Roundup: Getting ready for May the 4th

emperorUSA Today has done a handful of stories celebrating May the 4th and previewing the 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi on the 25th. They talked to Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Jeremy Bulloch and blogger Whitney Matheson got a visit from Chewbacca. And on that note, they want your best Chewbacca impression.

Back to ROTJ, Jalopnik has a peice on how they filmed the speeder chase.


Need to convert a friend? Amazon has the Original and Prequel trilogy box sets (but not the saga?) slightly more on sale than usual. And hey, you can alleviate at least some of your Episode VII fears with a discount on J.J.’s Star Trek, too!

And you can save 50% on a subscription to the Star Wars Insider tomorrow as well by using the promo code MAY4TW.


Events. In addition to Entertainment Weekly’s ROTJ screening and the Toledo Mud Hens, Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando will be celebrating, and Change.org is hosting a Star Wars screening in San Francisco.

Still not sure what you’re doing? Find a local May the 4th event on StarWars.com.

Ian McDiarmid on Palpatine’s past and (possible) future

George Lucas and Ian McDiarmid on set, chillin' like a Time Lord

SciFiNow talked to Ian McDiarmid on his Star Wars character. He talks about Palpatine’s spinoff potential and even calls the Darth Palgueis novel ‘fascinating.’

But the highlight is perhaps his own thoughts on the character, and the possibilities going forward:

“I thought Sith were just somehow born evil, that’s what they were. But I’ve… with reference to a few things that George has said, I realised that that’s not true. He might well have a tragic arc too, but I don’t know. And even if he does I’m not sure we’ll ever see it. But obviously, if we did and if it happened it would be something that would be completely fascinating to do and it would be like building a Shakespearean character.

“Also the great thing about these movies is that George doesn’t give much away in advance to anybody,” McDiarmid continues, “which is good because that’s what a good storyteller should do, you should really want to know what’s going to happen next or how it all started.”

“And that’s all there in George’s head, and he’s released it, I suppose, in one way or another over the last few years. And although, of course, Disney now owns the franchise, George is there very much as a creative consultant and I’m sure they’ll be very grateful for that. And those storylines will still continue to emerge from that sort of databank, that extraordinary databank which is his brain.

For all the squee over Plagueis, I never really felt that it revealed much about Palpatine’s own motivation: The character himself is still very much a mystery, and I can how exploring that could be more fruitful with all the EU’s restraints removed. But somehow, I doubt that spinoff is very high on the list…

Celebration Europe: Ian McDiarmid is a go

Ian McDiarmidGuests Today’s addition to the guest list is the Emperor himself, Ian McDiarmid. It’ll be his third Celebration; His first was the original Celebration Europe in 2007.

Attractions. Steve Sansweet, is another high profile guest, and he’s bringing the Rancho Obi-Wan Experience to Germany. The Experience was extremely popular at Celebration VI; We hope they get a bigger space at CE!

Panels. And, naturally, the collecting track is back!

Ian McDiarmid is coming to Celebration VI

Ian McDiarmid, aka Emperor Palpatine, will be making his first appearance at a U.S. Celebration in Orlando this August. He’ll appear on stage and, yes, in the autograph farm.

In other recent Celebration news, there will be a special focus on the Mos Eisley Cantina with professional sculptor and effects artist Tom Spina, who will join Pablo Hidalgo for a panel. Also: Star Tours’ Visual Effects Supervisor Bill George, a Collector’s Showcase, and, apparently, maybe, kids birthday parties? Alrighty then.