Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
“No,” he told HitFix‘s Chris Eggertsen at the SAG awards. “I think it’s just one of those crazy rumors.”
Of course, a denial at this point could mean nothing, but I’m sure the dust will settle soon enough. The Plemons rumor started last week with The Wrap.
Lucasfilm officially opened their new ‘Sandcrawler’ building in Singapore this week (complete with some delightful photos) but for our purposes perhaps the most interesting thing to come out of this are Kathleen Kennedy’s comments on how the spin-off films will interact with the sequel trilogy, from the Straits Times, via Toys Revil.
“George was so clear as to how that works. The canon that he created was the Star Wars saga. Right now, [Episode VII] falls within that canon. The spin-off movies, or we may come up with some other way to call those films, they exist within that vast universe that he created,” she says.
“There is no attempt being made to carry characters (from the standalone films) in and out of the saga episodes. Consequently, from the creative standpoint, it’s a roadmap that George made pretty clear,” she adds.
We’re all pretty clear on ‘canon’ in this context, so the real meat here seems to be that the characters anchoring the spin-off films won’t be in the “Episodes.” The question: Does she mean just the new Episodes, or the Episodes that are already in the bag? The rumor mill has pegged characters such as Boba Fett, Han Solo, and Yoda as contenders, but Lucasfilm and Disney themselves have said nothing beyond that the spin-offs would be “origin stories.”
I’m inclined to think she means only the new films – which would probably clear folks like Fett and Yoda – but it’s certainly open for interpretation. And a formal name for the spin-offs would be nice as well. Star Wars Origins? (via)
Latino Review is at it again, this time with “details” of the Fett spinoff film and a few words on the earlier rumors. Namely, they conflict with The Hollywood Reporter and say the Abrams/Arndt split had to do with focusing on Skywalker kid(s) over Solo(s) and that Mark Hamill may “end up shooting 6 months on the movie,” which seems excessive.
As for that controversial Obi-Wan’s daughter thing, “it’s absolutely not true,” though “the Kenobi family will come into play.” They have no details, but throw out possibilities like a “niece or nephew” and “Force Ghost.” Maybe Lady Kenobi from The Phantom Menace rumor days will finally show up, why not?
They also say that Jesse Plemons is basically locked, but don’t expect Lucasfilm to name his part publicly when they announce him. His character will be “the main protagonist of Episode VIII,” and yes, I see you there waiting to comment “Ben Skywalker!” ::eyeroll::
And of course no rumor dump is complete without a Boba Fett spinoff rumor. Yawn. Here’s what they say about Fett:
To counter-act the prequels, the Boba Fett spin-off movie planned for 2018 has an interesting twist pitched by Episode VII writer Lawrence Kasdan: the spin-off will start with a complete stranger killing Boba Fett and taking his armor, starting a Man-With-No-Name bounty hunter tale. So: someone kills the Boba Fett from the prequels and takes his armor and name. One this is for certain is that Kasdan didn’t like the prequel and wants no Bobba Fett Clone in the spin-off film.
There are shades there of some of the post-AOTC retcons, but we have every right to be skeptical. (Making Star Wars isn’t buying it at all.)
Latino Review also believes that Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger) is at the top of the director’s list, because duh. Three sources told them that, presumably after Googling “Joe Johnston Boba Fett.”
Whatever, man. As usual, I remain skeptical and urge you to do the same.
This site is a bit of a laughingstock even among veteran rumormongers, but we’re bored so what the hell: Cosmic Book News is reporting that Luke’s going to be having a chat with a ghostly Yoda in Episode VII. “We’re told that Yoda will have words with Luke Skywalker about a rising unbalance in the force and the need to preserve the Jedi,” they say. The new Jedi Temple will also feature holograms of past Jedi like Obi-Wan (Sir Alec “McGuiness” version,) Qui-Gon Jinn, and Mace Windu in the background.
Plausible? Sure. But I’d take this one with a bigger grain of salt than usual.
What has the Jesse Plemons rumor wrought? The Hollywood Reporter is weighing in today with a triptych of new (or, well, ‘new’) names: Michael Fassbender, Hugo Weaving and Adam Driver. I’m sure you’re already familiar with Fassbender and Weaving; Driver is the dude from HBO’s Girls who can’t keep his shirt on.
But wait: That’s not the real meat of the article. THR also claims to know why Micheal Arndt split:
According to multiple insiders, the reason for the parting of ways was not due to a timeframe issue, as has been reported, but rather due to a difference in opinion of which characters to emphasize.
