Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
StarWars.com interrupts this holiday weekend to bring us… “Thomas” and “Rachel.” For real, this time: Pip Andersen and Crystal Clarke have won the coveted open call parts.
The update also contains some brief production information, including a two-week hiatus coming in August. Meanwhile, Harrison Ford is “doing well and is looking forward to returning to the set soon” as shooting – and the release date – remain “on track.”
The iconic 1983 making of documentary is now up on the official Star Wars Youtube account… In nine parts. But the good news is: We got the last one yesterday, so I can finally post it.
He may have signed an NDA, but Kevin Smith has let loose some details about his Episode VII set visit, most notably that the film will involve stormtroopers. (Which has been bandied about so much that it’s not really a surprise at this point.) Also, this:
“I’m really excited and you know, people keep saying that I liked the last trilogy and I did. I liked 1, 2 and 3. But I liked them as an adult, when I watched them they didn’t give me the same feeling I had when I was seven watching them for the first time and that’s fine. This movie though… Dude, I cried four times. The seven year old in me came. [J.J] has f*cking captured it, man. He has nailed it.”
Anklewatch! People is all over Harrison Ford’s crutch situation. “I wish everybody was so easy. He gets it. He’s mechanically inclined,” Brad Hunter, the director of business development for the iWalk crutch told them. “It’s a very active way to do recovery.”
Mystery! Why are there “Star Wars 7” signs in Atlanta? Is someone pulling a prank?
Rumors! Making Star Wars has a couple things that I’m about 99.9% sure are complete and utter bullshit from the same well as that Reclamation treatment from last year. Not buying the Boyega thing, either.
Harrison Ford is back in London, and back on his feet… Sort of. The actor was spotted outside a restaurant last night with a “prosthetic peg leg.”
According to Hollywood Elsewhere’s “director friend,” Harrison Ford’s head will probably be digitally imposed on a body double. It’s a rumor, yes, but the effect is not exactly unheard of – it was used for several fight scenes in the prequels involving Ian McDiarmid and Christopher Lee. (via)
And yes, headline aside, I do have the upmost faith that ILM can achieve better than some random girl on the internet in 2004. Assuming they’re just not going to have Han sitting in the cockpit of the Falcon for the whole film.
Meanwhile, Jedi News has heard that while there is a production break on set right now for the necessary shuffling, the crew are “in amazingly high and confident spirits” with “no sense of panic whatsoever.”
LEGO brings us the minifigure cast of Episode VII… It is pretty cute, but slave Leia, really? Meanwhile, it appears that Omaze is adding a lunch with J.J. Abrams to A Force for Change. Enter by Friday for a chance to win that one.
And in the Harrison Ford doom and gloom department, not only do we have the Oscar Isaac rumor, but the San Jose Mercury News says that one of the options that was (supposedly) being discussed at Pinewood the other day could involve writing Ford out of the film entirely. Don’t hold your breath for that one…
According to Jedi News, there was a meeting today at Pinewood to discuss a possible delay due to Harrison Ford’s injury. Recent (if not particularly trustworthy) reports have him needing 6 months of rehab to recover. And Jedi News has heard rumblings that production “could be pushed back by a substantial amount of time.”
Nothing here is particularly solid, but I doubt a delay to, say, May 2016 release would be met with that much objection from the fandom. Disney, on the other hand…
UPDATE: PR is telling TFN there is still no change in the release date. Because of course they are, at this point. If there’s any truth to these rumors, there’s a lot of rubber-stamping that’ll need to be done before PR can confirm anything.
Rumor: Harrison Ford out for six months, flying back to U.S. for rehab? This is via The Sun, so it’s not exactly written in stone, but they claim that Harrison Ford will require six months of rehab for his broken leg, not eight weeks as we’ve heard earlier.
Despite earlier (confirmed by Lucasfilm!) reports that Harrison Ford’s ankle had been injured on set, his publicist has today says he actually (or also) suffered a broken leg. BBC News reports:
“His surgery was successful and he will begin rehab shortly,” continued Ina Treciokas in a statement. “He’s doing well and looks forward to returning to work.”
The incident involved a garage door, not the Millennium Falcon (ramp?) as was widely reported. (via)
Report: Harrison Ford out for up to eight weeks after breaking his ankle on set, the ever-popular ‘sources’ told The Hollywood Reporter, among others. Filming is continuing, and Episode VII is still expected to make the December 18, 2015 release date.