Club Jade

Remember Chewie, the Black List script that follows Peter Mayhew behind the scenes of Star Wars and beyond? Fanboys director Kyle Newman is developing it, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Newman has “secured Mayhew’s life rights in order to further develop the script.” Very tall British actors, you’re on notice.

Saturday was the first day of the inaugural Course of the Force lightsaber relay, helping to raise funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation while celebrating geekery on its way from Santa Monica to San Diego and Comic-Con. Ready for your “Awww..” moment? Skip to 11:45 in the video above to see the last runner of the day – the king of fast, in his adorable Artoo costume!

The kick-off conival had its moments of fun, with Peter Mayhew and members of the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion helping to provide atmosphere at the Santa Monica Pier. Leading off the relay was host Chris Hardwick and a group of Make-A-Wish kids. Check out more costumed fun in the Southern California gray, thanks to Lesley Farquhar / Equinox Photography for sharing her photos.

Sunday will continue the relay from Redondo Beach to Huntington Beach, where there will be another Course of the Force conival at the HB pier (4pm to 9pm), including free performances by The Spazmatics at 6pm, and Dan Finnerty & The Dan Band at 8pm. The relay journey continues on Tuesday and Wednesday, going from Oceanside to Pacific Beach to downtown San Diego and Comic-Con!

Chris Hardwick’s ‘epic journey’ to bring the Course of the Force lightsaber from San Francisco to the Santa Monica Pier. Watch out for Ewoks.

With the Course of the Force lightsaber torch relay starting on Saturday in Santa Monica, there’s going to be a Endor-class celebration to kick it off at the Santa Monica Pier from 10 am to 2 pm. Enjoy live music by the Spazmatics, appearances and autographs by Star Wars characters including actor Peter Mayhew who played Chewbacca. At 1:00 p.m. Chris Hardwick and a crew of kids from Make-A-Wish will run the first segment of the inaugural Course of the Force from the Santa Monica Pier. Get the full Course of the Force schedule for both the relays and conivals at the Course of the Force site.

Here’s the rundown on more Course of the Force news:

• Leading the way for Course of the Force will be a mobile re-creation of Jabba’s Sail Barge, where crimelord Jabba the Hutt relay hosts Chris Hardwick, Ashley Eckstein, and Alison Haislip will be following the action. Being custom built at twenty-five feet long, it’s still being assembled, but I’m sure that it will be fully operational once the hostly trio arrives!
• Course of the Force has brought on some new sponsors, including frozen treat maker Otter Pops and SHOEBACCA.com. The online shoe store will be bringing Peter Mayhew to sign autographs at the Saturday and Sunday “conival” events in Santa Monica and Huntington Beach. They will also be having a Galactic Giveaway sweepstakes from July 7 to August 31 on www.shoebacca.com.
• Capping off the relay will be a concert by The Dan Band at the San Diego’s Balboa Theatre on Wednesday, July 11 live at 12:30 p.m. Tickets are available online at sandiegotheatres.org. “Truthfully, our first choice to conclude Course of the Force was Sy Snootles and the Max Rebo Band, but they’re not currently touring in this system,” Course of the Force host Chris Hardwick admitted, “But I sincerely can’t think of a better SECOND choice than The Dan Band! Everything is automatically more awesome when you add The Dan Band. True Story.”
• For those who want to help Make-a-Wish, but aren’t in Southern California, Course of the Force will have some ebay auctions for some unique prizes and swag.
• Celebrities who will be participating in Course of the Force include: Drew Carey, Zachary Levi, Paul Scheer, Vanessa Lengies, Neil Everett, Kal Penn, Team Unicorn (Rileah, Clare, Milynn and Michele), Adrianne Curry, and more.

Look for more special Course of the Force updates next week!

We had a handful of guest announcements yesterday headlined by the man behind (inside?) Chewbacca, Peter Mayhew. Also: Performer/puppeteers Tim Rose and Paul Springer, makeup artist Nick Maley and actor Trevor Butterfield.

The Black List is an annual vote that picks the best unproduced scripts circulating around Hollywood. Among the top vote-getters this year is Evan Susser and Van Robichaux’s ‘Chewie,’ which Movieline describes as “A satirical behind the scenes look at the making of Star Wars through the eyes of Peter Mayhew.”

Previous Black List selections that went on to be filmed include Diablo Cody’s Juno and Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Network.

Folks, WonderCon was, as always, awesome fun this year, but it was also the most crowded I’ve ever seen it (I hear tickets sold out for both Friday and Saturday). This is my 6th non consecutive year in attendance and I was hit by so many backpacks I’ve come to loathe them. Lucky for you, I survived a near fall into a vendor’s booth to bring you this vital information. (more…)

We’re just under a week out from the Clone Wars finale on April 1. I’m sure the media blast has only just begun, but here’s what we have so far.

Lucasfilm held a screening of the season finale at the Presidio Friday evening. Jeff Ellis send the ForceCast a spoiler-free report.

There have been a number of interviews: Dave Filoni in USA Weekend, head writer Christian Taylor at Hero Complex, Peter Mayhew with the Daily Record, and Chewbacca himself at Yahoo.

And over at Big Shiny Robot, Bryan Young talks about getting rid of his cable and (mostly) the annoyance of different air dates and times. It’s certainly made a lot of folks cranky this week!

And after the finale, if you happen to be in San Francisco and/or attending WonderCon, there will be a panel there on the 2nd with Filoni, Mayhew, and Ashley Eckstein! Rumor has it they might show a peek at S4. And Pablo is hosting it.

The New York Times reports that everyone’s favorite Wookiee will appear in The Clone Wars two-episode season finale on April 1. Peter Mayhew will be doing the voice honors:

To portray Chewbacca for “The Clone Wars,” Mr. Mayhew was not required to don the outfit at all. (“I was doing it in my own clothing,” he said.) However, he did record dialogue for the character, having learned over the years to emulate the blend of bear growls and other animal noises used to create Chewie’s voice.

It’s a small galaxy after all, I suppose.

Meanwhile, over at Entertainment Weekly, there’s new video of Tarkin.

Pablo reports from last night’s The Empire Strikes Back screening and Harrison Ford Q&A in Los Angeles.