Josh Gad brings on (even more) friends to pester Daisy Ridley about The Last Jedi

It takes a lot of star power to top Dame Judy Dench, so Josh Gad has assembled an all-star cast for his final (hopefully) Daisy Ridley question session on The Last Jedi secrets, including Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow, Leslie Odom, Jr., Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Penelope Cruz and more.

Rumor: Leia’s role in IX was supposed to be bigger than in VIII, meetings at LFL next week

Per The Hollywood Reporter, meetings will begin next week to decide what to do with Episodes VIII and IX after the death of Carrie Fisher. VIII has finished shooting already, but Leia supposedly has “a bigger part” in IX.

It seems likely these meetings are the same ones that Kathleen Kennedy mentioned in November to map out the franchise’s future.

I believe this is also the first time that it’s been reported that IX director Colin Trevorrow is writing the film’s script with frequent collaborator Derek Connolly.

Obviously, there’s still a lot of mourning going on, and Lucasfilm has some tough decisions that they have to make, but I myself hesitate to speculate. Lucasfilm, mourning or not, has little choice in the matter: We do.

While we were drinking: Rebels S2 Blu-ray, ILMxLab and more

This past weekend, much of Club Jade was at our annual gathering at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, including yours truly. Here’s some of what we missed:

rebels-s2-blu→ The second season of Rebels is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on August 30. The Blu-ray has a special feature of Dave Filoni reflecting on Ahsoka Tano’s showdown with Darth Vader.

Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, and Frank Marshall discuss getting J.J. Abrams on board for The Force Awakens, IX director Colin Trevorrow and more.

→ Lucasfilm’s ILMxLAB has teamed up with VR startup Magic Leap to develop new Star Wars immersive content.

→ Chewbacca Mom Candace Payne now has her own (custom) action figure from Hasbro.

→ Writer Marjorie Liu talks to Amy Ratcliffe about her Han Solo comic.

→ The latest episode of Tor.com’s Rocket Talk podcast features Alexandra Petri, the Washington Post columnist who’s behind Emo Kylo Ren.

→ Disney World’s Hollywood Studios has a new nighttime Star Wars show.

→ Mara Jade fans: There’s a fanfic exchange for the character just starting on Tumblr, with several prompts still available.

John Boyega says Episode VIII will be darker; IX director Colin Trevorrow on collaborating, Lucas petition

SS-tfa-trailer3-ohshit1

John Boyega talks to Vogue UK, and he tells them that the Episode VIII script is “great” but “much darker” than The Force Awakens, and that his part in the new film “will be much more physical.”


Meanwhile, Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow talked to Entertainment Tonight about “working closely” with VII director Rian Johnson, as well as the petition to have him replaced by George Lucas.

Colin Trevorrow will direct Star Wars Episode IX

Colin-Trevorrow

As rumored last month, Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow will indeed be directing Episode IX, the concluding chapter of the latest Star Wars trilogy.

“This is not a job or an assignment,” Trevorrow said in a statement. “It is a seat at a campfire, surrounded by an extraordinary group of storytellers, filmmakers, artists and craftspeople. We’ve been charged with telling new stories for a younger generation because they deserve what we all had—a mythology to call their own. We will do this by channeling something George Lucas instilled in all of us: boundless creativity, pure invention and hope.”

“We are thrilled to have such an incredible talent as Colin join our family and step into the Star Wars universe,” Kathleen Kennedy said.

The film is expected for a May 2019 release.