Arndt is said to have focused on the offspring of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), with the original trilogy heroes taking on supporting roles. Abrams, however, wanted Episode VII to focus on the classic trio of characters, so audiences could have one more chance to enjoy them before a fitting send-off. The new characters, the offspring, will now be in supporting roles, according to these sources, and take center stage in Episode VIII and IX. Some characters have disappeared from the Arndt script and new ones are being drafted.
George Lucas was involved in the debate, but “acquiesced to Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy.” Several parts have been rewritten; one 20-year old character is now 40, and Weaving is supposedly being eyed to play a “an Imperial commander.” (Of course.)
And finally:
The latest bit to surface this week is that Abrams and Lucasfilm are now searching for a 20-something female actress who is either of mixed race or black. The rumor is that Obi-Wan Kenobi had a daughter or granddaughter.
I’m not going to knock a POC casting choice, but the idea of there being Kenobi spawn at all strikes me as disingenuous.
But remember: There’s a lot going on here, and who knows what’s going to end up as truth…
The Wrap is reporting today that “multiple individuals with knowledge of the top-secret casting process” have told them that Jesse Plemons “is in contention for a lead role” in Episode VII. He’s supposedly flying into L.A. for an audition with J.J. Abrams.
Plemons is best known for roles on Breaking Bad and Friday Night Lights; He also appeared in 2012′s The Master and Battleship.
Star feud. Carrie Fisher and William Shatner are at it again: He gets choked, literally, but all’s well that ends well.
Rumors. Ali Arikan says that there are rumblings that Episode VII will begin filming on April 22.
Original original trilogy. Jeremy Conrad at Furious Fanboys has four reasons we won’t be seeing the original trilogy theatrical cuts released anytime soon. Long story short: A complete restoration would be super expensive and the rights issues with 20th Century Fox.
It’s December 18th, and you know what that means… Two years from now, Episode VII should be in theaters.
Here’s a helpful reminder of what we actually know so far: J.J. Abrams is directing, the script will be by him and Lawrence Kasdan, and we know several key crew members. (Including composer John Williams.) However, Artoo is the only confirmed cast member, and the only confirmed shooting location is Pinewood Studios in the U.K.
There have been no other casting announcements or posters released, no matter what you see around the internet – at least as of the time of this post! (If it’s not on StarWars.com, it’s a rumor or fan-made.) We probably can’t expect a title for at least a year – I guessed at a mid-2014 title announcement back when we assumed the film was coming out in May 2015, but at this point they could conceivably not tell us until the next Celebration in April 2015.
Disney expects to get script for Star Wars 7 in January. No budget for movie although studio wouldn't be surprised if it costs $200 million.
— Marc Graser (@marcgraser) December 13, 2013
At a Variety event this morning, Disney’s Alan Horn said that they expect to get the Episode VII script in January and that the film will likely cost $200M. (Revenge of the Sith‘s production budget was $113M, per Box Office Mojo, but that was almost a decade ago.)
He also reiterated that we’ll be seeing Star Wars movies yearly, which has been the plan for a while now, but has been rumored to be in doubt.
Disney expects a Star Wars related movie (including spin offs) every year from Lucasfilm. #StarWars
— Marc Graser (@marcgraser) December 13, 2013
As for Indy:
Disney's Alan Horn on Indiana Jones: "We need a story." Guesses it will be another two to three years before we see a fifth movie.
— Marc Graser (@marcgraser) December 13, 2013
Graser is a reporter at Variety.
What with the Golden Globe blitz beginning (you go, Tatiana Maslany,) power hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are guest-editing this week’s Entertainment Weekly – and naturally they’re taking on Star Wars. Sort of.
The comedians joke that they’re playing “really naggy mothers of Darth Vader.”
FEY: [In an elderly New Yorker accent] “Darth, eat! Why don’t you eat?” That kind of stuff.
POEHLER: “You’re never gonna find a girl when you go out looking like that!”
FEY: Making him practice his Jedi stuff for hours.
POEHLER: Hitting on all his Jedi friends inappropriately. I feel like the theme of the next Star Wars is going to be: How does a working mother juggle it all? I’m looking forward to that. What I like about all these giant superhero movies is that they speak to the issues that I’m dealing with right now — working mother and time management and how to be an interesting, sexual, curious woman in your 40s. That’s the kind of stuff that I like to see on the screen, and that’s what I see with a lot of the films out today.
Even J.J. Abrams is playing along: “The exciting thing about having Amy and Tina play the Vader Moms, as we’re calling them, is that they bring to the film that pitch-perfect Star Wars energy fans are clamoring for.”
Somewhere, someone is taking all this at face value. Let’s pretend we don’t see them.