The Force Awakens character names revealed!

Lucasfilm and Entertainment Weekly have paired up to give us character names from The Force Awakens – in trading card form. Daisy Ridley is Rey, John Boyega is Finn and Oscar Isaac plays Poe Dameron. The ball droid is BB-8 (which I’m guessing is pronounced/abbreviated as ‘Bebe,’) and our mysterious villain is Kylo Ren. The card numbers have some significance as well – a mystery to chew on… In addition to Finn and Rey’s last names.

This also puts to bed a popular theory that Gwendoline Christie could be playing the character we now know as Kylo Ren, referring to “his lightsaber.”

UPDATE: One fan has already done the matchwork: Rey, Poe and BB line up nicely, Kylo not so much… Unless… Threepio?!?

The Force Awakens evening report: Oscar Isaac praises Star Wars experience, fans

sw-xwing327→ We heard from him briefly the other day, but Oscar Isaac talks more about The Force Awakens over at IGN, including advice from Harrison Ford, working with practical effects, the “emotional aspect,” the broadsaber and even the racist backlash to co-star John Boyega:

“What’s great about it is, it’s like, ‘Are you a racist? Here’s a perfect way of revealing that to everyone!’ [Laughs] What I loved about the trailer too is, like, the giant middle finger of the first thing you see, right off the bat: John’s face — BAM! So it is, yeah, ‘Just deal with it.'”

Adding, “ultimately, it’s not even about race at all. It’s about a story, and it’s about these characters. [Boyega’s] a great actor, and he’s so good in this movie. And, you know, why not? But what’s great about it too, even more so, is that the huge majority have come out so vocally, the people that are real, true fans in support. [Laughs] They come out and defend it and make themselves heard. They really drowned out that negativity pretty quickly. I think that was really wonderful, to see that.”

How much dumb luck do you think it was that he happened to be on the publicity circuit for A Most Violent Year just as the trailer hit?

Andy Serkis calls the reaction to the trailer “extraordinary.”

→ Did The Force Awakens trailer inspire George R.R. Martin? Will The Winds of Winter really be out in 2015? Who actually expects a gossip blog to have a ‘source’ on George R.R. Martin in the first place? What times we live in.

→ Still running with The Force Awakens on Tumblr, including tons of fan art.

The Force Awakens evening report: Oscar Isaac geeks out on actually getting to talk a little about Star Wars

tfa-ss-isaac327→ Oscar Isaac talks about The Force Awakens trailer to MTV’s Josh Horowitz. No reveals of course, but I’m sure it’s a relief to have SOMETHING out there.

→ A rumor that got lost in the trailer shuffle: Does Andy Serkis play multiple roles?

→ On that note, Making Star Wars has the reasoning behind certain large objects we saw in certain leaked photos several months back. (…If only they’d been in the trailer…) Also, when does Oscar Isaac’s character come in? If you’ve been following the rumors, this answer may surprise you…

→ Jason also found a stormtrooper.

→ The Onion’s Clickhole is at it again: 6 Easter Eggs you may have missed in the trailer and “This Fanboy Loves ‘Star Wars’ So Much He Plans To Watch ‘The Force Awakens’ In Theaters.”

Today in Episode VII: A fresh bunch of shady rumors, Oscar Isaac already wrapped

rumors-swirl-sw-oot→ Some iffy details on a possible scene involving Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and a couple of old timers from – where else – the Star Wars 7 News message board.

→ On that note, last night saw a highly unconvincing ‘leak’ of supposed ‘dailies’ from Ireland on Youtube. The video and the account that posted it were gone by morning, but I did watch it last night, and… I’ve literally seen reenactments on old episodes of Unsolved Mysteries that were more convincing. (The ‘narrator’ was no Robert Stack, either.) Some of it may have been filmed in Ireland or someplace that looks like it, but everything else is pretty low-rent. Here are some screenshots, so don’t be fooled if you see it pop up again.

→ This is a few days old, but apparently Oscar Isaac wrapped up his filming on Episode VII last Friday – the same day as Anthony Daniels, at least. (via)

Today in Episode VII (and such:) More production names; Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher interviews

Not a Space Bear.→ Jedi News is replicating the Foodles magic to find two more newly registered productions: LUNAK HEAVY INDUSTRIES and SPACE BEAR INDUSTRIES. One is no doubt our first spin-off – is the other spin-off #2 or Episode VIII? Or something else entirely? Speculate away, my pretties!

→ Both Oscar Isaac and Carrie Fisher are in the press today, and they’re both talking (a bit) about Star Wars. Everyone’s jumping over Isaac’s ‘hundreds of stormtroopers’ line, but I think the other stuff he says is way more interesting. Carrie, of course, is Carrie.

→ BEARDWATCH: As of last week, we can report that Oscar Isaac is sporting only minimum scruff. BLONDEWATCH: Carrie Fisher is still blonde. We think.

→ J.J. Abrams will receive the Visual Effects Society’s Visionary Award in February.

Yearbook photos of Adam Driver prove he looked exactly like you’d expect Adam Driver to look like in high school.

Today in Episode VII: Another actor on Skellig Michael

→ Today word comes that [redacted] isn’t the only actor filming scenes on Ireland’s Skellig Michael. [Redacted] is there as well, per The Movie Bit – just as some suspected due to the fuzzy paparazzi pics the other day. This is supposedly the third and last day of filming on the island. Making Star Wars has a buddy in the area.

Rumors!→ Meanwhile, some WWE guy, Sheamus O’Shaunessy, is apparently also hanging out in Ireland and double negativing over Darth Vader. Okay then. (Also, if we must take this seriously, well, I’ll just leave this over here.)

→ Not Episode VII, but close enough: Spin-off screenwriter Gary Whitta is totally down with writing a Star Wars novel.

→ And even more tangentially, sequel actors Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson have nabbed some more high profile gigs.

Rumor: Oscar Isaac’s Episode VII role to be beefed up?

Rumor: Oscar Isaac’s role to be beefed up? So says the New York Post, perhaps sick of the British tabloids getting to have all the ‘fun’ regarding Harrison Ford’s injury. They also claim that there’s speculation that Isaac may be a Solo, which seems to be to be coming out of pretty much nowhere. (Speculation on Adam Driver as a Solo, yes. Isaac as Han’s mentee, or at least playing a similar type of role, yes. Isaac as Han Solo’s son? Not so much.) The article does contain a denial from Disney about the “beefing up” part, but note we have no idea how big his role is to begin with.

Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis talk Episode VII; Who stole Simon Pegg’s parking space?

A few Episode VII tidbits floating around lately: Oscar Isaac said recently that he starts shooting at the end of May, while Andy Serkis has praised the cast and script:

“It’s a wonderful, wonderful cast, really beautiful director, great atmosphere… Star Wars was my childhood, so it’s fantastic,” he said.

The 50-year-old also said security around the script is “very tight”.

He added: “You can’t wander off with it.”

He also called Daisy Ridley “an amazing choice.” (via)

Meanwhile, at Elsetree, a familiar name has apparently stolen Simon Pegg’s parking space.