Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
Celebration 2017 is only months away, and StarWars.com our first look at the badge art. We also learn who’s hosting the three major stages, and it’s returnees Warwick Davis, David Collins and our pal Amy Ratcliffe, who made her debut on the Behind-The-Scenes Stage at Celebration Europe.
Meanwhile, per an email sent out to attendees, 4-day passes to the con are almost sold out. Celebration 2017, the con’s third outing to Orlando, takes place April 13 to 16.
It sure is… Something.
My #WearStarWarsEveryDay fundraising campaign has surged into December, and has plenty of cool looks in the lead up to the opening of Rogue One. Since I was so busy with preparing for my local Rogue One premiere event, I wasn’t able to assemble a review for Week 49 last week, so now you get a Death Star-sized video covering both Weeks 49 and 50. Also, we really could use your help to get us to a nice big number for the end of the project at the end of the year.
When I started Wear Star Wars Every Day and selected Collateral Repair Project as the charity I wanted to raise funds and awareness for, I had no idea how long the project would end up going or how much money I would be raising for Collateral Repair Project’s work in helping urban refugees in Amman, Jordan with emergency assistance for food and heating, education and wellness programs, and community building. And now after nearly a year, I’m hoping to top $5,000 in funds raised – and we’re almost there! As of 12/20, we are at almost $4,300 with 11 days left in 2016 ($3,180 on GoFundMe, $1,167 from offline donations). Can you help in pushing us over the $5,000 mark? You can quickly donate via the GoFundMe, or contribute via other methods to Collateral Repair Project directly.
I had originally set a very ambitious goal of $10,000 when I began this fundraiser, and would love to reach that goal, but I think that it would be awesome to finish strong at $5,000 or even higher. So if you’ve been on the fence or just had it on your to-do list but haven’t gotten around to it yet, now’s the time to make that tax-deductible contribution. *Cue Sarah McLachlan sad music* $20 is enough to provide a mattress to a refugee, while $50 is enough to provide a family of four refugees with food for a month. And I got a whole pile of cool prizes to reward those who donate from 12/21 to 12/31, including the leftover prizes from the November prize drawing and more!
In the two weeks from December 2 to December 15, we had nothing but t-shirts, including a lot of unique designs. Thanks to Ian for donating several BustedTees.com shirts, and to Danielle and Stuart for lending some cool Star Wars wear. Plus I show off my custom shirts for my prequel movie premiere events as we head into the launch of Rogue One, with a shirt made just for the event. There’s a cool Disneyland shirt, and some treats from San Diego Comic-Con, and even a custom-printed Star Wars Customizable Card Game shirt of everyone’s favorite frog-dog, Bubo.
And big thanks to our donors in this time period: Susan, Christine, Kristen, and Jennifer. All four of them made some solid contributions to boost our fundraising total to over $4,000 (roughly $2,900 on the GoFundMe and $1,100 in offline or direct donations).
Every day I wear a new and different Star Wars apparel item, my daily pledge makers will chip in $4.65 to Collateral Repair Project! This review for Week 49 and Week 50 covers December 2 to December 15 of my wearathon, and an update on fundraising for and the latest happenings at Collateral Repair Project, a non-profit organization that provides emergency assistance, education, and community support to urban refugees.
Get more info on what Wear Star Wars Every Day is all about, or make a donation via GoFundMe.
Plus, there’s soon going to be a way to help support Collateral Repair Project beyond 2016 – Soon, I’ll be putting up donated apparel on ebay with proceeds going directly to CRP. So this might be your chance to get your hands on some of the really rare threads I’ve worn that were donated to the project, including that sweet BB-8 lighter thumbs-up ladies tee from Star Wars Celebration Europe that I hinted that you could get your hands on, way back in August. I had hoped that I would have been able to start these auctions before the holiday season, but we’re still waiting for ebay to add Collateral Repair Project to their list of charity auction partners. Stay tuned!
StarWars.com reveals Rebels Easter Eggs in Rogue One, including a still of Chopper’s appearance in the film and a chat with Matt Martin about the experience. And although a random store sighting broke the news, we also get a look at Saw Gerrera’s upcoming appearance on the show.
Yes, Forest Whitaker is voicing him. Rebels returns January 7 on Disney XD.
A nice video that shows many of the trailer/commercial shots that weren’t in the final film.
→ /Film takes a look at Darth Vader’s Mustafar digs, including the history, the ground-laying done in Rebels, and the hints that we may see it again fairly soon.
→ At The Verge, Andrew Liptak calls Mike Stackpole’s X-wing novels the “spiritual ancestor” of Rogue One.
→ And speaking of things revived from the murky Star Wars past, Force Material is all over the Whills, who’ve been around (vaguely) since the very beginning.
