Up for another Episode IX trailer rumor?

If not, too bad: we’ve got a pair of big Episode IX rumors out of Fantha Tracks today. The first? A “major UK cinema chain” might have received an IX trailer. Will we get a teaser of some sort with the title reveal? Will we get anything at all before Celebration in April? One way or another, we’ll hopefully find out soon. Or not.

Secondly, and more spoilery, there’s a potential new look for the Millennium Falcon.

J.J. Abrams: Starting Episode IX is “bittersweet”

J.J. Abrams posted his first tweet to his personal account to mark the first day of shooting on Episode IX. “Bittersweet starting this next chapter without Carrie, but thanks to an extraordinary cast and crew, we are ready to go.” he tweeted. “Grateful for @rianjohnson and special thanks to George Lucas for creating this incredible world and beginning a story of which we are lucky to be a part. #IX”

Continue reading “J.J. Abrams: Starting Episode IX is “bittersweet””

New Flight of the Falcon series coming in the fall

A new middle-grade series based around the Millennium Falcon is coming, just in time for October’s Star Wars Reads day. The Flight of the Falcon series will begin with Lando’s Luck, a middle grade novel written by Justina Ireland with illustrations by Annie Wu. Further installments will feature Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca and James’ boy Hondo Ohnaka.

Landing at a docking bay or bookseller near you in time for Star Wars Reads in October, the series of books and comics about the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy will help connect different eras of Star Wars storytelling through the adventures aboard the beloved ship. Each fiction title will include a map to trace the literal flight path and help readers understand the time and place where each story is set.

Bazine Natel, the spy seen on Takodana in The Force Awakens, is on the hunt for the Falcon, and her intel leads her across the galaxy to Batuu, a remote outpost on the galaxy’s edge. In order to find the Falcon, Bazine must learn all she can about the infamous YT-1300 freighter—the ship that countless bounty hunters and Imperials have almost caught over the years.

“These tales take us from a time just before Solo: A Star Wars Story, when Lando and L3 had the Falcon, through the original trilogy, and into the new trilogy, ending on the incredible world of Batuu,” says Michael Siglain, Creative Director, Lucasfilm Publishing.

The series will continue with the choose-you-own-adventure A Luke and Leia Adventure, written by Cavan Scott with art by Elsa Charretier and Pirate’s Price, written by Lou Anders with art by Annie Wu, starring Han Solo, Chewbacca and Hondo Ohnaka.

The Millennium Falcon is going on tour

An interior replica of Solo‘s Millennium Falcon will be visiting four U.S. locations over the next month.

Constructed inside three 40-foot long shipping containers, visitors can stop by Lando’s bar, sit at the famed Dejarik table, and finally get the chance to say “Punch it!” from inside the iconic cockpit. The finest details were crafted using the same molds used in Solo: A Star Wars Story!

So if you’re in or nearby Highland Heights, Kentucky (seven miles southeast of Cincinnati), Atlanta, Salt Lake City, or Denver, congrats! As for the rest of us, there’s a tour in the latest episode of The Star Wars Show, which also features Marvel’s Kevin Feige and a model Falcon made with Solo cups:

Look guys, I usually don’t bother, but we’ve got the costume exhibit opening up in Detroit next month. You can swing this by after Denver, right? Alphabetical!

Solo and the evolution of the Millennium Falcon

Over at Entertainment Weekly, Solo‘s Jon Kasdan and Alden Ehrenreich discuss the movie’s Millennium Falcon and how it evolves with each owner, from Lando’s “party vessel” to the grimy version we meet in A New Hope. Also at EW, a look at the movie’s Hasbro toy line.

It must be merch reveal day, because we also have io9 with the 6″ figures of Han, Lando and Qi’ra, while The Hollywood Reporter has the LEGOs.