No Episode VII news out of D23 live-action panel

DisneyJust as we were warned yesterday, there’s no breaking Episode VII news out of the live action film panel at Disney’s D23 Expo. Alan Horn reiterates the “summer 2015” release date and a few other things that have already been well confirmed (Michael Arndt, J.J. Abrams, John Williams, spinoffs with Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg) and then moved on, much to the disappointment of the crowd.

There’s still Pablo Hidalgo’s Star Wars crash course later today, but I wouldn’t expect much breaking news there. (Please keep stormtroopers well away from the edge of the stage.)

Still, that said, they are previewing plenty of footage and stars from their other films – including a first look clip from Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent – so if nothing else that probably means good things for Star Wars fans attending D23 in the future.

11 Replies to “No Episode VII news out of D23 live-action panel”

  1. If Disney continues its pattern for D23 Expo with a two year cycle, the next D23 will be in 2015.

    Really, they should sort out their stuff, and put D23 and SW Celebration on opposite years to make life easier for a lot of people.

    1. Well they just announced the next one for 2015, so I guess it is biyearly. Good, because I really don’t want to go to one of these. (I suppose there could be Spinoff #1 stuff there, but pah.)

      I think a lot of the frustration is that we’ve pretty much known the Hamill/Ford/Fisher stuff for ages, and it seems ridiculous to keep that a ‘secret’ just for the sake of keeping it secret. New casting I suspect they’ll keep as long as they can, but the Big 3 is both dead obvious and already out of the bag, thanks to George. Maybe it’s just the longest negotiation period ever. ;)

      Still, I’m pretty much resigned to waiting at this point. Something will come out eventually.

      (And almost certainly not the title, jfc. Damn Marvel for making people expect one this early.)

  2. The whole rolling out of news has been really cack-handed, but then again people (me included) have been expecting news when there’s been none. Just disappointing, assume it’s down to JJ’s ‘keep everything secret’ MO)

  3. So when will they say the big three are in. Also they could have just said the name and that would have thrilled us hats core fans.

    1. Hats core! I know it’s a typo but I like it!

      No idea. They’ll announce when they’re ready to announce.

      [I’d insert a psychedelic Willy Wonka GIF here but I’m on my phone.]

  4. They don’t owe us anything. They didn’t promise us anything either. But if we just get big news randomly via the official site, it is going to be like someone who didn’t get you a birthday present, a Christmas present, or a Valentines day gift and then all of a sudden on a random day in the middle of the month gives you an awesome gift. Maybe that analogy sucks, but they could have been a bit more symbolic (May 4th), celebratory (SDCC), occasional (CEII), or familial (D23).

    It looks like the biggest news will just come on a random day now. That can be cool or neat or whatever. But it hurts when you’re enthusiastic.

    Also, regardless of what they’re saying, they didn’t make it super clear they weren’t really doing anything with Star Wars until it was really late in the game. It became even more unclear when the Live Action Panel added Lucasfilm to the listings for a 3 minute honorable mention. There were lots of other movies talked about for just as long, if not longer, that were not listed in the description. To me it reads like they were trying to hook us in to sell us their films. Or maybe they were just happy to have Lucasfilm so they listed it. I don’t want to assume the worst.

    I get the fandom. I get the “what if they’re lying” aspects. It is insane. I dealt with insane people saying Abrams was there. They knew Kennedy was flying in. I just had to smile and say “cool” and exit the conversation.

    But when they say they aren’t really showing anything, it can comparatively speaking, still be something to us. A release date would be nothing, comparatively speaking. Any small tidbit would be nothing compared to watching 10 minutes of Thor.

    I liked when they made it really clear SDCC wasn’t going to have anything. Bob Iger’s words broke when I was sleeping because I was going to bed to get up at 2am to get in line.

    Don’t get me wrong, like I said, they don’t owe us anything. I wish there was a solution to this. I had a lot of fun.

  5. In my opinion, the problem is that they started with so many bits and pieces last October: A writer, a producer, two seasoned advisors, and a release date, followed by spin-off plans and finally a director. And ever since to the public eye things have ground to a halt. Okay, we got McCaig and Chiang (which was great, by the way), and they confirmed the return of John Williams, but I don’t think it was unreasonable to expect more.
    Again: I’d kill for a blurry image of Chiang sitting at his desk painting something (anything). Or for one photo a week of people moving equipment marked Ep7 or building miniature sets (focus on the people, apparently, not on what they are building).
    I don’t need to know what they are doing. They have Kennedy, Abrams, Kasdan, Kinberg, Arndt and maybe even Lucas, so there’s no need to worry. But it would be nice to just observe from a very, very far distance that something is happening. Just to be a part of the process. That’s what being a fan is all about, isn’t it? Being part of something?

  6. Actual comment on the TF.N boards:

    “Disney is just uncool if they tease and disappoint the SW fans. The SW fans make Disney relevant.”

  7. Just fyi, there are no casting ‘secrets’. If someone hasn’t been signed, they haven’t been cast. That’s what triggers an announcement. That’s why everyone who has been announced has been announced when they were.

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