Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
Revenge of the Sith 3D has a new release date, 20th Century Fox announced this week. Attack of the Clones is still set for its original date of September 20, 2013, but Revenge of the Sith has been moved up from October 11 to October 4, putting only two weeks between the rereleases.
AOTC will have some sisterly competition from The Little Mermaid 3D, which comes out only a week before, while ROTS will be facing Sin City: A Dame to Kill For and the Harrison Ford thriller Paranoia.
Tomorrow’s ‘A Necessary Bond’ is the last episode in the young Jedi arc – so prepare ypurself for the show to head back to the usual borderline mayhem next week.
Santa Maul has emerged triumphant from the gastronomic bloodbath, and he has spent the night cackling wildly about the encroachment of retail upon the day of platitudes, football, and flightless bird gorging. Not that he has gone out himself, of course: There is much to do at the Darth Pole, and he has been out of commission writing dirty fanfic taunting Star Wars fandom with poorly-thought out rumors and fancastings.
(Santa Maul can neither confirm nor deny that he or any other member of the Maul family has been approached to direct, write or star in any forthcoming sequels.)
Santa Maul knows there are many deals which you will be wanting to know of, but he must pace himself.
If you have any friends who somehow do not own the Star Wars movies, Amazon has marked the Blu-rays down considerably – perhaps knowing that ‘The Complete Saga’ 6-pack will soon be a lie and/or in hopes that foolish collectors will think they need to purchase extras. In any case, it will now only cost you $69.99, while the individual Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy are $29.99 each.
Only a Skywalker would be blind enough to wear this.Entertainment Earth is apparently so desperate to to get rid of Luke Skywalker’s dorky yellow jacket that they have marked it down from $274.99 to $75.00. It even comes with a medal to make your lightsider friends feel better about their pathetic life choices.
Santa Maul would be amiss to not mention ThinkGeek, which carries many fine Star Wars products, some of which are on sale. Dark Horse and the Star Wars Insider are also offering deals.
And of course you already know about Her Universe’s new products for Cyber Monday.
Santa Maul will return with more products throughout the holiday season. He reminds you that he is active on Twitter, and is always happy to file his minions.
With further reports claiming that the deal with Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg is done – though nothing from StarWars.com yet, and I doubt we’ll see anything tomorrow – let’s take a blurry journey back to 1983…
Short answer: It’s on StarWars.com.
Long answer: It’s on StarWars.com, and is reported by media outlets as such. The outlet will either source/link StarWars.com or have quotes from Lucasfilm people using their actual names.
For a recent example of an outlet actually breaking news with Lucasfilm’s blessing, let’s look at IGN’s original report of David Tennant in The Clone Wars. It has extensive quotes from Dave Filoni and a video clip – which was exclusive to them when the story broke. (StarWars.com later posted it as a preview of the episode.) So far, Lucasfilm hasn’t been doing this with Episode VII news – the Arndt item simply appeared on the site – perhaps because they know that everyone is going to write about it anyway. The Tennant news simply isn’t as big, and getting it onto a mainstream outlet gives it an extra boost that will reach casual fans (and people like Doctor Who fans) who aren’t regularly watching The Clone Wars. This is also probably why Del Rey gave Entertainment Weekly that Scoundrels exclusive EU fandom spent a day agonizing over back in March.
Obviously, an outlet reporting something from unnamed sources – as is the case with last night’s Kasdan/Kinberg stories from Deadline and THR – are not confirmed.
Other outlets writing about those stories does not confirm them, either. Words like ‘reports’ and ‘reportedly’ are basically just a journalistic way of saying ‘rumors.’ It might give them a little more weight – I tend to use the word ‘report’ if I think something is just a tad more plausible than things like, say, Vader rising from the dead. But in essence? They mean exactly the same thing: It’s not official yet, just things people or the media are saying. That doesn’t make them fact, no matter how many people run the story.
Because nothing is confirmed until Lucasfilm says it is. Lucasfilm and, now, Disney. Not Major Entertainment News Outlet #47 reporting off Major Entertainment News Outlet #86. And trust me, we are watching.
Deadline is reporting today that Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg have been approached by Disney to script Episode VIII and Episode IX.
The Hollywood Reporter has their own report, saying Kasdan and Kinberg will work as a pair on one of the films – and join Kathleen Kennedy as producers.
UPDATE: THR says Wednesday that the deal is done, but StarWars.com is staying mum.
Kasdan is a Lucasfilm veteran, responsible for the screenplays of Empire Strikes Back (sharing credit with Leigh Brackett,) Return of the Jedi and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Kinberg has some franchise experience as well – the 2009 Sherlock Holmes – though I’m not sure X-Men: The Last Stand and Jumper speak in his favor.
Kasdan returning would be a boon – but remember, it’s only a rumor. Lucasfilm has only confirmed that Michael Arndt will be handling the screenplay for Episode VII. (via)
Last week, we delved into Star Wars liquors, Lando raiding Han’s closet, Twilight prequels and a question is asked. Plus, your regular lineup of #EpisodeVII, the #SWEU, Star Wars life and snark.
Her Universe has revealed their Cyber Monday exclusives! Above, a set of Darth Vader pajamas featuring artwork from Her Universe favorite Katie Cook. “Everyone knows I love creating designs for Her Universe,” Cook said. “I jumped at the chance to combine two of my favorite things: Star Wars and pajamas.” Tops and bottoms will be sold separately – the tops aren’t on the site yet, but the bottoms go up to 3X.
The Star Wars shirt with Japanese symbols is a new Misses cut that is “is flattering to the female figure” – it’s the same cut as the plus-size Mara shirts from Celebration, and is available in sizes up to 2X. The BSG crew neck sweatshirt might also appeal to those looking for a looser cut – it’s available in sizes up to XL. There are also new Star Trek and two new Doctor Who tees!
Her Universe is producing their first Star Trek jewelery for the holiday – these earrings feature the Vulcan hand sign in the communicator seal. And this year’s holiday pin features Chewbacca and comes in a case signed by Ashley Eckstein. A thousand have been produced and will be going out free with every order while supplies last.
Also free this year? U.S. Ground shipping! All the new Cyber Monday products will go on sale November 26.
It’s Part 3! George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy talk about their meeting and his proposal for her to run Lucasfilm. “I love the challenge,” Kennedy says.
“It’s just such a perfect fit,” Lucas says. “She actually has all the qualities necessary to run a company like this.”
On the official blog today, Howard Roffman talks about his history with George Lucas, Bob Iger and Kathleen Kennedy, as well as his emergence from semi-retirement. “The prospect of being involved with a new trilogy of Star Wars films made by a new generation of filmmakers was nothing short of exhilarating for me,” he writes.