Today in The Force Awakens: Maz Monday brings new Blu-ray clip, emoji

tfa-maz-cropLupita Nyong’o shared a new behind-the-scenes clip from the Blu-Ray for #MazMonday – there’s also now a Maz Kanata emoji in the Star Wars app

→ Harrison Ford’s Tumblr Q&A was about what you’d expect, but he did talk about the ending of the film and praise some of his costars. Read all his answers.

→ Daisy Ridley and John Boyega both won Empire awards this weekend, and then proceeded to be adorable with them.

→ The cover to Marvel’s The Force Awakens #1 is… Certainly a comic book cover.

Video: GMA offers another look at ‘Secrets of The Force Awakens,’ reports from the SXSW screening

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Good Morning America has another sneak peek at ‘Secrets of The Force Awakens,’ the documentary from the upcoming Blu-ray.


StarWars.com has posted a somewhat more streamlined (and higher res) version of the footage as a teaser.


The doc debuted at SXSW this afternoon, and Entertainment Weekly has the highlights (some of which we’ve already heard,) while Making Star Wars has a breakdown.

The Force Awakens Blu-ray will be out April 5 in the U.S.

Disneyland 60 special gives us more concept art of upcoming Star Wars Lands

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The preview of the so-called Star Wars Lands during ABC’s Disneyland 60 special last night was a tad underwhelming, but it did produce a few more pieces of concept art and some scattered details. (A cantina and an upscale dinner club!) There’s a pretty low-res video of the presentation(via) and a better look at some of the art thanks to The Hollywood Reporter.

UPDATE: A yet-better look at the official Disney Parks blog.

Still no timeframe, but most Disneyland/Disney World experts seem to expect the openings are at least 4 years away.

Roundup: J.J. Abrams addresses The Force Awakens’ throwback feel, Roger Guyett on VFX

tfa-rs-kylo-vader-smJ.J. Abrams discusses The Force Awakens with The Hollywood Reporter, including the criticisms that the film is too similar to A New Hope, and why it was important “to go backwards to go forwards.”

Today, Abrams was at TCA for Hulu’s 11.22.63, where he told Entertainment Weekly not to expect an extended edition of The Force Awakens and addressed the lack of Rey toys.

→ At Studio Daily, ILM VFX Supervisor Roger Guyett talks about the film’s visual effects, including the Falcon on Jakku.

The Force Awakens has opened strong in China with a record $33M Saturday opening. Meanwhile, here in the U.S., there’s some real box office competition this weekend thanks to The Revenant. Who wins? Either way, Domhnall Gleeson.

→ Speaking of actors, The Force Awakens has let Harrison Ford reclaim the title of highest grossing actor of all time from fellow Star Wars alumni Samuel L. Jackson.

→ Business Insider profiles Joonas Suotamo, who doubled for Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca.

→ Award watch: John Boyega is a nominee for the BAFTA’s Rising Star award. TFA itself is up for BAFTAs in production design, sound, music and visual effects. The film is also up for a Costume Designers Guild Award.

Roundup: The Force Awakens passes Jurassic World’s key opening weekend box office records

jw-tfaThe numbers are in, and The Force Awakens made an astounding $529 million worldwide this weekend, $248 million of it domestically. That takes it past both Jurassic World’s key opening weekend records.

Jurassic World producer Frank Marshall (and husband of Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy) tweeted the traditional congratulation ad, seen at right. Meanwhile the film also continued to rule on social media.

→ Want the nitty-gritty of what the actors made in The Force Awakens? Variety has a report, but beware of spoilers.

→ Video: Phil Tippett and his team on recreating the Millennium Falcon’s Dejarik holochess game.

The Force Awakens is among the ten films making the shortlist for the visual effects Oscar. Five will make the cut. Also on the shortlist are Mad Max: Fury Road, Jurassic World, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Ex Machina, The Martian, The Revenant, Tomorrowland and The Walk.

→ Finn’s ID number is a particularly easy-to-miss Easter egg. Also on Buzzfeed: Finn/Poe shippers. Hey, at least it’s not Reylo.

Matt Patches did it. He stayed spoiler-free for The Force Awakens for three whole years. I think he’s nuts, but respect.

→ Also: Mike Ryan on the redemption of Han Solo, Hasbro’s first look at Leia and Maz Kanata figures in a new motion poster, and how will The Force Awakens influence fashion?

This morning in The Force Awakens: Bob Iger’s praise, London press

STILL-tfa-trailer3-bb8In an email to employees, Disney’s Bob Iger called The Force Awakens “one of the proudest and most exciting moments” in Disney history.

The BBC report and photos from The Force Awakens’ London premiere. Meanwhile, you can watch this morning’s the London press conference.

The Military Times profiles Adam Driver.

→ You won’t need to be a Star Wars expert to enjoy The Force Awakens, Bobby Roberts points out in The Portland Mercury.

Buzzfeed takes a look at J.J. Abrams’ previous movies, leading into some interesting casting bits on The Force Awakens

→ J.J. Abrams and Harrison Ford were on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert the other day, where we get ‘exclusive video’ of J.J. Abrams convincing Harrison Ford to return as Han Solo. Colbert is also pushing the hashtag #SpoilerSpoilers. (My favorite.)