Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
Lucasfilm broke the news we were expecting with a commercial during tonight’s big college basketball game: All six of the existing films will be available “globally” in Digital HD this Friday, April 10.
Vendors being name-dropped in the media include iTunes, Google Play, VUDU, Amazon, Xbox Video, and the Playstation Store.
Yes, the original trilogy will be the most recent Blu-ray editions, because if they ever do release pre-SE versions, they will not play coy about it.
All three prequel films will be screened in 3D at Celebration Anaheim, we hear from the Star Wars Insider via Yakface.
Although The Phantom Menace 3D went into wide release in February 2012, the remaining 3D releases were “postponed” in early 2013, not long after the Disney sale/Episode VII announcement. Attack of the Clones 3D was shown at Celebration Europe in July of that year, but this will be the first chance for the public to see Revenge.
The original trilogy screenings at Celebration Anaheim will be in standard 2D.
TheForce.Net tracked down forum member Queen Gimmedala, who guessed the Episode VII title way back in 2012. She told Eric Geller:
Ultimately this was a random guess. No inside info or connection to Lucas. But to me it seemed logical that the first movie in this trilogy would need to address the force. I’m a believer that the movie titles in each trilogy closely relate and I suspect this will carry over for the ST.
So I knew it was going to be 3 words, and the force. I also know that the wording would be vague/ambiguous/old fashioned like all the other six movie titles.
The Phantom Menace (something is wrong with the force), A New Hope (something is helping) and The Force Awakens (It’s BACK BABY). I LOVE IT.
Pretty neat! This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a fan predate an episode title, although under vastly different circumstances: The title Revenge of the Sith was used on a 1986 fan fiction novel, a story set some 40 years after Return of the Jedi.
FiveThirtyEight takes on Star Wars. This is all from one survey, probably not well populated by hardcore fans. Take it as you will, but it’s pretty interesting.
The Empire Strikes Back has been voted greatest movie of all time in a new poll from Empire magazine. The original Star Wars clocks in at #6, Return of the Jedi is #120 and Revenge of the Sith is #224.
Last time they did the poll, in 2008, Empire came in third, behind The Godfather and Raiders of the Lost Ark. This time, The Godfather slips to #2 and Raiders fell from #2 to #9.
Very much a product of it’s time, but it still makes me laugh.
In this nearly 16-minute featurette, George Lucas, Ben Burtt, and Mark Hamill talk about the aim, origins and uses of the iconic weapon throughout the saga.
Denis Lawson doesn’t seem particularly interested in more Star Wars. The actor, who played Wedge in the original trilogy, apparently turned down a chance to return to the franchise in 2005. (A Sith cameo?) “Honestly, I made the first Star Wars film in 1976 and it doesn’t really interest me. I know it’s interesting to other people but I get really bored talking about it.” He does talk a bit about his nephew, Ewan McGregor. via
A Dutch fansite (in English) noticed that there’s a December 31 date for the 3D Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith at a movie theater chain in the Netherlands. Are these indeed new dates – the rereleases were “postponed” almost a year ago – or just leftover listings from before the plug got pulled? I’m not counting on anything…
A flight of prequel-era rumor memories were unearthed on Twitter last night, which led even further back: To early (December 1980!) rumor reports regarding the film that eventually became Return of the Jedi. Clones! So many clones! (via)
Just keep this in mind next time you’re agonizing over the latest Episode VII rumors. And check out some of the prequel reminiscing below the cut.
Continue reading “Flashback: Remembering the rumors of previous Star Wars eras”