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Ewan McGregor on The Force Awakens, the broadsaber, and (maybe) returning as Obi-Wan

Not Obi-Wan: Ewan McGregor in Last Days in the Desert
Not Obi-Wan, really: Ewan McGregor as Jesus in Last Days in the Desert.

“I’m excited about it as much as anyone else. I saw the trailer and it looks like he absolutely nailed it and it feels right,” Ewan McGregor said on The Force Awakens at the 69th Edinburgh International Film Festival this weekend.

He’s not sure about Kylo Ren’s lightsaber crossguard, though: “If you fight with a lightsaber properly you don’t need one.”

As for Obi-Wan Kenobi:

Would McGregor return to the role, if asked? “I’ll say it publicly, here, now. I’d be happy to do the story between Episode 3, that I finished in, and Episode 4 that Alec Guinness started in. I think that would be good. Disney should definitely do that.” McGregor’s tone suggested he was half-quipping.

We’ve known that McGregor would be down to return since the very day we learned there’d be new movies, but it’s nice to know that his interest hasn’t waned, at least.

McGregor was at the festival for the U.K. premiere of Last Days in the Desert, where he plays a duel role as Jesus and Satan. At least one upcoming role keeps him in the Disney family – he’s playing Lumiere in the live-action Beauty and the Beast that’s slated for 2017.

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Jake Lloyd arrested, jailed after high-speed car chase

Jake Lloyd (Colleton County Detention Center)Jake Lloyd, who played young Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace was arrested after a high-speed car chase in South Carolina on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports.

The man gave his name as Jake Broadbent, Strickland said. The man’s birthdate matched the actors’ listed by movie database IMDB.com and a hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado, where Lloyd was born.

The man was charged with failing to stop for officers and reckless driving after hitting speeds over 100 miles an hour, Sgt. Kyle Strickland said.

The chase spanned two counties and at least 25 miles before Lloyd drove off the highway onto a parallel road and eventually hitting “several small trees.”

Lloyd remains in jail Sunday, and has not posted bail. His arrest was first reported by TMZ.

All the obvious jokes regarding pod-racing and midiclorians have been made extensively.

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The Force Awakens is only six months away!

tfa-teaser2-rey-bb-finn-run-imax1000We’re now six months out from The Force Awakens, Jason Ward at Making Star Wars points out. Six months! Crazy. And will we really see a full-sized Falcon at SDCC? (They did have a Hasbro-themed one at the China Toy Expo in 2013, but that rumor does feel awfully familiar… Still, now that we’re in the real run-up to the movie, it’s hard to predict exactly how high they’re willing to go.)

→ Speaking of highs, The Force Awakens’ second trailer was one for the record books – literally. Guinness World Records today said that the trailer set a new world record: With 30.65 million views in it’s first day, it’s the most viewed movie trailer on YouTube in 24 hours.

→ Emerging yesterday on Jedi Temple Archives was a TFA toy list with not a single recognizable name – No Kylo Ren, no Rey, no Finn, no Poe, no Millennium Falcon. Bizarre, no? I wondered if it was a prank at the time, but it appears they may be in code. Phew.

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Rebels returns this Saturday with ‘The Siege of Lothal’

Rebels S2: Siege of Lothal (Lucasfilm)

Rebels will be back with ‘The Siege of Lothal’ on June 20 at 9:00 p.m. The one-hour movie premiered at Celebration Anaheim, but now everyone – or at least everyone who gets Disney XD – can watch.

Here’s a video on the return of Darth Vader:


We’re still not getting anything beyond “fall” for the rest of the season, though.

More stills from Lucasfilm and two clips – one that some folks seem to consider rather spoilery – under the cut.

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