Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
While we wait for the big Vanity Fair spread tomorrow, Entertainment Weekly shares some Finn intel from John Boyega – some late-breaking Celebration quotes. He’s a “big deal” for real, plus:
“There’s some additional few things that need to be done to make him mobile. He’s definitely in a place where he needs some help,” Boyega says.
(Hmm…)
He says a lightsaber injury is “really brutal,” and talks a bit about the misson with Rose as well.
They’re turning up the charm offensive with John Boyega at Celebration in the latest Force for Change video.
Another Celebration is in the books, and that means another attendance record. Celebration Orlando attendance was more than 70,000 people, StarWars.com says. That’s up from Anaheim’s 65K in 2015, and double our last Orlando outing in 2012. No wonder things got a bit… Messy. Attendees, look out for the surveys and be sure to fill them out.
We learned before the con that the next Celebration won’t be until 2019 – probably skipping the overseas outings that we had in 2014 and 2016. The leading speculation seems to be that we’ll be headed back to Anaheim, but since we didn’t get a location on Sunday we’ll be left hanging for a while longer. On the plus side, Pablo made a cannon canon.
In the meantime, here are a few other things we learned that I never got around to writing up, because cons are crazy.
→ Here’s a bit more from the Forces of Destiny panel.
→ Hasbro’s panel included looks at the new 6″ Thrawn and Jaina Solo figures, both of which will be available in the fall. Thrawn is also the SDCC exclusive, in a special box resembling his Rebels office. Also: The new Hallmark ornaments.
→ A few details on how the Star Wars lands will work. They’ll be “set” on a brand-new planet and be super interactive, which sounds like… Something. Something very new. Meanwhile, there’s a survey going around that seems to indicate that Disney is considering a Star Wars-themed resort hotel/experience in Florida that ties in with a lot of what they announced.
→ Doug Chiang talks Rogue One concepts and designs.
→ A bit of The Clone Wars and Rebels from Dave Filoni and Pablo. Filoni also told /Film that we won’t see the battle of Scariff on Rebels. (Though note that doesn’t count out other mediums.)
→ Meet the costume contest winners.
While the 40 years of Star Wars panel was light on news, it was fairly heavy on the feels. The much-vaunted surprises turned out to be George Lucas (as predicted,) Harrison Ford (who I don’t think anyone expected) and Billie Lourd, who took part in a truly epic tribute to Carrie Fisher.
I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house after the tribute video (above,) and it was only enhanced by the reveal of John Williams and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra playing Princess Leia’s theme. They followed up with the Main Theme and the Imperial March, just in time to allow us to regain our composure.
The video does contain a look at Fisher on-set in The Last Jedi, but in the scheme of things that feels secondary. And while the panel did mainly focus on the first 6 films, it’s really only appropriate that it ended the way it did. Tomorrow, we’ll look ahead.
Star Wars Celebration Orlando begins on Thursday, and we’ll be there! Well, some of us. Our own James and Dan are running the Bounty Hunt puzzle race again, and the rest of us will be around. As always, keep an eye on Twitter! James is @jamesjawa, Paula is @Rosiewook (Check out her public health tips) and I’m @clubjade. Find one of us and you can get a button!
If this is your first time at Celebration, we’ve done a convention tips series in past year that’s still (mostly) relevant. How to photograph fans in costume, packing, what to carry around the con, the quick guide to Q&As, avoiding con crud and basic human decency. I didn’t get a chance to update any of it this year, but hey, maybe for 2019.
If you can’t make it, StarWars.com will be livestreaming again this time, so you can catch at least a few panels. (They’ll begin Thursday – keep an eye on their Youtube.) It’s the next best thing to being there!
Head below the cut for a few hand-picked highlights from the schedule:
Forest Whitaker coming to Celebration. The man who played Saw Gerrera will join Rogue One cast members Felicity Jones and Alan Tudyk in Orlando next week.
Hayden Christensen will be returning to Celebration for the first time since 2002 as part of the 40th Anniversary panel, joining Mark Hamill, Ian McDiarmid, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Dave Filoni and Kathleen Kennedy. “Many galactic-sized surprises” are still being promised, but this is a fairly big one. (And yes, he’s signing.)
In other Celebration news, there’s now more previews up for the Store, mostly t-shirts.
A first look at some of the first products for The Last Jedi, which will support the Force for Change charitable initiative and launch at Celebration Orlando. Bonus: A new outfit for Rey!
→ There was some footage shown yesterday at CinemaCon as part of a Disney sizzle reel. They were brief shots of Rey on Ahch-To with the blue lightsaber. Unfortunately, there’s also some faked footage floating around that contains none of this. So don’t be fooled. (Seriously, other than a fairly well done photoshop of Adam Driver with a scar, it’s super fake.)
→ Now, rumors! Making Star Wars has two since we last checked in. The first is regarding a piece of scenery that hasn’t yet been officially revealed, and the second says that The Leftovers’ Justin Theroux has a role.
Not only does he get to actually speak in The Last Jedi, but Mark Hamill has been officially announced as a guest at Celebration Orlando. He’ll have two panels: A tribute to Carrie Fisher on Friday and a solo show on Sunday.
(We also expect he’ll make an appearance at The Last Jedi panel.)
The news was announced on today’s Star Wars Show, and you can check out the con schedule as well.
The stage schedules for Celebration Orlando are up. There are still a few gaps, but it’s a good start to plan around.