There’s still no official word on The Force Awakens Blu-ray release, but Amazon (via) has informed those who pre-ordered that the release date is April 5, just as previously reported. Hopefully this means we’ll get an announcement – and details on the bonus features – soon. UPDATE: And apparently it’s gone again. Guys, c’mon. No one is fooled by this.
→ Ewan McGregor talked about his vocal cameo in The Force Awakens on Jimmy Kimmel Live the other day.
→ Yes, Episode IX will be shot on film, director Colin Trevorrow said last week. In case you thought it would buck the trend.
We all know by now (hopefully) that this Friday, September 4th, is Force Friday, when a huge chunk of The Force Awakens merchandise is going to drop. And naturally, what we’re most excited about are the 5 novels in the Journey to The Force Awakens line.
But first, there are other things coming out this week. Tuesday brings season 1 of Rebels on Blu-ray and DVD. Shockingly, there are no comics coming on Wednesday. (Shattered Empire, Marvel’s entry into Journey, will be out later in the month.)
You’ll also be be seeing things like coloring and sticker books for Journey, but for our purposes, here are the standouts:
From Del Rey, we have Star Wars newcomer Chuck Wendig tackling Aftermath, our first canon story set after Return of the Jedi. We know it stars Wedge Antilles and new character Norra Wexley, but not much more than that. First of a trilogy. An excerpt is available, though I wouldn’t be shocked to see another in the coming days.
Disney Lucasfilm Press has four novels total. Claudia Gray’s Lost Stars is a YA novel that follows two childhood friends, one who joins the Empire and one who becomes a Rebel. The last three are set during the original trilogy, one each for Luke, Leia and Han, though we’ve recently learned they all feature prologues (at least) set in The Force Awakens era. I’ve heard these described as both for young readers and as YA, but the presence of illustrations make me think it’s the former. Jason Fry’s The Weapon of a Jedi and Greg Rucka’s Smuggler’s Run are both set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, while Cecil Castellucci and Fry’s Moving Target is our first canon story to be set between Empire and Return of the Jedi.
A handful of reference books will also be out on Friday: Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know by Adam Bray, Cole Horton, Michael Kogge and Kerrie Dougherty and Benjamin Harper’s Ships of the Galaxy. Both are targeted to young readers, and we know that Ships, at least, has blueprints to TFA ships. We can also expect an assortment of things like sticker and coloring books, which may contain ‘new’ characters.
We’re expecting a lot of hints and small pieces in these books, but most of the heavy-hitting movie tie-ins will be out later. The Force Awakens novelization will be out on December 18 as an eBook, the same day as the film, with a hardcover edition to follow in January. We fully expect the traditional compliment of reference books – making of, concept art, etc – but those haven’t been formally announced yet. (Though are also expected in January at the very soonest.)
The first six Star Wars movies are getting yet another Blu-ray makeover. The limited edition commemorative steelbooks look neat, but it doesn’t seem like they’ll have any new content. The ‘Complete Saga’ collection is also getting a facelift for re-release.
The steelbooks will be available for preorder on August 7 for a November 10 release, and the Complete Saga collection of all six films (so far) will drop on October 13.
Rumors.Ali Arikan says that there are rumblings that Episode VII will begin filming on April 22.
Original original trilogy. Jeremy Conrad at Furious Fanboys has four reasons we won’t be seeing the original trilogy theatrical cuts released anytime soon. Long story short: A complete restoration would be super expensive and the rights issues with 20th Century Fox.
No books this week, but there is one big release on Tuesday: Blu-ray/DVD combo packs of the two trilogies. These are the same cuts of the film we saw last time, just with DVD versions and new cover art, so it’s not that big a deal, but if you’re a collector or just need copies for some reason, it’s your lucky day.
UPDATE 8/7: StarWars.com has verified the new releases and the release date of October 8, adding that DVD-only versions will be available internationally. Our original post is below.
Yakface and SWAN have spotted Amazon listings for another rerelease of the two Star Wars trilogies (Prequel, Original) as Blu-ray/DVD combo packs. They have a list price of $59.99 and an October 8th release date – just a week before The Clone Wars S5 and complete series box sets. (via)
The first Blu-ray sets, in addition to a complete saga box set, came out in fall 2011. They did not include DVD versions. All three (Saga, PT, OT) appear to be still available, though Amazon is running deeper-than-usual discounts on the trilogy sets.
Rebelforce Radio says they’ve heard that neither of The Clone Wars DVD and Blu-ray sets that were spotted on French Amazon earlier this month will not contain the much-anticipated ‘bonus content.’ The sets, expected out in mid-October, include both S5 and a complete series box set. RFR also says that the complete series set comes with a book, Obi-wan will be featured on the cover of S5, and that we’ll be getting a formal announcement on Friday.
But RFR goes on to say that there won’t be an announcement regarding the bonus content anytime soon. One can hope this means that the stuff will eventually get a much more significant play than as mere special features. But given that near-rabid interest in it from some corners of fandom, the state of the bonus content is sure to come up sometime this weekend at one of Celebration Europe’s Clone Wars panels… I’d be very surprised if hint or two isn’t dropped at some point.
There’s still no official word on The Force Awakens Blu-ray release, but Amazon (via) has informed those who pre-ordered that the release date is April 5, just as previously reported. Hopefully this means we’ll get an announcement – and details on the bonus features – soon. UPDATE: And apparently it’s gone again. Guys, c’mon. No one is fooled by this. 
From Del Rey, we have Star Wars newcomer Chuck Wendig tackling Aftermath, our first canon story set after Return of the Jedi. We know it stars 
Star feud. Carrie Fisher and William Shatner are 
No books this week, but there is one big release on Tuesday: 
