Tag: behind the scenes

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More on how Rogue One’s Lyra Erso didn’t end up being a Jedi

We learned in The Art of Rogue One that Jyn’s mother was a Jedi in early drafts of the film, but Gareth Edwards and Gary Whitta go into much more detail with Entertainment Weekly on why they choose otherwise. Galen was always the scientist in the pairing, and Chirrut Imwe was developed to bring in the Force side of things instead.

Still, given Star Wars‘ surplus of daddy issues, it would have been a nice change if they’d decided to make Lyra the scientist instead…

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Today in Rogue One: New featurette reveals PG-13 rating

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A new behind-the-scenes Rogue One featurette appeared today. It features director Gareth Edwards, stars Felicity Jones and Diego Luna, plus several new pieces of footage.


It also appears to be the first to reveal that the film is rated PG-13 for “extended sequences of sci-fi violence and action.” Well, it is a war movie! Rogue One is the third PG-13 Star Wars film, after Revenge of the Sith and The Force Awakens.

→ Elsewhere, Edwards says that Alan Tudyk’s K-2SO is a real scene-stealer.

→ Alexander Freed’s Rogue One novelization is moving up! The hardcover version will now be in stores on December 20, instead of January 3. The eBook release date hasn’t changed – it’ll still be out on December 16, same as the film. (Also, I think this got lost in the shuffle for me, but we did finally see the novelization cover last week. Surprise! It’s basically the poster.)

→ In things you can buy right now, Thinkgeek has two new Rogue One tops.

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SWCE: Rogue One poster, behind-the-scenes clip debuts!


The first surprise at the Rogue One panel was Gwendoline Christie hosting. The second was the poster, and the third is the behind the scenes clip we see above.

ro-posterJohn Knoll revealed that he first came up with the idea of a the story when he first heard rumblings of the live-action series, during the filming of Revenge of the Sith. He put it away when he learned more about George’s concept for the series, and pulled it out again when the spinoffs were announced. Check out the original concept art of the team.

Director Gareth Edwards talking about meeting Mark Hamill (and later, George Lucas!) on set, barely keeping it together.

Edwards also confirmed that the beach planet is named Scarif, and later cast revealed another planet, Jedha. Apparently people make Force-based pilgrimages there – Edwards compared it to Mecca. This appears to be the market planet, and where we meet Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen,) Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) and Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed.) Edwards had more to say on Jedha in a post-panel interview – it’s certainly an intriguing addition to the galaxy.

We learned a bit more about several characters, including our first look at Mads Mikkelsen’ Galen Erso. He invented something “so fantastic it might change the universe.”

Jones also got her first look at the Jyn Erso action figure direct from Christie. Here’s a closer look at her from the floor:

Ahmed said his pilot character Bodhi works for but is questioning the Empire:

He also got quite a few zings in. On that note, Alan Tudyk also shared what Anthony Danials said when he told him his droid was CGI: “You shit.”

Ben Mendelson called Orson Krennic “smarter” than his Imperial predecessors, and “a little sexier than some of them, not quite as sexy as some of the others,” with a wink to Christie.

Christie concluded the panel with a group selfie:

And now, days later, you can watch it all for yourself!

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Today in The Force Awakens: Making of book canceled?

tfa-bts-ridley-jjAlthough it was never officially announced, it appears that The Making of Star Wars: The Force Awakens book from Mark Cotta Vaz and J.W. Rinzler has been canceled. A listing for the book appeared before the movie – usually a reliable indicator – and it was pushed back to October before the film’s release. However, it now it no longer appears on the publisher’s site, and Florian at Jedi Bibliothek found a listing on BookManager that says it’s been canceled..

All-out cancellations are rare, but I don’t expect we’ll get any word on the reasoning anytime soon. (Again, it was never actually announced.) My only guess is that it may have something to do with the lawsuit over Harrison Ford’s on-set injury. Note the incident isn’t mentioned in the official behind-the-scenes documentary on The Force Awakens Blu-ray – and may be off-limits until the legal issues have been worked out. Everyone loves the original trilogy Making of books, but here’s hoping we won’t have to wait 30 years for this one.

→ Speaking of the accident… Something we overlooked during the big Rey parentage debacle was J.J. Abrams revealing exactly how Ford’s injury actually helped the film.

→ A great new behind the scenes video from Discover Ireland.

→ Casting director Nina Gold talks about finding Daisy Ridley and John Boyega (plus some Game of Thrones folks) in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

→ Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and actor Oscar Isaac are among of Time’s 100 most influential people.

→ Custom BB-8s created by Star Wars stars and luminaries, being auctioned for charity.

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This weekend in The Force Awakens: Kylo’s parental issues

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While everyone spent the weekend watching the movie, except those of us actually bothering to wait for the Blu-ray… (WHY.) Here’s another clip from ‘Secrets of The Force Awakens featuring Adam Driver and J.J. Abrams on Kylo Ren and his relationship with his parents.


→ There’s now an official 3D video of the Millennium Falcon cockpit.

→ Neal Scanlan talks creatures (and Maz Kanata) with IGN.

→ io9 lists “new” things learned from The Force Awakens extras.

→ Rebelscum has a picture of a rather impressive display for Tuesday’s Blu-ray display at a Toys R Us Walmart.