Your weekend edition of The Week in Star Wars has the latest on those Solo reshoot rumours, the original ending for The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi’s box office performance and more…
Let’s kick things off with the latest rumours from the troubled Solo: A Star Wars Story. The film hit a nasty bump in the road last year when Lucasfilm announced they had fired directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller with just a few weeks left of production, leading to the hiring of Ron Howard who has reportedly reshoot around 80% of the movie. A rumour at the tail end of last year said that Disney and Lucasfilm were braced for Solo: A Star Wars Story to bomb at the box office, and a new rumour from a Reddit poster named Hufflepuffins (who does have a track record of correct reports) is reporting that the movie is heading in for more reshoots at the end of January. Solo: A Star Wars Story is set for release in May but we still haven’t had a trailer, but these reshoots aren’t uncommon at this stage. Rather than anything major, it is likely these reshoots are simply pick-ups at this point. Still waiting on that trailer though…
…Over to Star Wars: The Last Jedi now, which passed $1.2 billion this past week, and topped the Japanese box office for the fourth week in a row. Lucasfilm also released an Easter Egg video for the movie, which you can watch here…
…An surprise member of the Star Wars: The Last Jedi cast did a Reddit AMA this week about their thoughts on the movie, which you can read here…
…And in an interview with the Huffington Post, director Rian Johnson spoke about Luke Skywalker in the movie. There are spoilers in the interview, but you can check it out here…
…Former Obi-Wan Kenobi Ewan McGregor also spoke about Star Wars: The Last Jedi this week at the Golden Globes. Unsurprisingly he teased a return to the role in the long-muted spin-off movie, but more importantly shared his thoughts on the eighth installment of the franchise. “[I] saw the new one over Christmas,” he said. “[I] thought it was really, really beautiful. I loved it…”
…Lastly on Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Flickering Myth writer Samuel Brace penned a column this week on how the franchise will never please every fan it has, which you can read here…
…Tom Jolliffe has also written an article this week on the franchise, asking just how far Star Wars can go…
…In an interesting note, Mark Hamill spoke this week with Mtime about the original ending for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. According to Luke Skywalker himself, the original finale of the movie would have seen Rey finding Luke surrounded by floating boulders – showing the Force was still strong with him. Now, that would have caused issues for Star Wars: The Last Jedi where Skywalker has cut himself off from The Force, something Hamill also noticed when reading the script. “When I read [The Last Jedi] before VII came out, I said ‘what?” and called J.J. or Rian to say, ‘Are you guys aware of this? Have you seen a cut? Is there floating boulders?’ And they said, ‘No, we caught that and we worked it all out’.”
…Hamill also spoke with Norma Jenner this week about who he thought the best fighter in the Star Wars universe is. Surprisingly he didn’t note a Jedi master, instead picking Donnie Yen’s Chirrut Imwe. “Oh gosh, [Chirrut Îmwe] in Rogue One, the martial artist,” answered Hamill, not quite remembering the name of Donnie Yen’s character in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. “When I saw that, I said ‘Well, forget it. I should never pick up a lightsaber again.’ I mean, he’s just awesome… I knew I was hugely impressed…”
…In some great news for fans, it was confirmed this week that John Williams will be returning for Star Wars: Episode IX…
…Star Wars Rebels returns on February 24th for the finale of its final season, and episode descriptions landed online this week which you can check out here…
…Sideshow revealed its Premium Format Han Solo in Stormtrooper disguise figure which is based on the likeness of Harrison Ford in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (which you can check out here) and Hot Toys released a batch of promotional images for its 1/6th scale Movie Masterpiece Series Boba Fett collectible figure which is based on the likeness of the Bounty Hunter in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (which you can check out here)…
…Before we get to our comic book preview, you can read Ricky Church’s review of Star Wars Adventures: Forces of Destiny – Leia here…
…And finally, here’s your comic book preview for Star Wars #42: THE ASHES OF JEDHA, PART 5! The Leviathan is heading for the remains of Jedha, prepared to pick the carcass of the once-holy planet clean. But with Luke Skywalker torn between his allegiance to the Rebellion and pursuing the path of a Jedi, who will lead the charge against the Empire?
That’s all for this week – may the Force be with you and a happy new year.
Luke Owen is the former Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth, a presenter for WrestleTalk, and the author of Lights, Camera, GAME OVER!: How Video Game Movies Get Made. You can follow him on Twitter @ThisisLukeOwen.
