Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
Another important character has wrapped in Episode IX – BB-8, per puppeteer Brian Herring, who shared some behind-the-scenes pictures from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi for the occasion.
So who’s still working? John Boyega, for one.
→ Anthony Daniels (and thus, Threepio) has wrapped filming on Episode IX. “…We’re so proud to have worked with such a lovely, talented cast & crew lead by J.J. & Kathy,” he tweeted this afternoon. “I’ll miss everyone but I’m glad to know that we’ve been making something exceptional together, to share with the waiting world.
→ We haven’t heard from many other cast members since John Boyega’s big hint, but we do know that Adam Driver was filming when the Oscar nominations were announced, per Spike Lee. (Here’s Driver himself on his nom.) He’s at Sundance now for The Report, where he’s perfecting his Star Wars dodges.
→ The other supporting nominee who happens to be in Star Wars, Richard E. Grant, has his own reaction in the NYT. He actually talks about IX – and his nomination – with Radio Times.
→ No matter how much wishful thinking is knocking around the internet, there won’t be anything from Episode IX at the Super Bowl. Like Solo last year, Disney’s likely contenders for a big game spot are all spring/summer releases. More at Deadline.
→ That said, I still expect that our next major drop will be the title.
→ And finally…
John Boyega got his hands dirty – and a little bloody – on the set of Episode IX today. He shared on Instagram: “Great working day on set!! The whole team pushed themselves today to achieve something visually crazy! I’ve had many moments of shock on set but not like today and I can’t wait until you know why. #FN2187”
In non-Star Wars news, he’s executive producing and overseeing the soundtrack for God Is Good, a South African crime thriller.
→ Naomi Ackie nabbed a role in the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series.
→ Adam Driver has been doing a lot of press for BlacKkKlansman during awards season, and in a recent Q&A he briefly addressed signing on for Star Wars and having “one piece of information of where it was all going.”
→ Dominic Monaghan shared his Episode IX jacket, as well as attending a Manchester United game with Kelly Marie Tran and Billie Lourd.
→ In the realm of possible spoilers, another Making Star Wars set report.
→ And for those who want to avoid the (possible) spoilers, there have been a few reports that a trailer has been cut, but little on the timing. No one is ruling out one appearing early (by which I mean, before Celebration in April) but it seems more likely to me that we’ll get a title as (maybe) production officially finishes, which is how things went down for The Force Awakens. (And that’s likely soon, given all the cast and crew gifts we’ve seen lately.) Could we get a teaser of some sort then? Never say never, but I’m not counting on it. Of course, I’ve been wrong before.
Making Star Wars has some details on Episode IX filming. Ducks! (Not a spoiler. Well, maybe a spoiler.)
Also, a reminder that while there’s (always) speculation, we have zero legitimate reasons to believe we’re going to get a look at Episode IX this month. That said, tomorrow is the one-year-out mark. I’d wager that our next bit of news will probably be the film’s title: The Force Awakens was announced in November 2016, and The Last Jedi in January 2017, so we’re in that range. Maybe J.J. will drop us another picture. But actual footage? Unless it’s something for Force for Change, don’t count on it it.
Yes, it’s hard to wait. But it’s also nice to have a December off from the madness. I dunno, maybe I’ve been blogging this stuff for too long.
Now, for our other production-in-production, MSW also has some hints at familiar figures we might see in The Mandalorian.. Or if that doesn’t do it for you, how about supposed details on Nick Nolte’s character? He’s not what any of expected.
While on set for the Knights Templar drama Knightfall, Mark Hamill discusses Episode IX security with Entertainment Weekly:
“They’re going to fly [the rewrites] over with somebody from the company,” Hamill said. “They’re going to come and give it to me and wait for me to read it before I give it back. So no pressure! You can’t even keep it overnight. But that’s the way it is now.”
He reveals that he has done about a week of filming for the next Star Wars, and will head back between his Knightfall schedule. He also has a “very high profile” non-Star Wars voiceover project coming up that hasn’t been announced yet.
Knightfall season 2 doesn’t have a premiere date yet, but Episode IX will be out December 20, 2019.
Making Star Wars has another collection of Episode IX rumors, including a commercial being filmed at Disney World for Christmas Day – which, to be fair, might be for Galaxy’s Edge and not the movie at all – and some far-off pics from Pinewood. They’re mostly spoilery, so I’ll refrain from the details.
Kevin Smith was on Good Morning America today and he discussed visiting J.J. Abrams and the set of Episode IX in London. Although he signed “so many nondisclosure agreements that if I said anything somebody would pop out with a lightsaber and cut my hand off,” he did manage to share a few things, namely that the movie looks great and he witnessed someone give “a career-best performance.”
Video, and a transcription of the most relevant bit, under the cut.
Continue reading “Kevin Smith visits Episode IX set, says movie looks “fantastic””
Making Star Wars is verifying, of all things, a Reddit report regarding the state of certain headgear in Episode IX, as well as a new droid. I make a habit of not trusting Reddit, yet I do trust MSW. As always, we consider and wait.
There’s also a considerably more spoilery report re: The Mandalorian if that’s more your speed.
Although there have been numerous reports – and even social media posts from the likes of John Boyega (mostly via Instagram stories) and Oscar Isaac’s wife Elvira Lind – we finally have some comments from higher up the food chain. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and director J.J. Abrams both talked to Roya News about Jordan’s Wadi Rum:
“Wadi Rum is breathtakingly beautiful and the perfect location for our film,” says Abrams. “I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to shoot in Jordan. Between the warm welcome from the government and the dedication and hard work of the local film professionals, we couldn’t have had a better experience. We are enormously grateful.”
Producer Kathleen Kennedy said “I also want to thank the Royal Film Commission Jordan, and the Army, whose tremendous support has been invaluable, and helped make this shoot possible.”
Other than Boyega and Isaac (and maybe Anthony Daniels,) the cast has been mainly mum on who exactly is out in Jordan. There are fuzzy photos that may indicate at least one other cast member joined them, but they’re hardly conclusive.
STAR WARS – EPISODE IX – SPOLER ALERT – NOW IT CAN BE TOLD LEAK. DATELINE PINEWOOD. It's cold & raining. Demands are made to return to the wonderful warm planet of Jordan's, Wadi Rum where cast and crew spent a glorious time in a beautiful, spectacular, thrilling setting. Or two.
— Anthony Daniels (@ADaniels3PO) November 28, 2018
There’s plenty of speculation on what Jordan means for the story – understandably, a return to Jakku is a common theory – but it’s interesting that Daniels’ tweet implies it may be standing in for more than one. Curious.
Now that the streaming service has a name, the marketing for Disney+ has really begun… Along with some inklings of how it will work.
Per Vulture’s Josef Adalian, Star Wars will be one of the “five central content hubs” for the service (along with classic Disney, Marvel, Pixar and National Geographic) so there won’t be much need for Netflix-style scrolling.
We also know that they’re aiming for the monthly price to be less than Netflix (cheapest plan: $7.99). Disney’s ESPN+ streaming service, which launched earlier this year, currently charges $4.99 a month. So I suspect we’ll be looking at something that’ll run fans $5-7 a month. (And maybe even some savings if bundled with an ESPN+ or Hulu subscription?)
But! The content. What’s coming for Star Wars? Here’s what we know for sure, some speculation about what else may be in play, and what we definitely won’t see.
Continue reading “What to expect from Star Wars and Disney+”