Tag: oscar isaac

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Episode VIII set shenanigans (with Instagram and Twitter)

A tweet roundup is due, but as things wind down, there’s just been so much out there on Instagram and tweet from the Episode VIII cast and crew that they’re breaking out on their own.

Daisy Ridley shared an already infamous face swap with director Rian Johnson, as well as teasing a new hairstyle. (Join me in hoping it’s not a padawan braid, please.) Johnson himself is sharing (recognizable, mostly) images of the Millennium Falcon. Also spotted: One Pablo Hidalgo, who punned.

Finishing up – or at least admitting to it – are John Boyega and Anthony Daniels.

Perhaps we were too quick to assume that Mark Hamill had lost the beard, though he does seem to be pulling double duty. (UPDATE: He’s now wrapped as well.)

And finally, your moment of zen: Gary Fisher with “his two favorite stalkers.” A weird thing happens when you start to see enough of those emoji: They start making sense. Maybe one day I’ll wake up being able to read Aurebesh after all.

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Oscar Isaac (briefly) on The Force Awakens, Episode VIII in Rolling Stone cover story

isaac-rsOscar Isaac is on the cover of Rolling Stone, and while the article is a straight-up profile, we do learn a few things about The Force Awakens:

All of the funny lines – including one about Poe being unable to hear Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren through his helmet, and the “who talks first” exchange – were added in reshoots, and Isaac improvised some of them. He’s always pushing to complicate and deepen Poe, who started as little more than a charming archetype. “We’re making shit up as we go,” he says.

As for Episode VII:

“In the new film, there’s a lot more to do,” Isaac says. “What happens now is the heroes get tested. All three of them” – Poe, Daisy Ridley’s Rey and John Boyega’s Finn – “get tested immensely.” And how’s BB-8 doing? “BB-8’s doing all right. BB-8 gets tested too! Everybody gets tested! It’s the dark second chapter, but not really dark.”

P.S. The dog’s name is Moby.

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Today in Episode VIII: Cast arrives in Belfast

Today’s big VIII buzz is that director Rian Johnson and several cast members have arrived at at Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland, where they’re expected to film at Malin Head. (A familiar object is being built there.)

Mark Hamill went all out for the photographers, but his costars were less gregarious. Director Johnson and Daisy Ridley are no surprise, but the fourth person joining them may be, so click at your own risk.

→ Though Malin Head is the only known filming location in Northern Ireland, there are several in Ireland now – SWNN has a map.

→ John Boyega picked up a Chopard Trophy at the Cannes Film Festival yesterday, (alongside Bel Powley, who was rumored for a VIII role at one point) and even found time for a couple of interviews. With Variety he discussed Finn and Rey and described VIII as “a different take, darker, bigger” than The Force Awakens. At Vulture, he has nothing but praise for new costar Kelly Marie Tran.

→ Meanwhile, Oscar Isaac and his Poe Dameron haircut are doing publicity for X-Men: Apocalypse. To Collider he says “Poe has a lot of love to give,” while he tells Entertainment Tonight that VII characters will get “tested intensely.”

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Today in The Force Awakens: Making of book canceled?

tfa-bts-ridley-jjAlthough it was never officially announced, it appears that The Making of Star Wars: The Force Awakens book from Mark Cotta Vaz and J.W. Rinzler has been canceled. A listing for the book appeared before the movie – usually a reliable indicator – and it was pushed back to October before the film’s release. However, it now it no longer appears on the publisher’s site, and Florian at Jedi Bibliothek found a listing on BookManager that says it’s been canceled..

All-out cancellations are rare, but I don’t expect we’ll get any word on the reasoning anytime soon. (Again, it was never actually announced.) My only guess is that it may have something to do with the lawsuit over Harrison Ford’s on-set injury. Note the incident isn’t mentioned in the official behind-the-scenes documentary on The Force Awakens Blu-ray – and may be off-limits until the legal issues have been worked out. Everyone loves the original trilogy Making of books, but here’s hoping we won’t have to wait 30 years for this one.

→ Speaking of the accident… Something we overlooked during the big Rey parentage debacle was J.J. Abrams revealing exactly how Ford’s injury actually helped the film.

→ A great new behind the scenes video from Discover Ireland.

→ Casting director Nina Gold talks about finding Daisy Ridley and John Boyega (plus some Game of Thrones folks) in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

→ Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and actor Oscar Isaac are among of Time’s 100 most influential people.

→ Custom BB-8s created by Star Wars stars and luminaries, being auctioned for charity.

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Today in Episode VIII: Oscar Isaac speaks, possible costume descriptions

viii-0prodtease-rey2Oscar Isaac spoke briefly to the Los Angeles Times about Episode VIII, comparing the experience to “making an independent film,” and saying that “Rian [Johnson] is definitely going to places and investigating things that haven’t really been done in the ‘Star Wars’ universe.”

In spoiler corner, Making Star Wars has descriptions of Luke Skywalker and Rey’s costumes, while The Movie Bit has pictures of the setup-in-progress at Ceann Sibéal. UPDATE: Artist Natalia Trykowska has drawn the outfits based on MSW’s description.

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Episode VIII begins production; Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern, Kelly Marie Tran join cast

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StarWars.com has the official announcement that Episode VIII has begun production at Pinewood this morning. It adds officially adds three new actors: Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern, and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran. (Entertainment Weekly takes a look at Tran’s previous work.)

Returning from The Force Awakens are Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis.

Video footage shows director Rian Johnson, Hamill and Ridley filming on Skellig Micheal in September, and a hint as to where VIII picks up…


…Or is it? Note that only one shot – Ridley holding out the saber – is actually a close duplicate to what we saw in The Force Awakens. While they may be keeping things less restrictive this time, let’s not put too much faith in what they’re willing to show us.

Meanwhile, as the day winds down…

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John Boyega: Finn/Poe romance is “all in Oscar’s head”

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Finn/Poe may be the internet’s favorite The Force Awakens ‘ship, but it seems at least one of the actors involved isn’t quite on board. John Boyega told ShortList Magazine’s Chris Mandle that the (possible) romance is “all in Oscar’s head.”

Oscar Isaac admitted to “playing romance” on a pre-release interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, though he declined to specify with who. He earlier remarked about how his only romance in the film was with “those two little balls” – aka BB-8. (But who doesn’t the man have chemistry with?)

Mandle’s Boyega interview – and any additional context – will be published later this month. Mandle has a post up, including Boyega’s full comment, where he calls the relationship between Fin and Poe “a brotherly love, a bromance.”

But in any case, when does something like this actually stop the ‘shippers? Remember kids, it’s all for fun – no matter where the canon ends up.

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Today in The Force Awakens: Making the AFI list, everybody sings

SS-tfa-trailer3-handsupThe Force Awakens is one of the American Film Institute’s Movies of the Year. Inside Out, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Martian were also honored.

→ For GQ, Oscar Isaac covers Bill Murray’s classic lounge-singer version of the Star Wars theme. With new words! Also singing: Everyone.

→ Alyssa Rosenberg at The Washington Post looks at how The Force Awakens plays into the ‘great cultural debates’ of our time.

→ Gizmodo takes a look at Star Wars merchandising in Hungary, which gets pretty damn weird. (Creamed corn? Chicken nuggets? Foie Gras?)

→ Rolling Stone posted their full interview with Harrison Ford; Greg Grunberg on getting his own action figure.

→ Quentin Tarantino has accused Disney of trying to strong-arm his latest movie, The Hateful Eight, out of ArcLight theaters with The Force Awakens.