Category: star wars

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Don’t expect Star Wars movies made for Disney+

Bob Iger talks a great deal about the development of Disney+ and the business in-and-outs of the service in an interview with Barron’s. For our purposes, the relevant bit here is that they’re not going to make a Star Wars movie for it:

Almost every movie the studio makes is a $100 million-plus movie, and we’re not looking to make movies at that level for the service. We’re looking to invest significantly in television series on a per-episode business, and we’re looking to make movies that are higher budget, but nothing like that. We wouldn’t make a Star Wars movie for this platform.

This is pretty much a no duh kind of thing – and yes, io9 did that headline first, damn them – but it may have been on people’s minds after Solo. Still, given the rumors we’ve heard about the standalone movies that were in play, they might be better suited for TV anyway. On that note, Iger on the thinking behind doing Star Wars TV for streaming:

I guess we could have made the Star Wars series for ABC if we wanted. But the budget and what we’re spending on it and the nature of the material suggested it would be a perfect anchor for the new service. Because it’s a priority for the company, that needs to be reflected in the trafficking or the direction of where a lot of content goes. There have to be some subjective decisions made on where stuff goes because we have to feed this new beast.

Barron’s being a business-oriented publication, there’s a lot of nitty gritty in the article, but it might shed some light on Disney’s recent decisions.

He also says that the Galaxy’s Edge section at Disneyland will open in June, which is a bit more specific than the previous “summer.”

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Rumor roundup: IX filming and the ever-present trailer speculation

Making Star Wars has some details on Episode IX filming. Ducks! (Not a spoiler. Well, maybe a spoiler.)

Also, a reminder that while there’s (always) speculation, we have zero legitimate reasons to believe we’re going to get a look at Episode IX this month. That said, tomorrow is the one-year-out mark. I’d wager that our next bit of news will probably be the film’s title: The Force Awakens was announced in November 2016, and The Last Jedi in January 2017, so we’re in that range. Maybe J.J. will drop us another picture. But actual footage? Unless it’s something for Force for Change, don’t count on it it.

Yes, it’s hard to wait. But it’s also nice to have a December off from the madness. I dunno, maybe I’ve been blogging this stuff for too long. 

Now, for our other production-in-production, MSW also has some hints at familiar figures we might see in The Mandalorian.. Or if that doesn’t do it for you, how about supposed details on Nick Nolte’s character? He’s not what any of expected.

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Bye bye tiny BB-8s: Sphero drops out of licensed toy business

One of the most delightful bits of merchandise to come out of the sequel era is no more: Sphero is dropping out of the the licensed product market, which means there won’t be any further BB-8s, BB-9Es or R2-D2s out of the company. They’ll continue to support the apps for two years.

The company sold “millions” of BB-8s, their first Star Wars toy, but “the licensed toy business required more resources than it was worth,” per The Verge.

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Solo, Indiana Jones movies coming to Netflix in January

Solo: A Star Wars Story and all four Indiana Jones movies are among the new offerings coming to Netflix in January.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull drop on the first; Solo appears on January 9.

Meanwhile, Rogue One is leaving on January 18. It’s next stop is with the rest of the saga on TBS/TNT. It was, notably, the first Star Wars movie on (American) Netflix. Solo will be the last; Episode IX will debut on Disney+.

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Mark Hamill on Episode IX’s script security

While on set for the Knights Templar drama Knightfall, Mark Hamill discusses Episode IX security with Entertainment Weekly:

“They’re going to fly [the rewrites] over with somebody from the company,” Hamill said. “They’re going to come and give it to me and wait for me to read it before I give it back. So no pressure! You can’t even keep it overnight. But that’s the way it is now.”

He reveals that he has done about a week of filming for the next Star Wars, and will head back between his Knightfall schedule. He also has a “very high profile” non-Star Wars voiceover project coming up that hasn’t been announced yet.

Knightfall season 2 doesn’t have a premiere date yet, but Episode IX will be out December 20, 2019.

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Kevin Smith visits Episode IX set, says movie looks “fantastic”

Kevin Smith was on Good Morning America today and he discussed visiting J.J. Abrams and the set of Episode IX in London. Although he signed “so many nondisclosure agreements that if I said anything somebody would pop out with a lightsaber and cut my hand off,” he did manage to share a few things, namely that the movie looks great and he witnessed someone give “a career-best performance.”

Video, and a transcription of the most relevant bit, under the cut.

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