At the ‘Celebrity Nerd-Off’ with Stephen Colbert, J.J. Abrams revealed that he finished the final sound mix for The Force Awakens early Saturday morning, Yahoo Movies reports. There are “six very small, but important things that (still) need to be done,” per Variety.
→ Deadline claims that we’ve only seen about 5% of The Force Awakens ad campaign, and that it’s really going to ramp up over Thanksgiving. I have a feeling this means ad buys, but consider yourself warned. (And remember, if you’re reading fan sites you’re already paying a lot more attention than most people are.)
“I haven’t been offered anything,” Gugu Mbatha-Raw told E! of the rumor that she’ll be in Rian Johnson’s Episode VIII. Either it’s the plain truth, or she is way (way) better at this then Benicio del Toro.
There’s a rumor that Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) got one of those (rumored) Episode VIII roles, but it’s based on Rian Johnson and John Boyega following her on Twitter, which, okay. To be fair, plenty of us read a random Rian Johnson tweet as a hint towards Gugu Mbatha-Raw, so maybe there’s something to it after all. Verdict: Maybe!
There’s another rumor going around regarding Finn’s last name. I won’t even link anyone who’s running it because it’s based on an unofficial description from a third-party Amazon listing, and shockingly, that is nowhere near a sound source. Verdict: Ha ha, no.
Making Star Wars reports of rumblings that Lucasfilm is “retiring” the Slave Leia bikini. However, do note that piece’s only quoted source is J. Scott Campbell, an artist whose work mostly seems to consist of pinups – not exactly the most neutral of parties regarding this subject.
That said, I do feel it’s a very smart move for Lucasfilm to be more selective in how and when they use the bikini. It’s all-too-often used as the character’s default look – see Tsundo Sanda’s recent Newsweek cover, where any iconic Leia would do the trick just as well. The problem isn’t so much that slave Leia is a thing that exists in merchandising, it’s that the bikini dominates – and that’s not a fair representation of the character.
I do think a blanket ban on it is rather unlikely – I don’t have a huge problem with the Return of the Jedi poster that MSW uses an an example, for instance – but less of the bikini? Yes, please.
I really didn’t want to keep chasing this dragon, but there have been several reports today that the new trailer for The Force Awakens is coming on Monday. That’s the 19th, a date which has been floating around for a while, mainly because that’s when the tickets go on sale, per many, many theaters.
First at bat this morning was Screencrush, later joined later by Making Star Wars, who added a key detail: Monday Night Football. (io9 pitched in on Thursday, saying we’ll see the poster Sunday morning.)
Now, I really don’t like Monday for a trailer drop, tickets or no tickets. But when you add in Monday Night Football, (which airs on ESPN, which is owned by ABC) okay. Fine. I get it. I guess. You can’t really get more mainstream than Monday Night Football. (And hell, at least it isn’t Dancing With The Stars.)
Of course, if this does come to pass, we also expect the trailer to drop online immediately or very soon after it does on ESPN, so no one has to watch football. And it would also mean that it won’t come during the workday (for many of us) which is also nice.
But. Monday. Man.
Regardless of when and where the trailer actually happens, we are hoping for at least some official forewarning, and maybe even a significant news drop from Lucasfilm within the next few days, once the Rebels premiere gets out of the way. I’m hoping for a poster – it’s noteworthy that the MSW post also hints at a new logo. Still, all they really have to do is tell us about MNF, the marathon and tickets going on sale to get headlines through Sunday.
But for now, we wait. At least John Boyega has our back:
So connected with JJ and told him to hurry up with a trailer. Fingers crossed! That's all I can do. #injjwetrust
This Monday Disney is releasing the full trailer for The Force Awakens after the first quarter of your game. The whole night from graphics and scoreboard are Star Wars themed. The intro to the game gets an opening crawl detailing your hated rivalry.
Seriously it’s the coolest thing Monday Night Football has ever done.
Oh and one more thing.
The trailer will play on the screen at Lincoln Financial so that those in attendance don’t miss out!
We’re seeing some signs of The Force Awakens rating and runtime. Nothing is really official yet, and there are some inconsistencies, but such is the nature of internet gossip.
Following the Nerd claims they have UK details for the film, which is to-be-announced at 12A, or their equivalent to PG-13. On that note, Yakface spotted that the film is listed as PG-13 on the AMC theaters app.
Whether this is likely or they’re just using the Revenge of the Sith rating as a placeholder… We don’t know. It does seem unlikely we’ll get anything gruesome as crispy Anakin this early in the trilogy, but who knows?
Perhaps more believably, the FTN report claims the film is 136 minutes, which puts it on the long side for a Star Wars movie (only Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith are longer, if not by much) but not particularly long for huge blockbusters in general these days.
(AMC is also listing a Star Wars marathon for December 17, something we’ve heard rumblings of before.)
A user on Reddit (aka automatic red flag, the website) claims to know some background information on Rey, Kylo Ren and a few other characters from The Force Awakens. S/he’s implying it’s from the novelization, and it’s a burner account, so who knows if any of this has actual merit. Take it as you will. (via)
Collider tonight reports that Gugu Mbatha-Raw is joining the cast of Episode VIII. A previous rumor says that she was up for one of two roles alongside Gina Rodriguez and Tatiana Maslany.
Mbatha-Raw is best known for her lead roles in Belle and Beyond the Lights. Sci-fi fans may also remember her from a supporting role in Jupiter Ascending or even as Martha Jones’ sister Tish on Doctor Who.
Whether the second VII role is still in play – or ever was – is unknown. However, a report from earlier today has Maslany in negotiations for the Boston Marathon bombing drama Stronger, which will likely take her out of the running for for Star Wars. (Deja vu much?)
Sure, it could be in a week or so, as the previous rumor implies, or it could not show up until November. Entertainment Weekly‘s Anthony Breznican “asked around” and now he isn’t sure, either. But whether it’s soon or Black Friday (again!) the point is, we don’t actually know. (Yet.) “Fall” is a long time…
(I don’t really think it’ll be as late as Black Friday.)
Da7e at Latino Review claims that the Episode VIII role that Tatiana Maslany and Gina Rodriguez were rumored for is actually two “substantial” roles that “share the same shortlist.” He also adds a new name: Gugu Mbatha-Raw of Beyond the Lights and Belle. She’s already paid a few space opera dues with a supporting role in Jupiter Ascending.
Olivia Cooke (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) was also up for the role (roles?) at the time of the initial report, but she’s reportedly in negotiations to play the female lead in Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, which likely takes her out of the running for Star Wars.
At the ‘Celebrity Nerd-Off’ with Stephen Colbert, J.J. Abrams revealed that he finished the final sound mix for The Force Awakens early Saturday morning, Yahoo Movies reports. There are “six very small, but important things that (still) need to be done,” per Variety. 
