Your weekend edition of The Week in Star Wars has some good news for those worried about Carrie Fisher in Episode IX, some bits from Episode VIII and the Han Solo movie and some great box office news for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story…
One last time, I would like to push you along to our Carrie Fisher special edition of The Week in Wars. Read it here.
Let’s kick things off with the biggest news of the week, which is surrounding what will happen with Carrie Fisher’s Leia Organa in Star Wars: Episode IX (not Episode XI as I stupidly wrote last week) following her tragic passing last year. Last week we brought you the news that Disney, Lucasfilm and director Colin Trevorrow were meeting to discuss their next moves, with one option being to create a computer generated version of the character just as they had done with Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It was then reported this week by BBC Newsnight that Disney were negotiating with the Fisher estate “over her continued appearance in the franchise.” While many Star Wars fans were up in arms and very upset about this decision, the official website denied the rumour. “We don’t normally respond to fan or press speculation, but there is a rumor circulating that we would like to address. We want to assure our fans that Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess or General Leia Organa. Carrie Fisher was, is, and always will be a part of the Lucasfilm family. She was our princess, our general, and more importantly, our friend. We are still hurting from her loss. We cherish her memory and legacy as Princess Leia, and will always strive to honor everything she gave to Star Wars…”
…This likely means that we won’t be seeing a trailer for Star Wars: Episode VIII any time soon, as they will need to re-write and re-shoot some scenes to remove Leia’s plots that would have carried over into Episode IX. With that in mind, we might not get a trailer now until Star Wars Celebration in April…
…Our own Anghus Houvouras was very against the idea in his article Digital Damnation, or Denying Dignity to the Dead with Computer Generated Doppelgangers, which you can read here…
…Congratulations to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story that not only passes $900 million worldwide this week, but was also lead the nominations at the 15th annual VES Awards. If you wanted to see how Rogue One did so well with its visual effects, you can watch this video of ILM’s digital recreations of classic characters…
…We all know that plenty of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ended up on the cutting room floor, and it seems we’ll soon to get to see some of the deleted material in the form of a Marvel comic book, which will be out in April. “The comics will definitely expand on what was seen in both Rogue One the film and the novelization,” states writer Jody Houser. “Lucasfilm and Gareth Edwards had a bunch of ideas for extra scenes and character moments that didn’t make it into the film. I’m having a lot of fun playing around with those. Adaptations across different forms of media have always been a great opportunity to explore other facets of the story, and we’re excited to have new material in the Rogue One comic…”
…On the topic of things being cut from Rogue One, it was revealed this week that the popular Darth Vader sequence from the movie was added in during the now infamous reshoots. “What was added — and it was a fantastic add — was the Vader action scene, with him boarding the ship and dispatching all those rebel soldiers,” editor John Gilroy said. “That was something conceptualized a little later. It was a really great punch in the arm and something I think fans wanted to see…”
… And speaking of stuff that was cut, you can watch a deleted scene from Star Wars: The Force Awakens here…
…Looking ahead to Star Wars: Episode VIII, and director Rian Johnson confirmed this week that the events of the movie will follow on directly from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “I don’t want to skip ahead two years,” he told USA Today. “I want to see the very next moment of what happens.” You can read more of his comments about Rey’s journey in the movie here…
…Johnson also talked about what we can expect from Rey and Luke Skywalker in Episode VIII, which you can read here…
…After the news that he was in talks to star in Han Solo: A Star Wars Story (which will be shooing in Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands), it was confirmed this week that Woody Harrelson will feature in a mentor role to the famous smuggler played by Alden Ehrenreich. “I’m a mentor to Han, but I’m also a bit of a criminal,” Harrelson said in an interview following the announcement. “I don’t think I should say much more than that, because the Force is not allowing me…”
…Joining Harrelson and Ehrenreich is Donald Glover as a young Lando Calrissian, and the Community star talked about the role this week saying, “”Lando’s a big deal to me. It was literally the first toy I ever got. When you have something that’s kind of iconic … where people pay attention to it, it’s hard because you want to live up to the expectation. But all you can do is live up to your own. And Star Wars is really high. I really just want to have fun. The directors: (Christopher Miller and Phil Lord), they’re amazing. I love the guy who is playing Han. It’s going to be a good time. It’s going to be fun. I’m getting ready to just have fun with those guys…”
…Check out some images and clips from the latest episode of Star Wars Rebels here…
…And finally, here are you comic book previews for the week. First up is Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #3: Aphra’s hunt for the Ordu Aspectu has led to the last place she wants to be…an Imperial encampment! The good doctor, her deadly droids and her Wookiee companion are in for trouble. And here’s a preview for Star Wars: Darth Maul #1: Bred on hate, fear, and anger. Steeped in the ways of darkness…trained to kill. Darth Maul’s time as an apprentice to Darth Sidious has long been cloaked in shadows, but at last we will reveal his tale of revenge. His master tells him to embrace his anger, but to stay hidden and bide his time. Maul has waited long enough – his patience growing ever thinner. His moment to step into the light has finally come. Prepare for a tale of unbridled rage as Darth Maul readies one of his first encounters with his mortal enemy…with the Jedi. Go inside the mind of the fan-favorite character as Bunn and Ross bring you the highly anticipated STAR WARS: DARTH MAUL #1 – available February 1st!
That’s all for this week – may the Force be with you.
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the co-host of The Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @ThisisLukeOwen and read his weekly feature The Week in Star Wars.
