New (but brief) look behind the scenes of The Last Jedi

The British Film Institue has posted a brief video featuring trainees who are working on Star Wars. Most of the trainees are shown working on the Han Solo movie – and we do see cinematographer Bradford Young – but the headline is few brief peeks at the filming of The Last Jedi. The shots, which feature Rey and Captain Phasma, are from scenes that we see briefly in the trailer, but it is our first look at any new Last Jedi footage since then.

Some new information indicates we might see a second trailer this summer. D23 Expo (July 15) is teasing “never-before-seen footage,” but given that they group all their live-action films together, we’re not guaranteed anything Star Wars.

→ Adam Driver, in an interview that’s mostly about him presenting the daughter of a disabled veteran with a scholarship, says The Last Jedi creates “new rules for the Star Wars universe.”

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.

Adam Driver may be the only person not charmed by a John Boyega hug and other The Last Jedi tidbits

Vanity Fair is following up their blockbuster cover story and portfolio with a number of The Last Jedi sidebars today.

→ First up, how seriously Adam Driver takes his role as Kylo Ren. Includes priceless anecdotes from Mark Hamill and John Boyega.

→ Kathleen Kennedy and Rian Johnson dodge questions about the title.

Rey’s lightsaber is now officially Rey’s lightsaber, says Pablo Hidalgo. (Sorry, Anakin.) And what about Luke’s? (The green one.) Well…

What’s not in The Last Jedi? Romance. There’s “no one-to-one equivalent of the Han-to-Leia, burning, unrequited love.” Johnson says. “In our story, that’s not a centerpiece.” Good.

→ And finally, Kathleen Kenndy on Carrie Fisher, Episode IX, and other future films.

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.

Kylo’s cape is for real: Fuzzy look at Ren, Rey in The Last Jedi

A Battlefront II image unearthed on Reddit gives us a distant and fuzzy look at new togs for Kylo Ren and Rey. Kylo definitely has a cape (as rumored,) while Rey seems to be sporting a Jedi-style obi belt.

UPDATED: Slightly higher res versions have been found! Kylo’s cape looks to be leather and in bad shape, but maybe wrinkly capes are just hot right now. (Right, Krennic?) Rey has gained a textured layer, and her belt also looks to be leather

These are noted as “movie production stills,” not game images.

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.

Today in The Last Jedi: Force for Change merch, Cinemacon peek, and the latest rumors

A first look at some of the first products for The Last Jedi, which will support the Force for Change charitable initiative and launch at Celebration Orlando. Bonus: A new outfit for Rey!

→ There was some footage shown yesterday at CinemaCon as part of a Disney sizzle reel. They were brief shots of Rey on Ahch-To with the blue lightsaber. Unfortunately, there’s also some faked footage floating around that contains none of this. So don’t be fooled. (Seriously, other than a fairly well done photoshop of Adam Driver with a scar, it’s super fake.)

→ Now, rumors! Making Star Wars has two since we last checked in. The first is regarding a piece of scenery that hasn’t yet been officially revealed, and the second says that The Leftovers’ Justin Theroux has a role.