It’s been a big week for Star Wars this week – and not all of its good. We’ve got the latest on those Rogue One reshoots, an update on the Han Solo spin-off movie and more…
Blimey, we know what we’re kicking things off with this week don’t we? It was reported by Page Six on Tuesday that Disney were very unhappy with Gareth Edward’s spin-off movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and have demanded some rather expensive reshoots. The sources at Disney – so they claim – didn’t feel that the movie was on the same level of quality as J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and with that movie making over $2 billion, The House of Mouse will want Edwards to replicate that success. “The filmmaking team and the studio always anticipated additional shooting and second unit work to make the film the absolute best it can be, and the actors were aware there would be additional shooting,” their source claimed. “Coming off The Force Awakens, there’s an incredibly high bar for this movie and we have a responsibility to the franchise and to the fans to deliver the best possible movie we can.” While some thought it was nothing short of rumour and speculation, Deadline corroborated the story a couple of days later…
…So why the reshoots? Well The Hollywood Reporter are saying it was due to the movie’s tone. We know from Edwards’ track record (Monsters and Godzilla) that he has a pretty sombre tone and there is a chance this is reflected in Rogue One. THR’s report says that Disney didn’t want something too dark, and instead wanted Edwards to lighten the tone to be more in line with Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, especially as the movie acts as a prequel to the movie. “The goal of the reshoots will be to lighten the mood, bring some levity into the story and restore a sense of fun to the adventure,” their report said. “[The first cut] didn’t measure up to the bar set in terms of four-quadrant appeal…”
…Just before we continue the details, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story screenwriter Christoper McQuarrie (Edge of Tomorrow) noted on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/chrismcquarrie/status/738536269928669184
…Which brings us to our final bit of news on Rogue One‘s reshoots which is more in line with what McQuarrie is saying. Entertainment Weekly said that reshoots are happening, but their not because of tone or major re-writes. “If we were rewriting the movie and reshooting 40 percent of movie, we would not be finishing in August,” EW’s Disney source says. “People really would be panicking – and changing the release date.”
…Lastly, our own Tony Black has penned Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the Unhelpful Rumour Machine on the subject, and Oli and I discussed it on The Flickering Myth Podcast…
…Speaking of the spin-off movies and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan has revealed that Han Solo: A Star Wars Story will shoot in January 2017. “You know, Chris Miller and Phil Lord are going to direct it,” said Kasdan. “They’re great, funny and imaginative and we’ve had a great time together. My son [Jon] and I wrote the script and Chris and Phil are working on it and they’re about to move to London to start shooting in January. And it should be fun…”
…Coming next month to London is the annual Star Wars Celebration, which of course has become something rather special with the new movies on the horizon. Lucasfilm released this rather awesome poster for the event, and Star Wars Rebels‘ Dave Filoni has revealed that he’s bringing news of the third season with him…
…Taking a step back in time, here’s a teaser trailer for the originally-titled Star Wars: Episode VI – Revenge of the Jedi…
…Let’s move over to video games now, and one of the common complaints about Star Wars Battlefront was a lack of single-player campaign. Well it turns out that there was one planned, but it was scrapped so the game could be out along with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was a conscious decision we made due to time and being able to launch the game, side by side with the movie that came out, to get the strongest possible impact,” Executive vice president of EA, Patrick Soderlund said adding, “I think the team created a really good game based on the premise that we had. Are we happy with the 75 rating? No. Is that something we’re going to cure moving forward? Yes.” One would assume a single-player campaign will arrive with Star Wars Battlefront 2…
…With a month to go until its release, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment unveiled the Deluxe Edition version of LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens – which includes collectable artwork, The Empire Strikes Back Character Pack, Season Pass and an exclusive Finn LEGO Minifigure – and a BB-8 trailer for the game was released…
…Sideshow Collectibles unveiled its upcoming Darth Maul Premium Format figure from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which is available to pre-order now, priced $519.99; check it out here…
…Disney and Lucasfilm’s The Star Wars Show released a new viral promo video for Claudia Gray’s novel Star Wars: Bloodline, which sees Princess Leia coming under attack for her family heritage, marriage to a notorious spice trafficker, and cold-blooded murder of a successful entrepreneur; check it out here…
…And finally, here’s your comic book previews for the week. First up is the oddly-titled Star Wars: The Force Awakens Adaptation #1: It’s been decades since the Rebel Alliance destroyed toppled the Galactic Empire. But now, on the remote planet of Jakku, there’s been a stirring in the Force. A young scavenger named Rey, a deserting Stormtrooper named Finn, an ace pilot named Poe, and a dark apprentice named Kylo Ren. Their lives are about to collide. The awakening is happening at your local comic shop this June with STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS ADAPTATION #1! Next up is Star Wars: Darth Vader #21: Vader takes on Cylo and his cybernetic operatives. The Executor moves closer to completion in time for its launch. Meanwhile — the murderbots take on their “master”. And lastly, here’s Star Wars: Poe Dameron #3: The First Order has caught up with Poe’s X-wing squadron! Agent Terrex has them boxed into a corner! Then…the egg starts to hatch.
That’s all for this week – may The Force be with you.
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Luke Owen
