Club Jade

Schmoes Know claims to have a source who’s seen the casting breakdown from J.J. Abrams. They claim the storyline involves the training of Jaina and Jacen Solo by Luke Skywalker – and that the below is directly cut and pasted from the casting breakdown:

Storyline: Two 17 year old twins, a girl and a boy, are trained by their uncle Luke to be the greatest Jedi’s in the galaxy. Problems arise when the male twin turns to the dark side.

Jaina Solo – Female, 17 years old, lead. – Jacen’s twin sister, one of the greatest Jedi’s in the galaxy, trained by her uncle Luke Skywalker

Jacen Solo – Male, 17 years old, lead – Jaina’s twin brother, one of the greatest Jedi’s in the world. A loner who is constantly struggling with the idea of what’s right and what’s wrong. Starts to turn to the dark side. Full of conviction that what he is doing is the “right thing”. Will eventually become Darth Caedus.

Of course, I’m deeply skeptical, and not just because this supposed ‘breakdown’ uses the term ‘Jedi’s.’ (Though that helps, it’s not out of the question – I doubt Pablo and co are personally copy-editing every production document, and we’ve seen Lucas do as he wills with in-universe grammar and pronunciation for years.)

But this is pretty straight from the novels, right down to Caedus, and that gives me pause. It’s far too easy to believe that someone who spent an hour or two at Wookieepedia threw this together. It could be their source messing around, it could be the Bad Robot folks testing for leaks – and, yeah, it could be true. But I wouldn’t start betting just yet

UPDATE #1: Bryan over at Big Shiny Robot has more reasons why this is probably false.

UPDATE #2: Collider has heard, independently of the first report, that Episode VII is looking to cast a son of Han Solo, though they’re also doubtful of the full Schmoes Know ‘scoop.’

UPDATE #3: HitFix’s Drew McWeeny is pretty adamant that this is fabricated as well, and that the chances of any EU making it to the screen are extremely slim. He does say that ILM has already begun work on what may be “the most elaborate physical build they’ve done for the effects team since Return Of The Jedi.”

Yeah, let’s call poodoo on this one right now. British tabloid The Sun is claiming that singer Florence Welch – of Florence and the Machine – is “being lined up for a leading role in the new Star Wars movie trilogy.” Riiiight.

They’re also claiming that Michael Jackson’s kids are “pushing for auditions,” because of course.

That said, if there’s a Mos Eisley bar-like scene featuring musicians planned in the new film, they could certainly do worse than a cameo from Welch. But for a lead role? I am beyond skeptical.

Oh, and she was born in 1986, which her makes her way too young to play Mara, so don’t even start. (via)

In a recent interview with Extra’s Mario Lopez, Carrie Fisher talks about bipolar disorder and, when asked about Episode VII, says: “We could get back together at Comic Con or one of those things, you never know.” But she also says she ran into Harrison Ford recently and he “doesn’t know,” so everything remains up in the air. (And it was only last week that Mark Hamill said he hasn’t signed a deal.) San Diego Comic Con is a major venue for giant announcements – it’s not so far-fetched that we might see an Episode VII panel and a major announcement of some sort there. But July 18 isn’t so far away, so don’t get your hopes up too high that anyone will be signed by then.

Location. Another report of Ireland being a contender for Episode VII filming from Clare People, this time a bit more specific: The Burren, which does look appropriately alien.

Who else wants in? The recent lineup of folks who wouldn’t say no to Lucasfilm: Daniel Radcliffe, the rumor-mongered John Noble, Josh Holloway and, of course, Joss Whedon bemoans that he’s too tied up for it.

Of course. William Shatner jokes that he’ll be “playing the bastard son of Leia and Jabba.”

First Scotland, now Ireland? Irish newspaper The Sunday World claims that J.J. Abrams “has already met with leading Irish film executives to discuss his plans – and has even begun to informally scout potential locations.” (via)

The next Mission: Impossible film, which Abrams is producing, may also film in Ireland.

Latino Review’s El Mayimbe says that sources are telling him that Jonathan Rhys Meyers of The Tudors fame is in talks for a role in Episode VII.

