StarWars.com’s Hyperspace to end in 2011

Hyperspace is going away next year.

Started right before Revenge of the Sith began principal photography as subscription section on StarWars.com, Hyperspace went through several incarnations. During the ROTS filming it offered fans extraordinary access to film’s set in Sydney with a live webcam, chats, and a set diary by Pablo Hidalgo. (It also had the nice side effect of effectively ending the cut-throat fansite spoiler-wars that marked the runup to The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.)

However, once Revenge of the Sith was released, Hyperspace had much less to offer subscribers (even the ‘ad-free’ promise eventually expired.) Features were added, like the blogs, but the content over the past few years has been irregular and often only of interest only to those who enjoy fairly obscure parts of the GFFA.

It even merged with the fan club and became part of a package deal with Star Wars Insider for a time. The Insider is no longer included, but the Official Fan Club still uses the ‘Hyperspace’ name. (If Hyperspace is truly being discontinued, will the fan club be getting another makeover in the coming year…?)

I can’t say I’m surprised at this – the ‘exclusive’ content has been sparse for years and StarWarsShop probably brings in far more revenue – but Hyperspace has been around for quite a while in internet times, and it’s entwined with some particularly interesting times in the fandom for me. But it’s clearly been on the backburner for quite a while, so might as well give up the ghost and move on. And hey, what the hell – I renewed my subscription one last time this evening for old time’s sake.

Lucy Autrey Wilson retiring from Lucasfilm

Lucy Autrey Wilson began her Lucasfilm run as George Lucas’ assistant, typing up the script for Star Wars, making her Lucasfilm Employee #1. Many of us first encountered her name as head of the publishing program, which she established. In recent years she has been instrumental in the nonfiction end at George Lucas Books.

Basically? We – as in Club Jade – wouldn’t be here if not for Wilson. We wish her the happiness and luck in retirement!

Fairies in Red Tails? CBC gets some wires crossed

Confirmed and acknowledged: George Lucas has been working on Red Tails, a movie about World War II’s Tuskegee Airmen that’s currently in post-production.

Unconfirmed: Lucasfilm is making a CGI animated musical involving fairies.

And CBC News is a little confused:

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lucas is working on the movie Red Tails at his Skywalker Ranch in California.

Plot details for the computer-animated film are not being released, but it is known that fairies play a role.

This is an actual, professional news outlet, not one of us fly-by-night, pants-of-our-seat bloggers. Bravo.