Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
The Last Jedi slides into the weekend box office with a $220 million take, putting it behind only The Force Awakens for the second biggest opening weekend of all time.
Internationally, where it opened everywhere but China, the film has made $240M, giving it $450M total. It opens in China on January 5.
How many times have you seen it so far?
Now that The Last Jedi is officially out and about, the crew and cast can address some of the choices made in the film. Entertainment Weekly has the details from a post-screening Q&A at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Continue reading “Full spoilers ahead: Rian Johnson, Mark Hamill talk The Last Jedi”
We may not get an extensive behind-the-scenes book on the making of any of the new Star Wars movies for decades, if at all, but at least we’ll get something for The Last Jedi: Writer/director Rian Johnson told /Film that Lucasfilm is planning to release a book of his great black-and-white set photos. And you know what? I’ll take it. Johnson’s photos have been one of my favorite parts of the runup to the movie.
Books detailing the making of The Force Awakens and Rogue One were planned and scheduled and perhaps even (partially?) written, but never saw the light of day. A photo book might not give all the juicy details, but it’s certainly better than nothing – and aren’t the photos usually the best parts, anyway?
Carrie Fisher’s dog Gary was spotted at a showing by reporter Veronica Miracle. “He sat on Fisher’s former assistant’s lap during the film,” Miracle tweeted “She said his ears perked up every time she was on screen.”
Continue reading “Good boy Gary Fisher has seen The Last Jedi, recognizes his mom”
J.J. Abrams was pitching Episode IX today, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed in a conference call. Uh, good luck, J.J. You’ll need it.
The Last Jedi made $45 million domestically on Thursday night, a number dwarfed only by The Force Awakens’ $57 million back in 2015. Variety predicts that the full Friday figures (which will include Thursday) will come out in the $95-98M range. The movie is expected to pass $200M over the entire opening weekend.
I’m not sure if there’s really any call for a discussion post on a blog these days (and I’m heading out to my second showing any minute now) but for those who want to start… Have at it! Spoilers ARE allowed, obviously.
Adam Driver was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night, where he talked about the difference between this and the leadup to The Force Awakens, and they play with some action figures.
The Last Jedi script originally called for 160 sets, which is “a ridiculous amount of sets,” production designer Rick Heinrichs told The Hollywood Reporter. The production ended up having 125 sets at Pinewood. He also reveals that George Lucas visited the set… And on that note, he’s seen the movie as well, calling it “beautifully made.” In London, Rian Johnson said: “To have a chat with him and to have him be so kind and gracious felt really good.”
StarWars.com has the first excerpt of Cobalt Squadron, a middle-grade novel that features The Last Jedi’s Rose and Paige Tico. The book by Elizabeth Wein (Code Name Verity) will be out Friday.
This week’s Star Wars Show takes us back to the World Premiere with a behind-the-scenes look at creating the livestream.
Continue reading “It’s the night before Star Wars, and George Lucas has weighed in”
In what may be the most hilarious thing out of the press tour yet, John Boyega and Gwendoline Christie play “Fear Box” with Vanity Fair. No spoilers, but there are reptiles.
Continue reading “John Boyega, Gwendoline Christie dare the “Fear Box””