Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
A two-part press conference with The Force Awakens notables was held this afternoon in Los Angeles. It was moderated by (surprise!) Mindy Kaling, and here are a few things we learned. (Thanks to Entertainment Weekly and ComicBook liveblogs, plus all the live-tweeters.)
A new behind the scenes video from The Force Awakens debuted at Comic-Con Brazil. See John Boyega in awe as he sees the Falcon! See Harrison Ford sign a giant action figure! See Oscar Isaac boggle!
Speaking of Oscar Isaac, Poe Dameron finally got a character poster today.
Today’s must-read was an article from Meredith Woerner at the Los Angeles Times about the women of The Force Awakens. In addition to the characters (it’s revealed that Captain Phasma will be returning for VIII,) Kathleen Kennedy also talks about the importance of having women behind the scenes, and how that helped the movie.
→ On that note, agent Adriana Alberghetti told the LAT that she’s gotten meetings for four female directors and three female writers for Star Wars films. She doesn’t name names, but Newsarama notes that her clients include Orange Is The New Black director S.J. Clarkson and Buffy the Vampire Slayer writer Marti Noxon.
→ George Lucas has seen The Force Awakens and, Kathleen Kennedy tells The Hollywood Reporter, “he really liked it.”
→ Carrie Fisher was on Good Morning America this morning, and not only was she amazing, but she was full of praise for the film.
→ More The Force Awakens ornaments are coming to Hallmark… Next year. Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma are available now.
J.J. Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy, and several of The Force Awakens’ stars were on hand today for #TwitterAwakens, a live Q&A via the @starwars Twitter. It was a crazy whirlwind, and yes, Harrison Ford dropped what may be a major spoiler – if you haven’t been paying attention. (It’s the spoiler – it’s not about Luke or anyone’s parentage, though he did spell Kylo as ‘Kilo,’ which is hilarious.)
Also, Mark Hamill trolled, and Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac sang a (brief) duet.
I’ve collected most of the tweets, but to see the actual questions you have to read it on Twitter. If you want to avoid Harrison’s spoiler, skim over everything from the Lupita picture (or Carrie’s “Good, I was jealous.”) until you see Harrison’s own mug (above center.)
On Good Morning America this morning, Daisy Ridley admits she cried after watching The Force Awakens, and John Boyega does an impression of the Gingerbread Man from Shrek.
Carrie Fisher is on the cover of Good Housekeeping, or at least the U.K. edition, for January. (That’s December in magazine world.) Most of the soundbites pulled out of the interview have been about being older in Hollywood and having to lose weight for The Force Awakens, but it does look like there may be more to the interview. Lifestyle magazines, go figure! Other new Star Wars covers include Lupita Nyong’o for Elle UK (you can find her on Essence in the U.S.) and Daisy Ridley for Glamour UK. Daisy’s December cover for Elle US is on shelves now. People also has a The Force Awakens ‘collector’s edition’ coming to newsstands December 9.
→ On Good Morning America, Harrison Ford revealed he’s seen The Force Awakens and declines to reveal Han Solo’s relationship status. Howard Stern had Adam Driver on, and I definitely recommend giving it a listen. (Driver revealed – accidentally? – he’s signed for 3.) And going back to yesterday’s J.J. Abrams interview on Sirius XM, he talks about that first cast photo.
→ New features from the Disney Channel on Finn and BB-8. And in his second explainer video, Entertainment Weekly’s Anthony Breznican talks about Rey’s speeder.
→ If you feel like you’ve been seeing a lot of Star Wars commercials lately, that’s because Disney has claimed the top spot in movie ad spending for The Force Awakens.
→ Of course Abu Dhabi (aka Jakku) will be hosting the film’s Middle Eastern premiere. It’ll be December 16th at the Dubai International Film Festival. Meanwhile, the movie will open on January 9th in China.
It’s going to be a busy week for our DVRs. Good Morning America will have J.J. Abrams on Monday, Harrison Ford on Tuesday, and John Boyega and Daisy Ridley on Wednesday. Carrie Fisher will be on Live with Michael and Kelly on Thursday.
Abrams and Ford will also be on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Monday and Tuesday. Then, Lupita Nyong’o will be on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah on Wednesday, while Fallon will host Adam Driver. Daisy Ridley will be on Fallon Thursday night.
J.J. Abrams and the cast of The Force Awakens talk about the new Omaze initiative today. It launched with help from Harrison Ford last week, but a key cast member is missing from this one. However, it does end with a ‘to be continued…’
For more information on the charities selected by the cast, head to StarWars.com.
Director J.J. Abrams and stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher will be on a special The Force Awakens episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight.
Most recently, Ford showed up on Kimmel’s Halloween episode.
Live begins at 11:35pm ET on ABC; Tune in or don’t forget to set your DVR!
J.J Abrams, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega were on hand for last night’s Saturday Night Live… Among others.