Rumor: A new planet for The Last Jedi?

In today’s rumor, Making Star Wars reports on a new planet it seems we’ll see in The Last Jedi and who likely resides there. (It might be connected to another recent rumor.)

→ Some areas of the fandom ::coughReylocough:: have noted that the certain StarWars.com Databank entries for have been updated to reference a “mysterious” and “strange” connection between Kylo Ren and Rey. Is it love? Is it their genes? Is it the Force? All three? Take it as you will.

→ It’s official: Jimmy Vee is playing R2-D2 in The Last Jedi, per both his agency, Oh So Small and Lucasfilm themselves, via Mashable. He takes over from Kenny Baker, who died last year.

→ And to round things out, here’s a quick reminder that any rumor sourced from Reddit or 4chan should be considered extremely dubious. (Which is why I don’t bother to report them myself anymore.) That’s one reason why it’s important to note the original source of an item! Also be on watch for the term ‘speculation.’ There’s a lot of fan speculation out there, but that doesn’t make it news.

Josh Gad enlists Judi Dench in quest to pester Daisy Ridley on The Last Jedi

Josh Gad followed up with Daisy Ridley on his The Last Jedi “sneak attack.” With another sneak attack. But the real kicker here is the third video, which features Dame Judi Dench asking “What’s the deal with Reylo?” If only we knew, Dame Judi. (Okay, I kid: It’s a pretty typical ship, even if it does give some of us the willies.)

Remember that rumor that Dench would be playing Mon Mothma in The Force Awakens? And then remember how Genevieve O’Reilly actually showed up in a Rogue One trailer with none of us even hearing a hint of it beforehand? Gotta wonder if some major wire crossing happened in the rumor streams. Ahh, memories.

Also in The Last Jedi news…

→ In yesterday’s Disney earning call (which also gave us the Star Wars land dates) CEO Bob Iger admitted to seeing a cut of The Last Jedi. “It’s a great next chapter in the Skywalker family saga,” he said. (Of course.)

→ A pre-title reveal interview with Rian Johnson, and a post-reveal one with Mark Hamill.

The Last Jedi is now opening-crawl official

Director Rian Johnson posted the above photo to his Instagram with the caption: “Felt so good to drop this into the cut this morning.”

For those engaged in furious debate over whether the title refers to one Jedi or many Jedi. (Remember: Singular plural!) here’s a bit of a… Something. When asked, a Lucasfilm source told Chris Taylor of Mashable to “Trust your doubt.”

As for the color “debate,” well, I’ll just leave this here.

Lucasfilm: “No plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance” as Leia

Lucasfilm has outright denied a recent report that said they’ve been negotiating wit Carrie Fisher’s estate to digitally recreate her for future films. The statement:

We want to assure our fans that Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess or General Leia Organa.

Carrie Fisher was, is, and always will be a part of the Lucasfilm family. She was our princess, our general, and more importantly, our friend. We are still hurting from her loss. We cherish her memory and legacy as Princess Leia, and will always strive to honor everything she gave to Star Wars.

The rumor originated on the BBC earlier this week, and was first reported by SWNN, with an expansion by io9.

Rian Johnson actually talks about Episode VIII

Episode VIII director Rian Johnson actually said something new! For USA Today’s 2017 movie preview, he said that “a large part of the movie” will address why Luke is on Ahch-To and what he’ll do next, as well as Rey’s “realization that she has this power and this gift.” It’s not the most shocking of revelations, but it’s more than we’ve gotten in quite a while.

Want some (possible?) spoilers? Keep reading. Continue reading “Rian Johnson actually talks about Episode VIII”

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.