Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
Today was the film’s big press day, which meant that Kathleen Kennedy, Chris Terrio, Billy Dee Williams and the elusive Adam Driver all joined the folks we’ve been seeing over the past few days… Plus, quite possibly, the ghost of Carrie Fisher.
Entertainment Weekly has unleashed the cover story, and it’s actually three covers: One for each trilogy. And great news for those who love publicity shots! Honestly, this whole thing makes me yearn for the days of illustrations on magazine covers. But seriously, the main cover story, several new images, and of course, Rey’s parentage and Reylo.
Billie Lourd wrote a sweet/sad piece for Time on her mom, Carrie Fisher, and being the “keeper” of Princess Leia. Meanwhile, Carrie’s brother Todd is sharing details from the original version of the film.
Continue reading “Billie Lourd on being the “keeper” of Princess Leia, and more Rise of Skywalker news”
The second round of guests for Star Wars Celebration Chicago includes Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca 2.0), Sam Witwer (the voice of Darth Maul since The Clone Wars) and Greg Grunberg (Snap Wexley in The Force Awakens).
They’re joined by Greg Proops (voice of TPM’s Fode, Resistance’s Jak Sivrak and Garma), puppeteer Dave Chapman, Paul Kasey (Admiral Raddus in Rogue One, Ello Asty in TFA), Orli Shoshan (Shaak Ti) and Ian McElhinney (General Dodonna in Rogue One).
They’ve also revealed the event’s poster, which is a bit… Crowded. Check it out under the cut.
Continue reading “Joonas Suotamo, Sam Witwer, Greg Grunberg and more join the Celebration guest list”
Is Greg Grunberg’s Snap Wexley coming back for Episode IX? “We better, or else my wife’s gonna kill me for growing the beard,” Grunberg said during a chat with Yahoo at SDCC. “I can’t officially say anything,” he continued. “But this is getting itchy. I’m getting itchy to go over there and do it. So yeah, we’ll see.”
Temmin “Snap” Wexley was one of the Black Squadron X-wing pilots in The Force Awakens. The character is a regular in the Poe Dameron comics, which is currently embarking on a storyline that explains what they were up to during The Last Jedi. As a teenager, the character is one of the leads in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy.
Grunberg is a childhood pal of Episode IX director J.J. Abrams and appears in much of his work. IX is due to begin shooting very soon.
The Force Awakens is one of the American Film Institute’s Movies of the Year. Inside Out, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Martian were also honored.
→ For GQ, Oscar Isaac covers Bill Murray’s classic lounge-singer version of the Star Wars theme. With new words! Also singing: Everyone.
→ Alyssa Rosenberg at The Washington Post looks at how The Force Awakens plays into the ‘great cultural debates’ of our time.
→ Gizmodo takes a look at Star Wars merchandising in Hungary, which gets pretty damn weird. (Creamed corn? Chicken nuggets? Foie Gras?)
→ Rolling Stone posted their full interview with Harrison Ford; Greg Grunberg on getting his own action figure.
→ Quentin Tarantino has accused Disney of trying to strong-arm his latest movie, The Hateful Eight, out of ArcLight theaters with The Force Awakens.
Oscar Isaac talks to io9 about the Resistance, Poe’s Shattered Empire backstory (though it’s worth noting he was already old enough to be talking – he’s mentioned in #2 – before his parents settled on Yavin) and how the X-wings have evolved.
→ You can listen to both yesterday’s press conference(s) thanks to Full of Sith. Or watch the videos (1, 2.)
→ Captain Phasma was originally a man, Vulture reports, and the backlash to the initial casting may have played a part in the gender swap. That said, anything that saved us from Benedict Cumberbatch is fine by me.
→ Clutch your pearls, because J.J. Abrams talked midi-chlorians with /Film.
→ Droid tales: Anthony Daniels get profiled by Vulture, while CNN talks to the BB-8 designers about the droid and his adventures on set.
→ On Twitter, Greg Grunberg confirms his action figure and his character name.
→ Everyone wants their trailer on Star Wars! We know X-Men: Apocalypse will be there, but now The Hollywood Reporter says Star Trek Beyond will be attached as well.
Today we’re one month away from The Force Awakens. Well, those of us who have tickets for the December 17th showings do as I post this. (Check your local theater – they likely still have tickets.)
→ Star Wars is forever and ever (and ever) Wired reminds us, in another article from their Star Wars issue. (Remember the J.J. interview?) There’s not any real news here if you’ve been paying attention, but it is a good look at the new mega movie franchise blueprint. Elsewhere, a look at the Disney empire and their gatefold Millennium Falcon cover.
→ Fashion designers are reinterpreting looks from the Force Awakens that will be auctioned for charity. The Force 4 Fashion looks will be revealed on December 2.
→ Greg Grunberg on shooting The Force Awakens. J.J. Abrams is mean.
→ Hasbro says demand for The Force Awakens toys was higher than they expected. “No shit,” say collectors everywhere, rolling their eyes.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Greg Grunberg talks about how J.J. Abrams is doing (“…All I can do is ask him, ‘How’s it going?’ and he’s like, ‘Oh, I’m really happy.’ So I know if he’s happy it’s just gonna be incredible,”) the trailer and shooting the movie in secrecy:
What I’m gathering from all of the pieces I’ve seen is it’s everything that a Star Wars junkie like me wants out of the movie. We got our script pages, only the scenes that we were in. Not even what was being shot that day! It was all on red paper so we couldn’t copy it or take a picture of it. And then we had to give the script pages back at the end of the day. And we didn’t get them the day before to take them home and learn them—Carrie Fisher and I were talking about it several times, like, “This is crazy! An actor does not get to prepare on this movie.”
He also said his role is “sprinkled throughout the whole movie, in a very small way.”
We don’t have any official word on Grunberg’s role, but it’s fairly obvious if you take one of Friday’s leaked images to heart. Note to spoilerphobes: The EW interview does contain a reference to said rumor.
If it’s leaked images from The Force Awakens that you crave, well, this may be your lucky day, because we’ve seen several today that may be real. (And one really obvious fake.)
Continue reading “Spoilerphobes beware: The Force Awakens image leaks and the return of #beardwatch”