To the surprise of no one, Mark Hamill will be a guest at this summer’s Celebration Europe in London, Reed announced this morning on the official Celebration site. There’s also a Force for Change element, where one fan will win a chance to hang out with Mark in London during the con.
Too bold: Best #StarWars, #TheForceAwakens and #RogueOne tweets for April 7-21
We last checked in with Twitter’s greatest hits for the Rogue One teaser trailer. Since then, we’ve hung out with (actual) royalty, has a brief parentage panic, and (some) even read Bloodline. All that, and a couple of Star Wars directors, under the cut.
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Royals visit Episode VIII set; first look at a returning starfighter?
The U.K.’s Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry visited the set of Episode VIII at Pinewood Studios on Tuesday, meeting director Rian Johnson, stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, and many more. Click on the gallery pics for tweet links and captions.
@KensingtonRoyal: The Duke and Prince Harry come face to face with Daisy Ridley’s @starwars head cast @PinewoodStudios
@KensingtonRoyal: Time for a lightsaber battle! @starwars @PinewoodStudios
@KensingtonRoyal: Next up: a visit to the @starwars costume department @PinewoodStudios
@KensingtonRoyal: Prince Harry has made a new friend…
@KensingtonRoyal: …and so has The Duke!
@KensingtonRoyal: The Duke meets Luke Skywalker @HamillHimself and @starwars director @rianjohnson
@KensingtonRoyal: Prince Harry receives some piloting advice from @HamillHimself
@KensingtonRoyal: Thank you @starwars for a fantastic day @PinewoodStudios!
There were fairly few revelations, naturally, but we do see Prince Harry in an A-wing, which could be either a red herring (from Rogue One, even?) or actually slated to return in VIII. We don’t get a complete look at the ship, at least not enough for a non-prophead like me to spot any differences. Journalist Rebecca English has a similar pic from a different angle.
And there’s also a video of the princes with BB-8, and another at the Mirror. I also collected more images and video from journalists.
Episode VIII shenanigans: Mark and Daisy do the Yoda thing
Ostensibly to celebrate Daisy Ridley’s birthday (she’s 24 today) Mark Hamill shared the picture below, bringing a thousand tongue-in-cheek fan arts to life. Oh, Mark.
In other Daisy news, she won Breakthrough Performance at the MTV Movie Awards last night. The movie also took Best Villain for Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Movie of the Year. The awards air tonight on MTV.
Force for Change to match fan donations in new campaign
Kathleen Kennedy and Mark Hamill announce Lucasfilm’s latest Force for Change campaign. And stare at things. Intensely.
Today in The Force Awakens: Everybody dance now
From the Target special features (via Entertainment Tonight), John Boyega and Daisy Ridley rapping. Also, dancing! (There are GIFs on Tumblr, of course.)
→ The Facebook live chat with Daisy Ridley this morning went well. (Problems with Facebook? There’s a copy on on Youtube.)
→ J.J. Abrams talks to Entertainment Weekly about Mark Hamill and the table read.
→ Neal Scanlan talks to IGN about Snoke, while concept artist Doug Chiang is at Yahoo discussing technology, Kylo Ren’s lightsaber and Starkiller Base. 
Highlights of Star Wars April Fools: We’re all mad here
April Fools was not particularly fruitful for Star Wars fans this year, but there were a few highlights. The champion’s crown goes to Mark Hamill, who led fans on about an Episode VIII “plot point” in his quest for a “#HAMILLION followers.” Whatever, it was dad joke adorable. See the collected tweets.
Also on Twitter, Charles de Lauzirika faked up a shockingly on-brand cover for a big J.W. Rinzler The Making of the Star Wars Holiday Special, which we all almost wish was real.
Then there’s Tor.com, which played it almost straight with a nice Han Solo obituary.
I can’t say I’m particularly enthralled with it, but IGN got a lot of play for their fanboy-baiting trailer for Star Wars: Fury of Maul.
And yes, Club Hux was indeed a joke. (It started on Twitter, and was so well-received I took it to Tumblr and Facebook as well. Sorry about anyone who saw it on all three.) So yes, we will remain Club Jade, and the fic archive won’t be reopening for Kylux. Anyone who fell for it can expect a visit from Millicent.
Video: GMA offers another look at ‘Secrets of The Force Awakens,’ reports from the SXSW screening
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.
Today in VIII: Location shooting bonanza in Croatia, Ireland
There’s been a ton of stuff out of Dubrovnik for Episode VIII over the past few days, including further dressing for the street scene and how they covered up the windows – at least some of it is practical, not green screen. (The street was even closed for rehearsal the other day, though apparently none of the actors are present yet.) There’s also the possibility of interiors at Rector’s Palace and a vehicle was spotted.
However, throwing a wrench in that rumor we heard earlier in the week, Daisy Ridley told the BBC’s Lizo Mzimba that she’s not going to be filming in Croatia.
Meanwhile, in Ireland, some details of what sort of scenes are to be filmed at Ceann Sibéal from The Movie Bit. Ridley and Mark Hamill are expected here, as the area is similar to Skellig Michael. Filming is expected for mid-May.
Rumor: Just who’s headed to Dubrovnik for Episode VIII?
We’ve had a few rather shaky rumors that Benicio del Toro and Carrie Fisher might be part of the scenes to be filmed on the newly neoned streets of Dubrovnik, but a new report from Mos Croatia names Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley. It’s certainly a lovely place for a staring contest.