Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
Vanity Fair‘s The Rise of Skywalker covers and story are live! Check out the covers and video below, and head over to read it and see all the new Annie Leibovitz photos for yourselves.
Just want the highlights? Those are over here.
The magazine will hit mailboxes and newsstands in a week or so – New York and Los Angeles on May 30, and nationally on June 4.
Galaxy’s Edge is opening soon, and we’re starting to get some details. The build-your-own lightsabers will cost you about $200 (which isn’t that shocking – that’s just a little more than a standard ForceFX lightsaber, which is – or was – the highest quality mass-produced lightsaber toy.)
You’ll also have the option to build your own droid. It’s $100 for a custom droid, and $150 for the DJ R-3X. To be fair, he is really neat:
Now that we’ve addressed the price tags, here’s a nice piece on the design process for the staff – err, cast member – uniforms.
That John Williams theme? You’ll probably not heard it-as is. Instead, it serves as “the musical foundation” for what you’ll hear in the park.
Also: Enforcing the time limit! Droid tracks! Bathroom breaks!
John Williams will start recording The Rise of Skywalker in June, per an interview with orchestra contractor Sandy DeCrescent (via) DeCrescent is in the process of selecting the musicians for Wiliams, but the interview is also about her own history in the industry – she’s the the first woman contractor in the industry.
In the meantime, here’s Williams’ theme for Galaxy’s Edge, which was released back on the 4th:
Just two new Star Wars comics coming on Wednesday, March 22. It’s a very Jabba week as Greedo heads to Batuu in Galaxy’s Edge #2 (though the summary still mention the Resistance, so… flashbacks?), and gets his own spotlight in Age of Rebellion: Jabba the Hutt.
As we suspected, the post-hiatus Star Wars films will be kicked off with something from Game of Thrones‘ David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Bob Iger confirmed today. So now we know they’re handling at least the 2022 film, and… That’s about it. “…the next movie we release will be theirs,” the Disney CEO said at the MoffettNathanson Media & Communications Summit. “We’re not saying anything more about that.”
As for TV, Iger also said that there’s likely to be at least one more Star Wars series for Disney+, in addition to Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian (out in November) and Stephen Schiff’s Cassian Andor/K-2SO series (expected for 2020).
“My guess is there probably will be at least one more live-action series that we produce for Disney+, a Star Wars series, before we release the next film,” Iger said. “So we’re not doing nothing. I believe these TV series will be extremely popular for Star Wars fans and very very valuable to Disney+ while we gear up for the next set of films. We haven’t said anything more beyond what we’ve announced on the next film.”
As for the three-year hiatus following The Rise of Skywalker, it is in part to “figure out what’s next.”
“We’re hard at work doing that already,” he said. “Three years was the proper amount of time to not only take a breather and reset, but really gear up for the next film’s release.”
Maybe get some fresher voices in there? While I remain mildly intrigued with the concept of the Cassian show, The Mandalorian looks straight out of Dark Horse’s ’90s comic offerings, and the final season of Game of Thrones is not exactly out there covering itself in glory. I realize there’s a lot of gaps here (Rian Johnson, buddy?) and it’s still early, but I am not particularly optimistic about the state of on-screen Star Wars right now.
But hey, at least we’re getting Episode IX. Vanity Fair and Annie Leibovitz, we turn our weary eyes to you.
Composer John Williams has seen an early cut of The Rise of Skywalker, likes it “very much” and has written about 25 minutes of the score, he tells The Times. The original article is behind a paywall, but head to /Film for the relevant quote.
Several new stills from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi have surfaced via an interview with with still photographer David James.
As the opening of the first Galaxy’s Edge park grows closer, there are new photos of the land and details on how they’ll be enforcing the initial four hour limit. Of course, if you have the connections, there’s always a personal tour with Bob Iger.
Three comics and two trades are coming our way on Wednesday, May 15. Brand new are Star Wars #66, Age of Rebellion: Lando Calrissian and TIE Fighter #2. The trade reprints collect Age of Republic: Heroes and Han Solo: Imperial Cadet.
The TIE comics are a tie-in/prequel to our next book, Alexander M. Freed’s Alphabet Squadron, which is out June 4. More upcoming books in our schedule.
Star Wars Upcoming Book and Comics has spotted listings for a hardcover version of the audio drama on both Amazon UK and Amazon France. (via)
Cavan Scott’s Dooku: Jedi Lost is Del Rey’s first foray into original Star Wars audio drama. There has been some backlash from fans – both the hearing impaired and those who just plain aren’t into audio formats – so an alternate format is not out of the question.
These Amazon listings are curious, but they doesn’t make it for sure – Amazon has steered us wrong many times before! If a text version is coming, expect an official announcement from Del Rey first.
For those who are into audio, Dooku: Jedi Lost is available now.
Disney has announced film release dates through 2027, and as we we warned, there’s a Star Wars hiatus after The Rise of Skywalker. Lucasfilm won’t be taking 2021 off film though, as a new Indiana Jones remains set for July 9, 2021. The first Avatar sequel takes the Star Wars slot on December 17, 2021.
“Untitled Star Wars” for December 16, 2022 is likely the first movie from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. The Avatar leapfrogging continues with more sequels in December ’23 and ’25, with a second “Untitled Star Wars” set for December 2024, and a third “Untitled Star Wars” in December 2026.
We don’t know much about the Benioff and Weiss films, though the latest rumors say they may be headed for the ancient Old Republic. Any of these spots could also be for the trilogy from The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson as well. Lucasfilm isn’t saying:
Both sets of films will be separate from “The Skywalker Saga,” which is what Lucasfilm has been billing Episodes I-IX as of late. December’s The Rise of Skywalker is said to be the last, but I’m old enough to remember them saying that about Revenge of the Sith as well.
Three comics and one trade are coming on Wednesday, May 8. From Marvel, there’s Doctor Aphra #32, Age of Rebellion: Boba Fett and Age of Republic: Villains trade, while IDW brings Star Wars Adventures #21.
Meanwhile, the book release schedule has been updated with this weekend’s Journey to The Rise of Skywalker announcements.