not be the end of our relationship, as we consider Ross to be part of the Lionsgate family and look forward to working with him in the future.

As I mentioned over the weekend when dueling reports from the press hit the Internet, I was going to be surprised to if Ross left. Color me surprised, but I do understand his reasoning. With the mammoth success of The Hunger Games, expectations and deadlines were going to mount for the sequel. I did hope Ross would stick around for no other reason than his ability to work with Suzanne Collins to adapt the book to the screenplay. Hopefully whoever Lionsgate brings in next will be able to pick up right where Ross left off.

What this means for the future of Catching Fire is unclear and the rest of the planned four-film series is unclear. Most fans will want to know if this means the production schedule has been set back. When a film loses its director, there’s always the risk that the timetable can slide while studios scramble to find a replacement. For now, fans and the Internet will begin speculating over who will step up to direct in Ross’ place.

For the rest of Ross’ statement, head over to the Wall Street Journal blog.

New ‘Essential Guide to Characters’ in the Works

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Yesterday, the official Del Rey Star Wars Twitter account dropped this tease:

I know I’d love to see a number of post-Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe characters included. A longshot, sure, but any chance I could see something about the Antilles sisters?

Who would you like to see in the third EG to Characters? Drop a comment in this post to tell us!