→ Rogue One has helped push Disney over the $7B global box office mark in 2016 – the first movie studio to do so.
→ DK has several behind-the-scenes photos | Alternate pun-filled titles for Michael Giacchino’s score | Gareth Edwards on the cameras and technology behind the film.
After a number of Rogue One releases late last week, we can add a fourth book on Tuesday: Star Wars Galactic Maps: An Illustrated Atlas of the Star Wars Universe. If you’ve already heard all about it, it’s because it came out overseas last month. And if you didn’t grab the eBook last week, Alexander Freed’s Rogue One novelization is out in hardcover. And then there’s always Wednesday and Doctor Aphra #2.
This is our last book release of 2016. (Comic? Maybe. We’ll find out with the next shipping list.) The next book is Claudia Gray’s Bloodline in paperback on January 31 and Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath: Empire’s End – which we just got a blurb for – on February 21.
The weekend box office estimates are in, and Rogue One has a comfortable lead with $155 million. As predicted, this makes it the second biggest December box office opening of all time – behind only The Force Awakens.
It’s the third biggest opening weekend of 2016, following only Captain America: Civil War and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. This also makes it the second biggest Star Wars opening of all time. (Not taking inflation into account, at least.)
Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath: Empire’s End, the third and final book in the post-Return of the Jedi trilogy, now has a blurb:
As the final showdown between the New Republic and the Empire draws near, all eyes turn to a once-isolated planet: Jakku.
The Battle of Endor shattered the Empire, scattering its remaining forces across the galaxy. But the months following the Rebellion’s victory have not been easy. The fledgling New Republic has suffered a devastating attack from the Imperial remnant, forcing the new democracy to escalate their hunt for the hidden enemy.
For her role in the deadly ambush, Grand Admiral Rae Sloane is the most wanted Imperial war criminal—and one-time rebel pilot Norra Wexley, back in service at Leia’s urgent request, is leading the hunt. But more than just loyalty to the New Republic drives Norra forward: Her husband was turned into a murderous pawn in Sloane’s assassination plot, and now she wants vengeance as much as justice.
But Sloane, too, is on a furious quest: pursuing the treacherous Gallius Rax to the barren planet Jakku. As the true mastermind behind the Empire’s devastating attack, Rax has led the Empire to its defining moment. The cunning strategist has gathered the powerful remnants of the Empire’s war machine, preparing to execute the late Emperor Palpatine’s final plan. As the Imperial fleet orbits Jakku, an armada of Republic fighters closes in to finish what began at Endor. Norra and her crew soar into the heart of an apocalyptic clash that will leave land and sky alike scorched. And the future of the galaxy will finally be decided.
We saw part of the Battle of Jakku in 2015’s Lost Stars. Empire’s End is due out in hardcover and eBook on February 21.
A couple of looks at the Rogue One concept art from io9 and Yahoo. The Art of Rogue One is on sale now.
→ Rogue One made $71.1M through Friday, and is still well on track for a $145-150M weekend.
→ It says sad things about the state of women’s paychecks in Hollywood that it’s actually news that Felicity Jones was by far Rogue One’s highest-paid cast member. A more bizarre wrinkle: Jones has a single sequel option in her contract. (Though I’m not sure why THR brings up “a young Luke Skywalker stand-alone” in relation to that, considering that the only speculation regarding Luke and Jyn was Jossed by the film itself.)
→ /Film takes a look at the trailer footage that was missing from the film.
→ How that one effect raises some ethical considerations. As for some of the later stuff, it wasn’t all pure digital: Some things come straight from unused A New Hope footage.
→ Phil Noto has graced us with some Erso art.
→ Did you catch all the Rebels references in Rogue One? Nerdist has the list. And a Toys R Us promo posters reveals which Rogue One character is coming to Rebels.
→ Vulture pins down Rogue One’s greatest retcon. Meanwhile, over at Wired, architects and engineers nitpick the Death Star.
→ All the crazy, convoluted ways that the Rebels stole the Death Star plans in the old Expanded Universe. They’re almost all video games, which… Okay.
→ Are Chirrut and Baze a couple? “I think that’s all good. Who knows? You’d have to speak to them,” Gareth Edwards says.
→ Your moment of zen: Ranking Star Wars’ “sweet space capes.”
It’s finally out! I said my piece earlier, and now it’s your turn: What did you think of Rogue One? Spoilers are allowed, so go nuts.
The rules, such as they are: Be polite to each other, and remember we have threaded comments so you can directly reply to someone if you so wish. Some comments may get caught up in moderation (particularly if you’ve never commented before,) but they will get approved eventually. I do have to sleep sometime.