Lucasfilm.com relaunched yesterday, and an eagle-eyed Justin LaSalata noticed that the lead photo on the production page – a meeting featuring Kathleen Kennedy and maybe (far right) John Knoll – shows what’s probably concept art for Episode VII that includes what looks like the Millennium Falcon, a mountainous location, an X-Wing pilot and maybe even an older Luke? (Or, maybe, ghost Obi-Wan on Dagobah in Return of the Jedi?) Look closer:
The Falcon appearing is pretty much a given at this point, but this is the first thing we have officially that even hints at it. Of course, it could all be for something else…
There’s also what looks like a few new – or at least better quality than we’ve seen – images of the Ghost on the Rebels page.
Original comments, must read:
1 Alex Johnson // Feb 14, 2014 at 9:39 am
The bottom two images certainly look like new concept art, however the four directly above it appear (and I’m probably wrong, but you never know) to be stills from previous Star Wars films. I’m not sure why they’d be there, if they are in fact stills, but from left to right they sort of look like, 1. Kit Fisto in Attack of the Clones. 2. Maybe Luke during his Death Star run in A New Hope? 3. Count Dooku during his duel with Yoda in Attack of the Clones. 4. Maybe Count Dooku again during his duel with Obi-Wan and Anakin in Revenge of the Sith. Just my two cents :)
2 Richard // Feb 14, 2014 at 9:42 am
I wonder if the Falcon image is concept work for the beginning of the film, echoing the spaceship beginning to the previous episodes… or maybe the end of the movie a la ‘Empire’.
I guess X-Wing pilot flight suits wouldn’t necessarily change much, so this could be post-ROTJ too.
The image to the right of the picture containing the Millennium Falcon… looks vaguely reminiscent of the rural expanses outside the Royal spacecraft hangars of Theed on Naboo, except more rocky. Maybe Utapau? Or more likely somewhere totally new! (It also reminds me of the opening scenes of ‘Prometheus’)
Not sure about older Luke, although… maybe?
And what’s on the image between that person and the X-Wing pilot? Is it a grouping of people, or a moonlit scene perhaps?
For that matter – what’s on the far left? Is it an escape pod, a sand-surrounded cave entrance, a TIE-type vehicle…?
Very exciting! Fun speculating.
3 Dunc // Feb 14, 2014 at 9:45 am
Alex: Yeah, and that would explain the super-recognizable X-Wing pilot. On Twitter, Michael Bailey thinks the far right one looks like Obi-Wan in ROTJ and I think he’s right.
4 Alex Johnson // Feb 14, 2014 at 10:04 am
Which super-recognizable X-Wing pilot are we talking about here? Did I miss one of the pictures? The one in the image above has a certain lean to him that made me think of Luke, plus the camera angle itself is very reminiscent of those used in A New Hope, but his face is totally dark so I’m not totally sold on that.
As for the far right image being Obi-Wan, I think that seems to be pretty spot on…
5 Dunc // Feb 14, 2014 at 10:12 am
Second left on the top – just recognizable as AN X-Wing pilot. I suspect it’s Luke on the Death Star trench run.
If we think that’s the second one, third one is Dooku Force lighting, fourth Obi-Wan on Dagobah… Micheal also pointed out the thing on the TV could be Luke in the Dagobah cave…
What’s our theme here? The Force.
6 Alex Johnson // Feb 14, 2014 at 10:15 am
Let’s see how far we can analyze/over-examine this whole thing.
Darth Vader statue over his shoulder? HAYDEN CHRESTENSON CONFIRMED FOR EPISODE VII!
Mountainous concept art? KORRIBAN TO APPEAR IN NEW FILMS!
Colorful reflection in glasses? GRIEVOUS SET TO RETURN!
7 Alex Johnson // Feb 14, 2014 at 10:21 am
That does look like Luke in the Dagobah cave! So yeah, definite focus on the Force…
8 Austin // Feb 14, 2014 at 10:31 am
I think the meeting’s occupants confirm that this is all Episode VII related: http://bit.ly/M0avjG. Good calls by everyone on the smaller images.
9 Oleo // Feb 14, 2014 at 11:10 am
That’s definitely ROTJ Ben on the right and AOTC Dooku shooting lightning to the left of that. It makes sense that they might surround themselves with iconic imagery as they work on the new stuff just to keep the aesthetic in mind.
10 @@driver // Feb 14, 2014 at 12:06 pm
I imagine the smaller images are simply reference for things like color, tone, framing, etc. – as Oleo said, getting the aesthetic, the look and feel right. I wouldn’t read anything else into them at this point, especially since we are seeing this at all.
11 Aaron // Feb 14, 2014 at 3:42 pm
Or it’s the four basic elements of Star Wars: Family relationships and drama, ace piloting and space action, cool bad guys and the mysterious ways of the Force.
Or it’s tie-in stuff: Boba Fett surviving in the EU, Rogue Squadron fighting the Empire after Endor, a new count of Serenno / a new Sith following in the footsteps of Tyranus/Sidious, and ghost Ben dropping more story points.
So many possibilities, so little probability… :-P