Watch the 2002 episode of A&E’s Biography!
Rumor mill: Hayden Christensen to attend opening of new Star Tours in Florida?
StarTours2Live.com is reporting that George Lucas (as previously rumored) and Hayden Christensen will be attending the grand opening of Star Tours 2.
I don’t think a Lucas appearance is all that far-fetched, but Christensen? I remain skeptical. Whatever the case, we’ll be finding out soon.
ETA: StarTours2Live.com is now saying that Christensen canceled.
9-disc Star Wars Blu-Ray set revealed!
The rush of fans wanting Blu-Ray details initially crashed the May the 4th site. When it finally got up and running, it began revealing images on the number of social media shares… An act which strikes me as rather sleazy.
Thankfully, I was finally able to procure some decent art, and you’ll see it above. I’m not all that impressed with the art of the individual sets, but I was never a fan of that style to begin with. The art for the saga set, on the other hand, is straight-up awful: It looks less like Star Wars and more like Precious Moments: The Movie.
Hopefully some retailer somewhere will be providing a better-looking exclusive.
LFL will be revealing some additional tidbits on their brand-new Facebook.
The special features list audio commentary for each movie, all involving George Lucas and various notables including Rick McCallum, Irvin Kershner, Carrie Fisher and Ben Burtt, as well as archival audio.
Each trilogy has an entire archive disc… And the ninth includes documentaries including 1977’s The Making of Star Wars and three brand new ones: Star Warriors, on the 501st Legion; A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later with George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams; And Star Wars Spoofs, containing footage from Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and Weird Al.
I’ve cut and paste the complete list under the cut. Please don’t hate me, LFL. Continue reading “9-disc Star Wars Blu-Ray set revealed!”
George just wants to have fun? TFN tipster claims Lucas will attend Star Tours 2 unveiling
A Twitter tipster told TheForce.Net that Hollywood Studios employees are being asked to cancel vacation plans for the grand debut of the new Star Tours because Disney wants “all hands on deck” due to George Lucas attending. It’s only a rumor so don’t get your hopes up, but if you’re planning to attend in Orlando, be forewarned.
Seth Rogan says George Lucas thinks the world is going to end in 2012; LFL snarks back
The actor told the Toronto Sun about a recent encounter he had with the director… About the end of the world.
“George Lucas sits down and seriously proceeds to talk for around 25 minutes about how he thinks the world is gonna end in the year 2012, like, for real. He thinks it.
“He’s going on about the tectonic plates and all the time Spielberg is, like, rolling his eyes, like, ’My nerdy friend won’t shut up, I’m sorry…’
“I first thought he (Lucas) was joking… and then I totally realized he was serious and then I started thinking, ’If you’re George Lucas and you actually think the world is gonna end in a year, there’s no way you haven’t built a spaceship for yourself… So I asked him… ’Can I have a seat on it?’
Oh, George.
Counterpoint: Here’s what Katie Lucas has to say about it:
I have no idea if the conversation actually happened. But he would TOTALLY say that. As a joke, obviously. Geez people, its funny. Get over it!
UPDATE: Word from LFL themselves! Beware of snark.
“I spoke with George,” said Lucasfilm rep Lynne Hale in an e-mail to Wired.com about this issue of obvious intergalactic importance.
“He was not serious when he talked about the end of the world in 2012 but he is an adamant believer that the world is flat, that Stonehenge was built by aliens, and that the sun revolves around the Earth,” Hale said. “These are among the many subjects he commonly discusses at length with Elvis, who he’s going to digitally insert into Indy 5 along with a roster of famous dead actors.”
So dare I say this means that George trolled Seth Rogan? So many LULZ.
UPDATE #2: Further your LOL with the snark-deficient.
ESB added to National Film Registry
It was announced this morning that The Empire Strikes Back is one of 25 films that the Library of Congress is making part of the National Film Registry this year.
But that’s not the only Lucas production making it in this year – Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, not the feature film, but George’s student short – has also been added. (Random…) Star Wars and American Graffiti are already a part of the registry.
Saturday Night Fever, The Exorcist, All the President’s Men, The Pink Panther and Airplane! also made the cut for 2010.
Star Wars: Frames is finally coming out
The product we love to mock – the George-selected fancy screenshot set Star Wars: Frames – is finally going into production. Wired has video.
And for only $3,000! (The set was earlier reported to be priced at $5,000-$4,000.) Granted, the book does look interesting, but at that price! Ouch.
George Lucas planning to resurrect dead movie stars with digital magic? Lucasfilm says no.
Mel Smith (who directed Radioland Murders) told British tabloid The Sun that George Lucas plans to breathe new life into stars of the past.
“George has been buying up the film rights to dead actors in the hope of using computer trickery to put them all together, so you’d have Orson Welles and Barbara Stanwyck alongside today’s stars.”
UPDATE: The quote is originally from an interview in The Daily Mail. Not sure that’s much better as far as reliability goes.
All I can say to this is: Wha? It’s not completely far-fetched, but my doubt circuits are fully engaged on this one.
UPDATE: And Lucasfilm has called bull. Spokesman Josh Kushins told Underwire that “this rumor is completely false.”
In the news: Carrie’s Hoth confession, Sandcrawlers in Singapore, and George speaks out for education
I doubt this was the kind of revelation that Lucasfilm was hoping would make waves in the wake of the new Making of book, but it’s been tough to miss Carrie Fisher’s disclosure down under that she did cocaine on the Hoth set of The Empire Strikes Back. “I didn’t even like coke that much,” she says. “It was just a case of getting on whatever train I needed to take to get high.” She goes on to talk about John Belushi and (of course) her show ‘Wishful Drinking,’ which she’ll be performing in several Australian cities through November.
UPDATE: Fisher blogs about the cocaine incident with her characteristic zing:
So, a long time ago, in a nostril far far away, I ventured outside the perimeters of the appropriate by inhaling a substance that would render me less than professional by abusing the privilege of playing the powerful space princess that I had been given.
And yes, she goes on to say, “I suggest you stay away from ingesting this anxious making powder.”
Wait, what’s that? Lucasfilm is building a new facility in Singapore that resembles a chromed Jawa sandcrawler. Pretty interesting, particularly given that the company seems to prefer a more vintage look when it comes to architecture (or maybe that only applies in California.)
The Maker… blogs? George Lucas has come down from on high to blog for The Huffington Post on the importance of education. Note: He probably wrote it on a yellow pad and had one of his many employees type it up, so don’t start holding your breath for his tweets.
Spreading the word. Ashley Eckstein talks Her Universe in an interview with McClatchy Newspapers.
The fandom minute: Star Wars economics, Her Universe fan interviews, adorable crafting, and Chad does D*C
The economics of Star Wars. This infographic that’s been circling around the interwebs breaks down just how much money the Star Wars cash cow brings in. To which we say: Damn.
Interviews. Ashley Eckstein turns the tables on the fans! She talks to our pal Mandy from TheForce.net, plus costumer Vera Campbell and EU fan Erin Kelahan.
Listage. Totalfilm includes four Star Wars movies in their 40 baffling movie plot holes, and Darth Vader as one of their 30 most influential movie characters.
Fanmade. These super-adorable Star Wars amigurumi almost inspire me to learn how to crochet. Almost.
Video. Chad Vader identifies costumes and meets George Lucas at Dragon*Con.