Meyers is best known for playing Henry VIII in the Showtime series, but if you’re a big Ewan McGregor fan you’ll no doubt recall his turn in Velvet Goldmine. Perhaps more tellingly: He was in the J.J. Abrams-directed Mission Impossible: III. His next major role is as the title character in NBC’s Dracula.

I think it says something that my first thought upon seeing ‘Tudors star’ in the headline was less Meyers and more Natalie Dormer, who’s been knocking it out of the park lately on Game of Thrones and Elementary. (And would thus probably be past being billed as just a ‘Tudors’ star, but hey: Gut feeling. Her Anne Boelyn was the best part of the series.)

I can’t help but hope this one ends up being only a rumor, but Meyers would make a decent villain, I suppose. With all that shouty petulance in his wheelhouse, I can certainly see him playing a failbot Sith/Darksider ala the late Jacen Solo.

The Wrap reports that the Paramount/CBS scuffle over Star Trek merchandising rights prevented J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot from doing quite as much as they would have liked to with the franchise off-screen – and that struggle could have had a part in him signing on with Lucasfilm. His Star Wars contract may allow Abrams a hand in the Star Wars “television properties, theme park rides and spin-off films” that will emerge in the new era his Episode VII is spearheading.

As successful as “Star Trek” has been, few franchises match the profitability and cultural prominence of George Lucas’ space opera, which would be difficult for any director to pass up.

“Disney has always been oriented to multi-platform revenue stream situations,” Seth Willenson, a film library valuations expert, told TheWrap.

Moreover, Willenson notes that Abrams, who has a deal that is believed to include creative and profit participation in “Star Wars” inspired merchandise and spin-offs, will have more control in shaping the legacy of the Skywalker clan than he would have had with developing side projects for the “Star Trek” crew.

Granted, while Lucasfilm, and thus Disney, does own most of Star Wars free and clear, the franchise isn’t totally free of hurtles. 20th Century Fox has distribution rights to the first Star Wars “in perpetuity,” while the other 5 will revert to LFL in 2020. This could complicate things like box sets in the future, but for Abrams, that’s not going to be an immediate issue, or stop him from exploring multi-platform options.

Meanwhile, it’s Bryan Burk’s turn to talk about Episode VII and secrecy with /Film.

Jedi News quotes a source who tells them that Disney has recently signed a 5-year deal with Pinewood Studios. There’s a new soundstage under construction at their main facility west of London:

Some of the people there are calling [it] the new Star Wars stage. Apparently the Disney deal is for multiple movies and security has started to be tightened up.

From what my friend said, a lot of the construction workers were openly calling it the Star Wars stage.

Pinewood Studios’ main facility is in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire. Several James Bond movies have been shot there – their most famous stage is the 007 Stage, built for The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977.

It may also be noteworthy that Pinewood recently announced that they’ll be opening a facility in the States, near Atlanta.

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.

The Wrap reports that Industrial Light & Magic may open a facility in the United Kingdom to “take advantage of foreign tax subsidies.” They’ve been scouting in East London, their source reports.

Lucasfilm rep Miles Perkins told them ILM has no plans to leave the Bay Area, but going overseas offers certain advantages:

Perkins likened any expansion in London to ILM’s announcement in 2012 that it was establishing a hub in Vancouver to work on specific projects. Like the U.K., certain Canadian cities such Vancouver offer more generous post-production tax credits and subsidies than California.

We’ve already heard rumblings that Episode VII may return the franchise to filming in Britain.

Deadline says that two dozen employees were laid off at Lucasfilm this week. We already heard there were layoffs, but this is the first word we’ve had on numbers. They say the cuts came in “financing, licensing and distribution.”

In an email to employees earlier this month, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said all significant organization changes at company would be completed by the end of April.

So hopefully this is the last we’ll hear of layoffs for the time being – unless Lucasfilm chooses to confirm the number.

UPDATE: A commenter on the Deadline piece going by ‘Ex-Lucas Employee’ says:

It wasn’t just 20. There were 300+ cuts three weeks ago and another 120-150 at Lucasfilm this week. It sounds like less because some of the 120+ this week are being required to work until as late as November if they want to receive severance.

So the number of people laid off this week may actually be significantly higher. I don’t know if we’ll ever get much official conformation on this, though.