The third Forces of Destiny short, ‘Ewok Escape,’ features Leia on Endor, and how she got that dress.
Forces of Destiny begins airing July 3 on Youtube
Forces of Destiny will debut online July 3 – next Monday – on Disney’s Youtube channel. New shorts will then premiere on the channel every day at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT.)
Eight in total, the shorts will feature Rey, Jyn Erso, Leia Organa, Sabine Wren, Padme Amidala, Ahsoka Tano “and others.” (We get a glimpse of Luke, Yoda and… a tree in the preview video above. Is the tree female? Or is that supposed to be Anakin?)
Rebels’ Hera Syndulla will reportedly appear in an episode set during Return of the Jedi.
Their broadcast debut will be Sunday, July 9 on the Disney Channel. Merchandise drops in August – early looks at the toy packaging are floating around now.
Colin Trevorrow: Episode IX will handle Leia with “love and respect”
Colin Trevorrow talks to Cinemablend about how they’ll be handling Carrie Fisher’s death in Episode IX:
She was a major character, that’s not a secret. She really was. And it was extremely sad for all of us, mostly just because she was so loved by the Star Wars family and everyone that worked with her. I feel like our options are limited mostly by ourselves, in that there is only certain things that we are willing to do. But I can guarantee it will be handled with love and respect, and all of the soul that Carrie Fisher deserves.
It’s a tough decision all-around, but let’s not forget the human element is important here. Yes, it’s easy to say they “should” do certain things for whatever reason, but these are also actual people we’re talking about who have to make this film. Like many fans, I’m a little wary of Trevorrow and his ability to handle this, but at least he seems to understand how important this is.
The Last Jedi: What Pablo actually said about Luke and Leia
Pablo Hidalgo’s been at Comic Con Chile this weekend, and it seems that some of his statements have been lost in translation/misquoted/overstated, particularly something about the status of a Luke and Leia reunion. io9 reached out and got him to clarify. (Mind, he’s not saying it doesn’t happen, just that they were speaking of the Vanity Fair photos.)
→ John Boyega shows off Finn’s blaster for The Last Jedi on his Instagram. Like the rest of his new gear, or at least what we’ve seen, it’s basically the one Poe had in The Force Awakens.
→ Rian Johnson’s comments on romance in The Last Jedi sent some tremors through the hopes of a few of the trilogy’s shipping communities. Vanity Fair writer David Kamp shares the full quote in context.
→ Johnson’s shot of Annie Leibovitz shooting them, as seen in the Vanity Fair video. Shotception!
→ And finally, in spoiler corner, some Lego sets have leaked. They feature at least one newish vehicle, minifigs of Supreme Leader Snoke (which may confirm his new look,) Vice Admiral Holdo, a new(ish) variation of droid and a rank change for Poe. The images aren’t long for this world, but they are up at Imgur for the moment. (via)
Would you name your baby Kylo? ‘Cause a lot of people are
There were a lot of baby Kylos last year. The name jumped the popularity ranks from #3269 in 2015 to #901 in 2016, according to the U.S. Social Security Administration. So it’s not incredibly popular (to contrast, Ben was #704, and Benjamin is #6) but it is getting more popular. And note – it’s still less popular than Anakin, which is #778, up from #910.
At #175 Finn is the most popular sequel-trilogy related name associated with a major character – but it’s in been in wide use and gaining in popularity for more than a decade now, so we can’t peg that to Star Wars alone. Rey hasn’t shown any major growth, though it did jump from 904 to 868 (though as a male name – it’s not in the top 1000 for girls.)
As for the old standbys, Leia is #321, while Luke is #29. Poe, Han, Padme and Armitage (I had to look it up just for kicks) are all unranked.
Oscar Isaac: Carrie Fisher got “pretty intense” filming scene for The Last Jedi
Oscar Isaac shared a bit about filming The Last Jedi with Carrie Fisher.
“It was basically my first day [on set] and we did about 25 takes total. Half of them were on me and half of them were on her,” Isaac, who plays the pilot Poe Dameron in the new “Star Wars” trilogy films, said. “I can’t give anything away but there was a scene where there was some physicality there and it was shot just over and over and over. She relished the physicality of it, let me just say. It was pretty intense. It will be funny to see what they cut together based on that.”
Isaac’s The Passage opens Friday; The Last Jedi is due December 15.
SWCO: 40 years of Star Wars panel hits the high notes with Carrie Fisher tribute
While the 40 years of Star Wars panel was light on news, it was fairly heavy on the feels. The much-vaunted surprises turned out to be George Lucas (as predicted,) Harrison Ford (who I don’t think anyone expected) and Billie Lourd, who took part in a truly epic tribute to Carrie Fisher.
I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house after the tribute video (above,) and it was only enhanced by the reveal of John Williams and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra playing Princess Leia’s theme. They followed up with the Main Theme and the Imperial March, just in time to allow us to regain our composure.
The video does contain a look at Fisher on-set in The Last Jedi, but in the scheme of things that feels secondary. And while the panel did mainly focus on the first 6 films, it’s really only appropriate that it ended the way it did. Tomorrow, we’ll look ahead.
New “micro-short” series Forces of Destiny to highlight the women of Star Wars
Announced overnight, just ahead of the official opening of Celebration Orlando, is Forces of Destiny, a new series of animated shorts highlighting Rey, Jyn Erso, Sabine Wren, Leia Organa, Ahsoka Tano and more.
The series will launch in July on the Disney Youtube, with additional shorts debuting on the Disney Channel in the fall. Daisy Ridley, Felicity Jones, Tiya Sircar, Ashley Eckstein and Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata) are among those returning to voice their characters.
The series will also have book and action figure tie-ins. We’ll learn more later Friday at the “Heroines of Star Wars” panel here in Orlando.
Todd Fisher: Leia will appear in Episode IX
Carrie Fisher may appear in Episode IX after all. Todd Fisher tells the New York Daily News that he and Carrie’s daughter Billie Lourd have given Lucasfilm permission to use “recent footage” of her for the trilogy’s finale:
“Both of us were like, ‘Yes, how do you take her out of it?’ And the answer is you don’t,” said Fisher, as he attended the opening night gala of the TCM Film Festival in Los Angeles, celebrating “In the Heat of the Night.”
“She’s as much a part of it as anything and I think her presence now is even more powerful than it was, like Obi Wan — when the saber cuts him down he becomes more powerful. I feel like that’s what’s happened with Carrie. I think the legacy should continue.”
Fisher had finished filming for The Last Jedi prior to her death in December. Lucasfilm said they had “no plans to digitally recreate” Fisher as Leia in January. In March, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that her death hadn’t changed Leia’s role in Episode VIII.
Episode IX, to be directed by Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow, is due out in 2019.
This week in Rogue One: Gareth Edwards on the ending, Leia, Vader and more
With the Rogue One home release imminent, director Gareth Edwards has been making the rounds. At SWSW, he talked about how Scariff’s name came about. With /Film, he explains the original ending and what changed, plus. how he got away with killing everyone off.
At Fandango, he discusses why we won’t see cut scenes, Carrie Fisher’s reaction to Leia’s cameo and how Vader’s big moment came to be. He also stopped by Reddit for an AMA.
Meanwhile, Ingvild Deila, the actress who helped recreate young Leia, talks to The Hollywood Reporter.
We’ve also seen a few aditional Rogue One guests named for Celebration, namely Riz Ahmed and Alan Tudyk. (There’s been some speculation that Tudyk might host The Last Jedi panel, as Gwendoline Christie did for Rogue One’s at Celebration Europe.)