Your weekend edition of The Week in Star Wars has a look at the costumes for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Harrison Ford presenting Star Wars Land, more movies after Episode IX and writer-director Kevin Smith’s role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens is finally revealed…
We’re kicking things off this week by looking – get this – past Star Wars: Episode IX. When Disney first announced they’d purchased the rights to make more Star Wars movies, they initially announced a new trilogy to take us up to 2019, which was then followed up announcements for spin-off (or Anthology) movies in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Han Solo: A Star Wars Story (with rumours of a Boba Fett one in there too). It was assumed by the fanbase that this new trilogy would then mark the end of Star Wars. No so, says Disney’s Bob Iger. “Marvel, you’re dealing with thousands and thousands of characters – that will go on forever,” Iger said in an interview when asked about The Marvel Cinematic Universe ending after Avengers: Infinity War. “There will be more after [the already announced Star Wars movies]. I don’t know how many, I don’t know how often.” So, it looks like The Avengers and the galaxy far, far away will continue to have adventures on the big screen until the well finally dries up. With The Force Awakens now at $1.9 billion, you can’t really blame them…
…With that in mind, the scripts for Star Wars: Episode VIII were sent out to the cast this week…
…And talking of Star Wars: Episode IX, director Colin Trevorrow has said that he will shoot the movie on film, and wants to shoot some of it in ACTUAL SPACE. “There’s something in my brain that says, ‘well they didn’t have video cameras then,'” said Trevorrow. “[Star Wars] is a period film. It happened a long time ago. I asked the question, ‘Is it possible for us to shoot IMAX film plates in actual space for Star Wars?’ And I haven’t gotten an answer yet, but they’ve shot IMAX in space!..”
..Speaking of Marvel and Star Wars, following on from Stan Lee’s comments about a potential crossover, our own Neil Calloway wrote “The Good and Bad of a Marvel and Star Wars Crossover Movie“…
…Writer and director Kevin Smith has joined the vast list of cameos in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (which includes Ewan McGregor, Frank Oz, Daniel Craig, Thomas Brodie-Sangster), and was revealed to have voiced a Stormtrooper in the film. Smith – who was actually the first person to reveal that Stormtroopers would feature in Episode VII – lent his voice to a Stormtrooper during the attack on Maz Kanata’s castle on Takodana, delivering the line “We have incoming at 28.6! Move!”…
…And speaking of cameos, Ewan McGregor was asked about his cameo this week, even joking that it was something he’d be expecting. “I’d been waiting for the call to come for two years,” he told Jimmy Kimmel. “I thought maybe they’ve lost my agent’s phone number. Then I got a call from JJ just shortly before the film was released. He asked me to come in and said, ‘I’d love you to be a part of it.’ The line is, ‘Rey, these are your first steps,’ but they got Alec Guinness to do ‘Rey,’ which is extraordinary because he’s not alive anymore. They got a line of him as Obi-Wan Kenobi saying ‘afraid,’ and cut the ‘A’ and the ‘D’ off. So Alec Guinness is saying ‘Rey,’ and I’m saying, ‘These are your first steps.’” With the rumours of an Obi-Wan Kenobi trilogy of movies still in the air, we’ll see if McGregor gets a call again…
…Lastly on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, here’s another VFX breakdown video…
…We know that the potential Young Han Solo is now down to 12 names, and two of those contenders spoke about the role this week. “I don’t think I’d be intimidated,” said Logan Lerman. “It would just be fun. But, I mean, I really can’t speak about it. There’s nothing I can really say about it right now, at this point in time.” While Jack Reynor added: “We’re talking about Harrison Ford,. He’s no chump. You can’t do an imitation. You can’t try and just emulate what that is. It’s got to be something new. It’s also got to be something that the audience is going to respond to. [It] would be kind of an incredible gig to get. Totally insane. I think [Lord and Miller] are the perfect guys to do that movie…”
…Looking ahead to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and fans attending the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Germany were treated to a glimpse at some of the costumes from the film, with Lucasfilm displaying the costumes for Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen, and Jiang Wen’s characters…
…Some rumours for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story now, and first up is some possible news on Forest Whitaker’s character in the movie. According to one report, Whitaker’s character is said to be a good guy, who could also be a bounty hunter. A battle-hardened veteran, he has lost a leg and has a robot prosthetic, as well as needing a cane to walk. He also wears a cape, while “his costume is a hodgepodge of different things (think of someone you might see at Maz’s castle)…”
…Next up is from LEGO sets – which have particuarly troublesome with spoilers lately – and during a presentation at Nuremberg Toy Fair – where those Rogue One costumes were on display – The LEGO Group unveiled some of its Star Wars plans for 2016, with Rogue One accompanied by an image of what appears to be Slave I – which is of course the ship of the fearsome bounty hunter Boba Fett…
…If you thought going to the cinema to see the adventures of Star Wars was great, then how about going to a theme park to relive them in person? Last year during the D23 Expo it was announced that Disney was set to introduce Star Wars Land attractions at Disneyland Walt Disney World resorts, and now it has been announced that Han Solo himself Harrison Ford will host a special preview of the attractions next month on ABC. The preview will air as part of Disneyland’s upcoming anniversary special The Wonderful World of Disney: Disneyland 60, which is set to air on Sunday February 21st. Construction is underway on Star Wars Land, although there’s been no word as to a potential opening date. Attractions are said to include life size replicas of the Millennium Falcon and Poe Dameron’s black X-Wing fighter from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as well as two signature rides, one of which will put you at the controls of the Falcon…
…Electronic Arts released a bunch of free DLC for Star Wars Battlefront this week which added new multiplayer modes, outfits and challenges. They also revealed that February’s free DLC will include a new Survival mission on Hoth and a Hoth map for Walker Assault, Supremacy, Fighter Squadron and Turning Point, while March will bring an Endor map and Tatooine Survival map…
…If you missed this week’s Star Wars Rebels episode, “The Protector of Concord Dawn”, then you can watch a clip of it here which sees Hera in action and you can check out a preview clip of next week’s episode – “Legends of the Lasat” – here. You can also watch the Rebels Recon featurette on the episode here, and read Chris Cooper’s review of “A Princess on Lothal” here…
…Here’s some news that is bound to excite fans of the old Star Wars Expanded Universe, and in particular Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire trilogy as it’s being reporting that Lucasfilm is set to bring the fan favourite Grand Admiral Thrawn into official Star Wars canon, with the character reportedly set to appear in the third season of Star Wars Rebels…
…And lastly, here’s your comic book previews for the week – including a new story arc for Marvel’s Star Wars. With that in mind, we’ll start with Marvel’s Star Wars #16, set for release on February 17th: Chart topping writer Jason Aaron and incoming artist Leinil Yu bring you the exciting next adventure in the hit series! Following the events of Vader Down, the Rebels travel to a prison base with their high-value detainee Doctor Aphra in tow. Unfortunately, they aren’t the only ones with eyes on the prison! With the base under siege by mysterious foes, can Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie and the Droids prevent a mass breakout? And here’s the preview for Star Wars: Obi-Wan and Anakin #2, released on February 3rd: Master and Padawan find themselves stranded on an unfamiliar world…a world of strange, primitive technology and dangerous natives. But even if they can save themselves…why were they called to this world?
That’s all for this week – may The Force be with you…
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and a contributor on The Flickering Myth Movie Show. You can follow him on Twitter @ThisisLukeOwen.
