EU Author Aaron Allston’s Upcoming Appearance Dates

Author, humorist, and Ewok enthusiast Aaron Allston has updated his appearance schedule for the remainder of the year:

  • May 5: Austin, TX | Dragon’s Lair Comics & Fantasy – with Peter Mayhew
  • May 30-June 3: Columbus, OH | Origin’s Game Fair – Michael Stackpole and Timothy Zahn also in attendance and will join Allston on a Star Wars panel or two
  • July 27-29:  Austin, TX | Armadillo Con
  • August 23-26: Orlando, FL | Celebration VI 
  • August 31-September 3: Atlanta, GA | Dragon*Con – Michael Stackpole, Timothy Zahn, and several other Expanded Universe writers will also be in attendance.

If you ever get the chance to see Allston on a panel at a convention, drop whatever it is you’re doing and grab a seat. He’s one of the funniest men alive and puts on an incredibly entertaining show. This year promises to be especially fun as his first X-Wing novel in thirteen years is due out in August.  

via Roqoo Depot

Star Wars Weekends Guests!

On last week’s podcast, we reported on the Celebrity Hosts for this year’s upcoming Star Wars Weekends – James Arnold Taylor and Ashley Eckstein.  On Friday, Disney announced the nearly full roster of guests.  Hooray!

Weekend I (May 18 – 20)

  • Ray Park – (Darth Maul – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace)
  • Jerome Blake (Rune Haako/Mas Amedda – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace)
  • Dee Bradley Baker (voice of Clone Captain Rex and Clone Commander Cody – Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

Weekend II (May 25- 27)

  • Andy Secombe (Watto – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace)
  • Ray Park (Darth Maul – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace)
  • Tom Kane (voice of Yoda – Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

Weekend III (June 1 -3)

  • Jake Lloyd (Anakin Skywalker – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace)
  • Silas Carson (Nute Gunray/Ki-Adi-Mundi – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace)
  • (Star Wars: The Clone Wars voice talent – currently TBD)

Weekend IV (June 8- 10)

  • Michonne Bourriague (Aurra Sing – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace)
  • Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett – Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi)
  • Daniel Logan (Boba Fett – Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones)
  • Nika Futterman (voice of Asajj Ventress – Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

It’ll be interesting to see the two Bobas together during Weekend 4, and I’m really looking forward to Nika Futterman’s appearance.  Asajj Ventress is one of my favorite characters on The Clone Wars and I don’t think she’s done an event like this before.  And I’m looking forward to seeing what Jake Lloyd has been up to, especially with The Phantom Menace 3D release this past February.

Personally, I’m hoping that the additional guest for Week 3 is Matt Lanter, for obvious reasons.

(via)

Director Ross’ Status Unclear for ‘Hunger Games’ Sequel

Yesterday, it was reported that Hunger Games director Gary Ross would not be directing its sequel, Catching Fire. Speculation ran rampant as to why Ross would back away from the already-blockbuster franchise with some showbiz sites stating that a money dispute was part of the issue. Others theorized that he simply didn’t have the desire to attach himself to a single story for the next several years.

Now there are reports that the previous reports were erronious and Ross has not told Lionsgate that he’s leaving. Stepping away from an almost guaranteed hit sequel didn’t make a whole lot of sense and for the sake of the next three films, I’d hope he sticks around. He seemed to have worked well with author Suzanne Collins in creating the adapted screenplay and that chemistry could be invaluable moving forward.

As so many of these stories go, no one really has a clue as to what’s going on. Yesterday’s news sounded rather definitive and today’s followups are backpedaling quickly, leaving fans rather confused about the future of the franchise. Personally, I would be surprised if Ross and Lionsgate parted ways at this point.

H/T to Club Jade for the followup news

Friday Star Wars Roundup

Welcome to the roundup!

At the end of every work week, we’re going to gather up the most interesting bits of Star Wars related news and discussion from around the web and hand them to you lucky readers in the handy link-dump format.

Two New Scoundrels Announced: We knew that Han, Chewie, and Lando would be comprising three of the characters in Timothy Zahn’s upcoming novel Star Wars: Scoundrels. Frank Parisi announced two additional characters via the Forcecast last weekend: Kell Tainer and Winter Celchu. The following animated gif accurately portrays the feelings of Tosche Station’s writing staff regarding this announcement:

Bless you, Bill Adama. More news below the cut.

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Denning Talks Fate of the Jedi with Fans

Over at Star Wars Books, Troy Denning conducted a Q&A session with fans via Facebook. Just what do fans want to know from the author that seems to have become the face of the Post-New Jedi Order EU? Why, what his dream project would be, of course.

I’ve been blessed with so many dream SW projects already that I feel guilty talking about another one . . . but I WOULD like to write the story of Yoda coming of age

Denning also dished on the creative process involved with writing Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse, his latest entry in the Expanded Universe and the conclusion of the nine-book megaseries.

One of our goals for Apocalypse was to open up a whole new boatload of story telling possibilities for the EU. I feel like we accomplished that, and there are about a hundred different SW stories I’d love to tell that are hinted at the end of Apocalypse.

While I understand the goal and what they were trying to accomplish, I couldn’t help but feel that this approach made Apocalypse too open-ended for it’s own good.

For more answers to fan questions, head on over to Club Jade for a transcript with some commentary.