George Lucas: Museum could go to L.A. if Chicago falls through. He’s still set on Chicago, but there’s currently a lawsuit over the lakefront location. He also revealed that his plan was to film the sequel(s) at the Marin County studio project that was scuttled* in 2012.
First look at the cover of William Shakespeare’s The Phantom of Menace
First look at the cover of William Shakespeare’s The Phantom of Menace. The first prequel Shakespearization, by Ian Doescher, will be out April 7.
Mark Hamill: Walking onto the Millennium Falcon “still seems surreal”
We’ve seen a lot of Mark Hamill around the past few days, thanks to Kingsman, but most of what he’s said about The Force Awakens are takes on things we’ve already heard. However, for Extra, he had a few things to say about the Millennium Falcon: “I can’t describe the feeling… the déjà vu of walking onto the Millennium Falcon, remembering all these details that they’ve gotten exactly right… It still seems surreal to me and hard to believe it’s actually happening.”
Note it’s not a confirmation he actually filmed something on the set.
Spoilerphobes beware: More leaked concept art for The Force Awakens
There are 3 new pieces of leaked concept art at Millennium Falcon, including the new fighter Making Star Wars described the other day – though I’m pretty sure we’ve heard about all three of these from MSW recently.
In less spoilery news, we have some very solid evidence of a female stormtrooper.
The craziest Star Wars story you’ll read today
Rumor: Second trailer for The Force Awakens will feature “classic heroes”
Rumor: Second trailer for The Force Awakens will feature “classic heroes.” So says Latino Review. They think it will debut at Celebration Anaheim and be attached to The Avengers: Age of Ultron – safe bets that have been rumored/speculated before.
Warwick Davis’ The Force Awakens ‘set selfies’ (Are not.)
Trailer: Syfy’s ‘The Expanse’
Here’s our first look at the SyFy space opera series based on The Expanse books by James S.A. Corey.
David Oyelowo, The LEGO Movie big snubs of Oscars
Oscar nominations came out this morning (with a little help from J.J. Abrams as a presenter) and the main story seem to be how very, very male and white they are. The most noteworthy snub? Civil rights drama Selma, which earned a Best Picture and Best Song nomination, despite nothing for director Ava DuVernay or the cast, led by Rebels’ David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr. The saddest thing, maybe? Shutting out one movie is all it took to whitewash the acting nominations.
The other big snub? The LEGO Movie, which is up for Best Song (‘Everything is Awesome’) but totally shut out of Best Animated Feature. At least one of the directors has a good attitude about it.
But as usual, the only field that’s heavy in genre is Visual Effects, which sees nods for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Guardians of the Galaxy, Interstellar, X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Review roundup: Star Wars #1 does pretty well for itself
Now that the million or so copies of Marvel’s Star Wars #1 have hit the comic books shops, let’s see what people are saying:
- IGN: “There’s an emphatic “Give the people what they want!” feel to this issue, and the creative team certainly delivers.”
- iDigitalTimes: “…the best character work is Princess Leia…” (spoilers)
- /film:”Not only does Vader make a great dramatic entrance but theres a very cool tense sequence that feels ripped out of Homeland (this is a strong compliment) and Vader’s response is nothing short of bad ass.”
- Nerdist: “Writer Jason Aaron perfectly captures the pacing, action, and humor of the original Star Wars in a way that a lot of the comics haven’t for a long time it seems.”
- Jedi News: “The true test of any comic script is does it leave you longing for more, and I can’t imagine anyone reading this issue and not being absolutely compelled to pick up issue #2.”
- Tosche Station: 4/5 – “At times, it was difficult to NOT hear the actors’ voices inside my head reading the lines.”
- Big Shiny Robot (a double review from Bryan and myself): “It brings us to familiar territory while still feeling fresh.”
- Coffee with Kenobi: “Reading “Star Wars” No. 1 is like watching a movie.”
- EUCantina.net: “Marvel knew they had to make a big impression with their first Star Wars issue, and they have succeeded.”
Talking with the creators:
- Star Wars editor Jordan D. White chats with Dynamic Forces about this series and how it connects to the Darth Vader and Princess Leia series.
- Coffee with Kenobi also chats with Jordan D. White
- Artist John Cassaday opens his sketchbook and talks Star Wars to Marvel.com (part 1) and StarWars.com (part 2)