Posts

Posted on

Report: Harrison Ford “open to” and “upbeat” about returning as Han Solo?

Entertainment Weekly’s Geoff Boucher has a ‘highly placed source’ claiming that “Harrison is open to the idea of doing the movie and he’s upbeat about it…” But he also theorizes – on the force of Ford’s history with the role – that he may require a ‘a mandatory death scene’ for the character.

Ford hasn’t been particularly enthusiastic about Solo in recent years (Boucher runs through the quotes) but there are a few things – like Kathleen Kennedy – that might lure Ford back as well. Either way, I’m not sure we can expect to see anything on the record from Ford until he’s promoting his next movie!

Posted on

Rumor: Disney looking into buying Hasbro?

Anti-trust lawyers must be wringing their hands with glee at this one: MTV Geek is saying that after acquiring Lucasfilm (pending approval) Disney will be turning to Hasbro. Or rather, that they’re having “discussions.”

Buying Hasbro would give Disney the rights to Transformers, G.I. Joe, Dungeons and Dragons, and My Little Pony, among others. And by folding in the toys, they’d be getting a bigger share of the Star Wars pie as well.

Posted on

Rumor: Matthew Vaughn in talks for Episode VII?

Our first rumor this week comes from Collider, which claims that X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn is in talks to direct Episode VII. Their ‘source’ says it’s the reason he dropped out of the First Class sequel, which will now be helmed by original X-Men director Bryan Singer. (via)

Vaughn has significant writing credits as well. In addition to First Class, he wrote screenplays for Stardust and Kick-Ass, which he also directed.

Posted on

Let’s review: What do we really know about Star Wars VII-IX?

Tomorrow it’ll be a full week since the biggest Star Wars news since the mid-90’s dropped: Not only Disney buying Lucasfilm, but that they’d be making a new trilogy – the sequel trilogy and perhaps beyond.

And amid all the rumors and fan hopes? There’s not really all that much info that’s actually solid. So in order to help stem at least a little confusion, I’ve created a page to keep track of what we actually know about Episodes VII-IX so far. It’ll be updated as we get further information.

Posted on

Report: George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy meeting with “well-known screenwriters” to pitch ideas for Episode VII

Today in Episode 7 reports, we have the Los Angeles Times’ Steven Zeitchik and John Horn saying that “several different screenwriters paid visits to Lucasfilm’s Northern California compound to pitch George Lucas and his co-chair Kathleen Kennedy their ideas for the new live-action installment.” Their source went on to say “they were well-known screenwriters with experience creating big-budget Hollywood films,” and the stories were not adapted from existing Star Wars books. (via)

Their source is anonymous, but this does dovetail neatly with something Kennedy said in the video released Tuesday: “We’re sitting down with a couple of writers and we’re starting to discuss ideas; We’re starting to talk about what those stories might be.” I feel comfortable putting this one in the ‘fairly plausible’ column.

Posted on

Does the Disney deal mean no more Star Wars Happy Meals?

There is one side to the Disney deal that I haven’t seem much bandied about: It means there probably won’t be any more Star Wars Happy Meals. In 2006, Disney stopped their partnership with McDonalds, and they have in recent years done tie-ins with healthier options like Subway, which they have teamed up with for Brave and Frankenweenie. Head into a Subway today and you’ll see promos for Wreck-it Ralph. (Hat tip to CJer Rach for noticing!)

McDonalds has done Star Wars Happy Meal promotions based around The Clone Wars in 2008, 2010 and earlier this year. In 2005, Revenge of the Sith toys appeared at Burger King; Taco Bell had toys for the Special Editions and teamed up with corporate siblings Pizza Hut and KFC for The Phantom Menace promotions. (Attack of the Clones sat the fast food market out.) And the GenXers among us will remember Burger King’s Return of the Jedi glasses from 1983.

Posted on

Another rumor: Episode VII more than 50 years after Return of the Jedi?

Well, this one will give some hope to the continuity-obsessed EU fans. Amid quite a bit of speculation, Nerdvana’s Dustin Diehl has a ‘Lucasfilm connection’ that claims Episode 7 will start “further out” than 50 years after the last film installment. They also told Diehl that a “a writer and director have already been selected.”

Diehl has quite a bit more faith than I that Disney and Lucasfilm will take the existing Expanded Universe – “equal parts respect and disinterest,” while I see only the second. Still, speculation is speculation, particularly at this point!

Posted on

George Lucas and his post-Star Wars life

EOnline caught up with George Lucas to ask what and how he feels about moving on from Lucasfilm and Star Wars.

“It was 40 years of work,” Lucas said when we caught up with him at the Ebony Power 100 Gala at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall. “It has been my life, but I am ready to move on to bigger and better things.”

He also talked about his charity work and said he’s going to keep making “littler personal films,” but “the ones I am working on now will never get into the theaters.”

Posted on

Rumor mill: Episode VII features Luke, female Skywalker

Get used to these rumor reports, folks! It’s only just begun. Today, we have Marketsaw. Their source has a lot to say about a lot of things, including the new movies, the old movies and live-action TV show, but here’s the bit about the sequel trilogy:

There are two trilogies planned, all following an original overview by Lucas, which was always planned as a multi generational saga. Movies 10 – 12 are from my understanding about the offspring of the Skywalkers, set many years later with the surviving cast playing much older versions of themselves and featuring a female protagonist named Skywalker. This is something that I understand is being discussed as the latest trilogy may end up being an amalgamation of the two using themes and ideas from both, but still keeping the general story, also allowing for continuity of cast.

As always, I recommend taking any unverified reports of this nature with a grain of salt! But I can say – have said – that I would love it if the new movies featured a female Skywalker front and center. Still, being a realist and having been an avid spectator through the worst of the prequel rumormongering, I can’t give these reports that much credence.