Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
→ The Dubrovnik shoot is done, but the Daily Mail still has pictures, while the Digital Nomads have more video.
→ John Boyega, who turns 24 today, stopped by the Empire magazine offices for his birthday, because John Boyega is a delightful human being.
“Hard to believe we’re wrapping up week four already, it’s just flying by,” Director Rian Johnson said as he shared an Episode VIII set picture on his Tumblr this morning. The pic features cinematographer Steve Yedlin and the Millennium Falcon cockpit.
Meanwhile, there are more detailed rumors on the Dubrovnik shooting – including someone’s stunt double, which is more than a little surprising.
UPDATE: Some (apparent) extras, possibly guards or part of a police force, have been spotted.
My apologies to those still clinging to the Rey Solo theories: I think Daisy Ridley just scuttled you, telling Entertainment Tonight that the parentage issue – or rather, the lack thereof – was the hardest secret to keep for The Force Awakens. Of course, knowing this fandom, the theories are just going to get even more elaborate… Here’s the video:
She also talked about the difference between J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson when it comes to secrecy, and yes, there’s stuff in this you can use, theorists. Have at it.
Rey Skywalker theorists, please be gracious. Your case may be pretty good, but nothing is set is stone just yet.
Episode VIII director Rian Johnson marked the beginning of the second week of filming with the crossword puzzle in the International New York Times. SPOILERS! (For the crossword.)
Now, debate: is that a First Order control board or some sort of actual film equipment? A good catch by Justin LaSalata from The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary. (Note a lot of the Starkiller Base sets were reused for the Finalizer.)
→ There are sets in Dubrovnik, dates for filming, and rumors that Benicio del Toro – and maybe Carrie Fisher – will be there.
→ Moviepilot is generally not a site I trust (at all,) but they are claiming that Danish actress Birgitte Hjort Sørensen (Pitch Perfect 2, Game of Thrones) has been cast as a Knight of Ren. Be aware.
→ I joined Bryan and Amy at Full of Sith for their latest episode, where we discussed what we know of Episode VIII (well, what we knew as of Saturday, anyway.)
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…
We know Episode VIII filming is due to begin soon, and there’s plenty of evidence from Rian Johnson on Tumblr, an Instagram from Daisy Ridley, a Snapchat from John Boyega, and tweets from Anthony Daniels and Carrie Fisher.
Continue reading “Rian Johnson, cast hint that Episode VIII filming is nigh”
Episode VIII has a new release date – December 15, 2017. I am not at all charmed by this news, but I suppose it was inevitable once The Force Awakens started breaking almost every box office record there is. VIII was originally announced as the franchise’s return to May.
The film is being written and directed by Rian Johnson, with most of The Force Awakens cast expected to return. The release from StarWars.com also notes that principal photography will begin in London next month – half a confirmation of a report from earlier this week. The part about script tweaks will no doubt remain unconfirmed.
I expect that we won’t see another Star Wars film release in May until/unless the franchise starts to falter. The next Star Wars movie, the standalone Rogue One, is set for the coming December. The untitled Han Solo standalone was announced for May 25, 2018, but that was also before The Force Awakens and I expect we’ll see that pushed back as well.
John Boyega talks to Vogue UK, and he tells them that the Episode VIII script is “great” but “much darker” than The Force Awakens, and that his part in the new film “will be much more physical.”
Meanwhile, Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow talked to Entertainment Tonight about “working closely” with VII director Rian Johnson, as well as the petition to have him replaced by George Lucas.
I was only able to see about half the world premiere red carpet livestream, but I did catch the most magical part: Carrie Fisher interviewing Oscar Isaac. Or attempting to interview. Whatever it was, it was wonderful, and you can watch it on Youtube.
I wasn’t able to collect tweets, but here are some from The Hollywood Reporter, Jedi News and @bahnree. There are also pictures at Variety and The Wrap. (The best. Or maybe…)
UPDATE: Kathleen Kennedy’s speech inside the theater and some of the first reactions.
→ Kathleen Kennedy and J.J. Abrams talked to /Film on how they collaborated with Episode VIII writer/director Rian Johnson, and how IX director Colin Trevorrow will likely work in.
→ Wired takes a look at Sphero, and how exactly BB-8 was a boon for them.
→ Some great The Force Awakens fashions by designer Catherine Elhoffer. You may have seen them on the red carpet tonight!
→ Andy Serkis ‘confirms’ evil Jar Jar on Conan.
→ Korean boy band EXO has an (authorized) song called ‘Lightsaber’. We truly live in an age of wonders.
Jason at Making Star Wars discusses Rey’s staff. There are some spoilers in the piece, but since there is no way this is the case anyway, let’s put this out: It’s not Darth Plagueis’ staff. It was never going to be Darth Plagueis’ staff. I don’t know where this speculation originated, and I don’t really care, but save it for your fanfics.
→ Scott Mendelson at Forbes considers possible ratings for The Force Awakens.
→ At Yahoo, Domhnall Gleeson talks about how Harry Potter prepped him for Star Wars, and reveals that the ‘Starkiller Base’ slip up… Wasn’t actually a slip.
→ Looking ahead: Director Rian Johnson actually tweeted a photo of his Episode VIII script last night. (Just a cover page, spoilerphobes.) Here’s the story of how it happened.
→ Also, will Star Wars return to Skellig Michael for a third round of filming in 2016?
![Getting close… [Tumblr]](https://i0.wp.com/clubjade.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/viii-rj.jpg?w=265&h=178&ssl=1 "Rian Johnson")
!["#VIII" [Instagram]](https://i0.wp.com/clubjade.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/viii-daisy-instagram.jpg?w=265&h=265&crop=1&ssl=1 "Daisy Ridley")
!["So, just finished training and all that kind of stuff, for the next one. And as you can see, Finn is back." [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/clubjade.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/boyega-viii-snapchat.jpg?w=252&h=447&ssl=1 "John Boyega")