Reports: Why Benioff and Weiss (supposedly) left Star Wars behind

Two articles claiming to know what’s behind the David Benioff and D.B. Weiss Star Wars exit came out yesterday, both pinpointing different reasons.

The first, from Variety, says the pair wanted to tackle the origins of the Jedi – and ultimately disagreed with Lucasfilm on the direction that should take.

Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter leans on multiple commitments and the concept of “toxic fandom,” always a handy scapegoat.

I’m not sure I’d take either explanation at face value, particularly give all the padding in both articles about past issues and “concerns”, but overall, the idea of creative differences seems pretty likely – and probably for the best.

Ewan McGregor’s current beard is only the “practice” Obi-Wan

On Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, Ewan McGregor talks about his Obi-Wan “practice beard,” reading William Shatner’s book Get A Life on a prequel set with Ahmed Best, the big Disney+ reveal, and his new movie, Doctor Sleep.

Meanwhile, Hayden Christensen was spotted at Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge. The official Disneyland Twitter tweeted the photos and then deleted the tweet, promoting even more speculation as to what secrets he’s keeping. However, note that @StarWars later tweeted the pics themselves.

Game of Thrones guys are out on Star Wars

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are no longer on the Star Wars docket. The pair has backed out of their planned Star Wars films, per Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. And you know it’s for real, because here’s Kathleen Kennedy with the shade:

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy remarked, “David Benioff and Dan Weiss are incredible storytellers. We hope to include them in the journey forward when they are able to step away from their busy schedule to focus on Star Wars.”

Yeah, I’m guessing they have about as much of a chance as coming back as anyone in Westeros has to sit on on the Iron Throne. Have fun at Netflix, guys!

After a bonkers thread from an appearance this weekend had the internet questioning how those two even managed to get Game of Thrones to fly as high as it did, all I feel is relief.

As for the 2022 film that was supposed to be theirs, well, Lucasfilm still has both Kevin Feige and Rian Johnson in the wings – and they’re just the folks we know of. I’m sure they’ll be fine.

The Mandalorian trailer #2: He speaks!

Here’s the latest trailer for The Mandalorian, with some repeats but plenty of new footage, and quite a bit of Werner Herzog. And yes, we finally get to hear Pedro Pascal talk… briefly.

Plenty of questions raised: Will the helmet come off? Are some of those scenes flashbacks? What happened to the Mandalorians?

Star Tours is heading for a key Rise of Skywalker location (and now we have a name)

The “news” here is that Star Tours is will be adding a new location from The Rise of Skywalker, but the actual news is that we get a name for where that Death Star wreckage is: “the ocean moon Kef Bir.”

The planet is new, but it’s already on Wookieepedia thanks to a mention in Ultimate Star Wars, which has another connection to someone new. Possible spoilers, if you consider really basic things spoilers.

Rise of Skywalker: Post-trailer roundup

The Rise of Skywalker (Trailer #2)

Lost in the shuffle yesterday, we finally got confirmation – via the ticket sales – that The Rise of Skywalker will be the longest Star Wars film yet, at 2 hours, 35 minutes. That’s only two minutes longer than The Last Jedi, so keep that in mind when ordering refreshments.


The Rise of Skywalker (Trailer #2)

Trailer breakdowns from io9, /Film, Star Wars Explained and EW. I’m sure there are more out there but it’s been a day, so head to the comments if there’s one you like a lot.

Continue reading “Rise of Skywalker: Post-trailer roundup”

It’s official: New Rise of Skywalker trailer coming Monday

The “final” trailer for The Rise of Skywalker is coming on the next Monday Night Football, Lucasfilm has announced via Twitter. We also get a brief shot of Rey, Chewbacca, Finn and Poe in the Millennium Falcon:

Hoping for a non-square version of this shot before the actual trailer…

In the meantime, Lucasfilm PR’s Chris Argyropoulos comes through with the details. The trailer will drop at halftime, and tickets will go on sale immediately after the launch:

And the UK folks come through with a full screen version of the video clip:

And here’s another version, although it uses footage we’ve already seen:

https://twitter.com/ESPNNFL/status/1185556408609234944