Club Jade

Bad Robot’s Bryan Burk – who will apparently be producing Episode VII – told Collider that they hope to start filming Episode VII next year, which only makes sense.

We’re progressing on a schedule to hopefully begin next year, or the beginning of next year, and the location is still kind of floating around in the air all depending on script and a whole bunch of other issues. As I just said, everything is kind of a free-flowing thing, and when we feel like the story level on this script and everything is really coming together and schedules are all working and pieces line up, we prowl ahead, and Star Wars will be no different.

Meanwhile, we’ve seen reports – well, tweets – indicating that screenwriter Michael Arndt may have been hanging out with J.J. Abrams this weekend.

There was plenty to behold for the 30th anniversary screening of Return of the Jedi at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood as part of Entertainment Weekly’s first CapeTown Film Festival. Held on Star Wars Day, May the Fourth, the set of four screenings of the no-longer-final installment of the Star Wars saga brought out fans and celebs alike. With Jedi being my favorite Star Wars film, I was stoked to see it again on the big screen – twice! While we’ve already covered the news of Mark Hamill’s appearance after the evening screenings, there’s plenty more to share, including a visit from The Clone Wars cast and more! (Also check out my full photo album on Flickr!)

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Mark Hamill was the surprise guest at Entertainment Weekly’s CapeTown Film Festival after the Return of the Jedi screening tonight. And naturally there’s already video of him talking about the droids and doing a Harrison Ford impression.

Here are reports from IGN’s Eric Goldman and AICN’s Eric Vespe. He’s talking about him and Carrie being in Episode VII like it’s a done deal. (He hasn’t talked to Ford recently.) From Goldman’s article:

After the crowd cheered this statement, Hamill added, “That’s what the challenge is, is to try and meet expectations of what you guys want. I think there’s nothing wrong with CGI, but I think you have to have a balance, because the camera perceives the width and the depth and the weight – even if it’s a miniature model, the camera just realizes that. So when you have too much CGI and the clouds are CGI and the trees are CGI and the buildings are CGI, you’re getting to a point where the figure in the shot is like a hybrid of an animated film and live-action. And I want it to have an organic look so that we don’t get into Roger Rabbit territory.” He then added, with a laugh, “But I don’t imagine that the priority is what I want!”

He talked about how he believes to focus of the new films will be the next generation, and that his role will be more Obi-wanesque: “Heavy on the Jedi mind tricks, less on the lightsaber duels.”

Vespe stuck around for the second Q&A, where Hamill got asked about the Expanded Universe:

Hamill has never read any of the books or other extended universe stuff. “People say to me, “Dude, you’re married to Mara Jade! She’s smokin’ hot!” I go, “That would have been nice if they had thought of that when I was actually involved! You know, because it’s the ultimate good news/bad news joke. The good news is there’s an attractive woman in the universe, only one, the bad news is she’s your sister.”

Read both recaps – Hamill says we probably know more than he does about VII at this point, but he does still manage to talk quite a bit. Enjoy it while you can… And hope we get an official announcement soon!

UPDATE: Here’s a full video of one of the talks, thanks to Jason Ward!

We had a minor explosion on Twitter tonight as a few tweets sparked rumors that Bob Iger and George Lucas were on hand at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for a ‘major’ Star Wars announcement. And thus Disney and Star Wars fans began using the hashtag #Igerwatch for their guesses and hopes…

Of course, TFN contacted Lucasfilm, who denied the whole thing. And so it was. The projected time of 9:45 p.m. came and went and the fireworks were strictly localized. Just another fun night on the internet!

Now our only hope for a big event-driven Star Wars announcement today is on the west coast, as the later screenings of Return of the Jedi at Entertainment Weekly’s CapeTown Film Festival commence. StarWars.com has already posted one report from Hollywood…

Or, of course, there may be no announcement at all. Who knows? Not me, clearly. At least we’ll have something more than puns for the next Twitter roundup, though.

The New York Times profiles J.J. Abrams – mostly via the folks around him as they enter the home stretch on Star Trek Into Darkness. (via)

What’s May 4th without a couple of Episode VII rumors? Two separate news sources are saying that locations in Iceland and Scotland may be in the mix for Episode VII.

The Sun claims that shooting in in the Highlands and the Isle of Skye is pretty much a done deal, but… It’s The Sun.

Meanwhile, in Iceland, Fréttatíminn (translated) is only claiming that possible locations have been scouted in the south of the country. Maybe. (via)

All I can say is that when it comes to photoshopping, Iceland is the clear winner.

Hero Compex has an interview with Simon Kinberg, the Mr. & Mrs. Smith writer who’s penning one of the first two Star Wars standalone films as well as acting as a consultant on Episode VII.

It’s still too early for him to drop any news bombs on us (and he eludes the obligatory EU question) but he does talk at length about how the characters are what drives the films – and we learn that his favorite character is Han Solo, who has been rumored to be a possible subject for one of the spin-offs.

/Film has an exclusive look at Lawrence Kasdan’s original handwritten first draft of The Empire Strikes Back plus a page from the first printed draft.

We have also been given Lawrence’s original handwritten page for the Leia / Han “I love you” scene, which of course features different dialogue (Harrison Ford famously came up with the classic “I know” on set while they were shooting the scene.)

Go check them out!

Who’s an appropriate choice to be Her Universe’s Fangirl of the Day on May 4th? Lucasfilm’s Mary Franklin is not only Club Jade’s favorite bartending visionary, but she’s been responsible for almost every single Celebration and the Bantha Tracks newsletter. (Which, granted, may be the more impressive feat overall, but hey: We love our bar.)

You’ll want to check out Mary’s blog entries on the StarWars.com blog, particularly her series going behind the scenes at Celebration, which even features a few other Jaders here and there.

And of course you’ve been keeping up with the Fangirls of the Day, right?

io9′s Charlie Jane Anders has a nice piece on Leigh Brackett, who wrote the first draft of the Empire Strikes Back.

She quotes Andrew Liptak’s look at Brackett’s planetary romances in Kirkus, among other tributes.