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Italian austerity measures close prequel palace

The Royal Palace of Caserta, which served as interiors of the Theed Royal Palace for The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, was closed Tuesday, suprising hundreds of tourists who turned out for the All Saints Day holiday.

“The ministry did not authorise overtime payments because of a lack of funding. I’m very sorry that so many people were turned away but it is really not our fault,” a local official, Paola David, told La Repubblica newspaper.

It’s only the latest in a long line of funding issues plaguing Italy and embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government.

The palace doubled as the Vatican for the adaption of Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons (which co-starred Ewan MacGregor) and also appeared in Mission: Impossible III.

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In the news: Will 300 sequel make a movie star of Joel ‘Uncle Owen’ Edgerton?

Rising star. Joel Edgerton has worked steadily in Hollywood since Attack of the Clones, but a big name he isn’t – yet. He’s currently in talks for a role that could change that, Vulture reports – the lead in the sequel to 300, Battle of Artemisia. (UPDATE: Vulture is now saying Edgerton is also being offered the role of Ilya in Steven Soderbergh’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E.. remake. )

Edgerton starred in September’s Warrior, last month’s The Thing and will play Tom Buchanan in next year’s high-profile adaption of The Great Gatsby alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan.

Home entertainment sales up. A trade group reports that home entertainment spending has risen 5% in the third quarter – the first increase since 2008. Helping drive the rise are Blu-ray sales, up a whopping 58% from a year ago. I can think of one recent release that may have helped with that…

Science! NASA has awarded three scientists $100,000 to “study the ability to trap and move objects using laser light,” aka tractor beams. Evil overlord wannabes everywhere are plotting in joy. For inspiration, check out Gadget Review’s list of Star Wars tech that now exists.

Commercials. British electronics retailer Dixons is the latest business to borrow Darth Vader for an ad campaign. The spots will debut Saturday.

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Santa Maul has woken, and he has a ‘gift’ for you

Santa Maul's Holiday Gift Guide‘Ah, Santa Maul, it is too early for you,’ perhaps you are saying. But you are wrong. Has retail taught you nothing? It is never too early for the trappings of Sithmas to intrude into everyday life. (Four days before Halloween! I am indeed mighty.) Santa Maul depends on your hatred and rage at the season’s shameless insidiousness, after all. It is what wakes him, long before his intended time. Well, that and the candy.

In any case, Santa Maul knows his lady readers, and the ladies (and many of the mens) love that silly twit Obi-Wan, even at his most mulleted. So he brings you this Sideshow production peek, to taunt you a product that will probably not be ready for Christmas! For such is his whim. Welcome to the Sithmas season, minions!

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German police stop drunk-driving Yoda

The 42-year-old driver dressed as Yoda was returning home from a Halloween party early Sunday morning when he had a collison that “lightly” injured a pedestrian. The police caught him, confiscated his license, and made him walk home.

“The officers were especially surprised to see … Grand Master Yoda at the wheel,” said the statement from police in the city of Darmstadt, near Frankfurt in western Germany.

“The hapless Jedi returned home on foot,” said police. “In this case, the force was not with him.”

Perhaps next time he’ll be wise enough to enlist Obi-Wan as a designated driver.

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Out this week: Inside ILM, Fisher’s Shockaholic

Here’s one to put on your holiday wishlist: Industrial Light and Magic: The Art of Innovation should be appearing in stores Tuesday. (It sounds like a companion piece to 1987’s Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Special Effects, which I recall thumbing through in Waldenbook’s as a kid.) Also keep an eye out for Carrie Fisher’s latest book, Shockaholic, which should find its way into stores this week.

Our next book release is Drew Karpyshyn’s The Old Republic: Revan on November 15th. I spotted a few minor date changes for 2012 books on Random House’s online catalogue – see them in our book release schedule.

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The catchup: One dad introduces the saga to his kids

Sunday reader. Using the Blu-rays, Hitfix’s Drew McWeeny is showing the Star Wars movies to his two sons for the first time. It’s a great story (they’ve seen Clone Wars but nothing else) and probably one of the best articles (and certainly the most detailed) that I’ve read on kid’s reactions to the saga. In order: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, The Phantom Menace, Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith, with the Return of the Jedi entry coming on Thursday. A great read, whether you’ve shown the movies to kids yet or not.

Occupy Coruscant? Twitter’s favorite minions of evil, Death Star PR, takes time out of their busy planet-blasting schedule to debunk Luke Skywalker’s assertion that he is part of the 99%.

Kids. A Yoda backpack helped one flower girl make it down the aisle. (via)

People. Watch Mark Hamill in the opening of Friday’s Chuck premiere.

Spoofs. The Jedi Church. Literally. Well, spoofily.

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EUbits: Richardson on CEIII, inside The Complete Vader

Crimson Empire III. With Empire Lost #1 in stores, Dark Horse founder and co-writer Mike Richardson talks to Comic Book Resources about getting the Star Wars license and getting re-acquainted with Kir Kanos and crew.

The Complete Vader. Undecided on whether to get the book or not? Take a peek at some of the contents courtesy of Wired. For those who already have it, the Star Wars Books Facebook page is hosting a chat with authors Ryder Windham and Pete Vilmur on Tuesday.

Nonfiction. Also coming on Tuesday is the release of Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Innovation, a nice coffee-table book for the effect nerds.

Video. Author J.W. Rinzler & Art Director Leslie Dilley talk about the massive Blueprints book at NYCC.

Excerpts. A tiny bit of The Old Republic: Revan, and a bigger one for Shadow Games.

Poll At Suvudu, Eric Geller asks which Star Wars books you’d like to see adapted for the screen. Alas, there’s not option for ‘none of them.’