In this week’s edition of The Week in Star Wars, we look at a rather dubious rumour about Hayden Christensen returning to the Star Wars Universe, John Boyega, Domhnall Gleeson and Gwendoline Christie talk The Force Awakens and more…
Kicking things off as we usually do on The Week in Star Wars by looking at the latest from The Force Awakens. And this week John Boyega sat down to talk about his role as Finn and said that his story mirrors that of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo: “When I read the script I cried, and I’m not really a big crier. I’m more like a frog-in-the-throat kind of guy, who’ll try to hold it in and make sure I don’t let it all out. Finn is dope. His story is so epic. It’s a story that’s never been seen before, but it also mirrors the stories of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. And he’s quirky and charismatic and funny. For me, he was the best character in the script…”
…Meanwhile Gwendoline Christie has been talking about her villain role as Captain Phasma saying, “I found it to be a really interesting acting challenge, not just because of what I felt this character was representing — and it was just what I felt, and we talked about it a little bit, but it was never like a manifesto, ‘this is what it must be’ — and it was exciting to me to have that weight of responsibility taken away, of having to be a certain way as a woman, to have to be mindful in a way that isn’t always useful. To have that stripped away was very liberating, and it meant that as an actor I had to focus on other things. I had to focus on what my body was communicating and what exactly my voice is communicating…”
…And Domhnall Gleeson has also been talking about his role as General Hux saying, “I mean you look at him and you realise he’s not a good guy! He’s got an English accent so he can’t be good.” (Didn’t Obi-Wan have an English accent?) “I hadn’t played anybody like that before. Star Wars is amazing, J.J. Abrams is amazing, but the thing to do was play something different,” he adds. “That’s what got me really excited. That’s one of those ‘pinch me’ moments. I experienced it in a major way on Harry Potter and it’s a similar thing with Star Wars, except you look down and you’re in the gear and you have stuff to say and you’re like, ‘Holy God.’ And yes, it’s very difficult to remain cool about stuff like that. There’s no two ways about it, it’s totally brilliant…”
…Ever since he was announced for the movie, it was assumed that Max Von Sydow (The Exorcist) would be a villain. Because, well c’mon, he’s Max Von Sydow. Well a new rumour this week may have given us a clue as to who he’s playing in the movie. Sydow has been rumoured as everyone from an old Boba Fett to General Jan Dodonna, but if this new report is to be believed, he’s actually playing a character called Lor San Tekka, “a man in possession of information vital to the quest of finding the elusive Luke Skywalker.” The rumour also claims he has ties to Poe Dameron’s character…
…Ever wondered what it would be like to look at Jakku in a 360 environment? Of course you have. Thankfully, now you can…
…In a bit of surprising news, a new poll suggests that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is not the most anticipated movie to be released in Q4 of 2015. If you were thinking it might be the next James Bond adventure Spectre, you would be wrong. In fact, it’s actually YA phenomenon The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. Piedmont Media Research polled 3000 people about their most-anticipated upcoming release, and the fourth entry in The Hunger Games series scored a 514 rating (the highest since they started the poll five years ago) while The Force Awakens scored a 495. We’re not sure how accurate this poll could be, since The Force Awakens is set to make a huge amount of money on its opening weekend. However, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 did break US box office records for October and was the biggest domestic movie of 2014…
…In the rather dubious rumour department, and some sources with the Star Wars: Episode VIII camp (currently filming in Ireland) are suggesting that a team is set to fly out to the US and film some scenes with Hayden Christensen who is now “back in training”. The rumours suggest this could be for Star Wars: Episode VIII in either a flashback or as a ghost (playing into the George Lucas cannon version of Return of the Jedi), but he could also be doing something for Rogue One: A Star Wars story where Darth Vader is rumoured to appear. Get a pinch of salt and take it with this news…
…You can read Ricky Church’s review of Star Wars: Aftermath, which details what happened after the events of Return of the Jedi before we reach The Force Awakens. Here’s a snippet: “Any one who is a Star Wars fan and enjoys reading a story with nuanced characters filled with complexities should do themselves a favour and pick up Wendig’s book. Star Wars: Aftermath is a very engaging and fun read that does a very good job of drawing the reader in and satiating the desire for more Star Wars in the home stretch to the new film. If Aftermath is anything to go by, fans old and new alike only have good things to look forward to…”
…And here’s are four things we may have learned about The Force Awakens from Star Wars: Aftermath…
…Speaking of Star Wars: Aftermath, and Lucasfilm have announced more books based around The Force Awakens including Star Wars: Han & Chewie Return!, Star Wars: Finn & Rey Escape!, Star Wars: Before the Awakening and a whole host of other books for children. The Finn & Rey book even comes with stickers!..
…Lucasfilm also announced this week that they are set to release a deluxe set of soundtracks for the original Star Wars saga, which will feature John Williams’ scores for The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The scores will be available in three formats, all of which contain all six soundtracks: Star Wars: The Ultimate Vinyl Collection, Star Wars: The Ultimate Soundtrack Edition, and Star Wars: The Ultimate Digital Collection…
…Looking ahead to Star Wars: Episode IX, and director Colin Trevorrow spoke with our friends at the Jurassic Cast Podcast about Jurassic World 2, but also dropped a line about the final part of this new Star Wars trilogy. “I obviously can’t talk too much about Star Wars, but the idea of that ‘Universe,’ that word gets thrown around a lot as far as movies are concerned and what people are building, that one’s an actual universe,” he told the podcast. “I think that the size and scope of that… Every kind of story we can think of can be told in the Star Wars universe, because it is endless and boundless…”
…A quick note on Star Wars Battlefront, and a BETA version of the game for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC will be available on October 8th…
…And lastly on the comic book front, Marvel has announced the upcoming release of Star Wars Annual #1 and Star Wars: Darth Vader Annual #1, two oversized issues which will include 40 pages of brand new stories for the price of $4.99 apiece and Luke Skywalker features on the cover for Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Shattered Empire #4.
That’s all for this week – may the Force be with you.
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
