Today in The Force Awakens: Mark Hamill talks beard, reveals BB-8 is a real prop

TFA trading card: BB-8→ #BEARDWATCH LIVES. Well, sort of. Mark Hamill talks about his Episode VII beard at Yahoo: “…face foliage is almost a part of the costume. And it does bring a gravitas, perhaps unearned, but nevertheless, it makes a statement that they wanted to make, and I’m more than happy to oblige them.” He also reveals that BB-8 is an actual prop, not CGI.

And I wasn’t able to get to this yesterday before the big news dropped, but Hamill also talked to IGN about the trailer, with lots of praise for the new kids.

→ It will surprise absolutely no one that today brings a report that Star Tours is going to get a new mission related to the new films. My only real question: When will it be added? Because wouldn’t that be a nice perk for Celebration Anaheim?

→ In less sure thing rumors, we’ve got another report of where (and why) Luke Skywalker is during the film, and why. Plus some speculation on Sith shrines.

→ Here you go, math nerds: How fast is BB-8?

The Force Awakens: Disney attractions to be based on new films

tfa-promo1-falcon-imax800Variety hosted a Bob Iger Q&A today, where the Disney chief revealed that theme park plans for the franchise will be based mainly on things from the upcoming films. “I didn’t want someone to say, ‘I just saw the movie and there’s nothing in that movie in this (attraction),” he said. “We waited to see what this film would have in it.”

He also revealed that they debated whether to release an early trailer at all, and that J.J. Abrams’ use of physical sets and props have given the film a “wow factor.”

Andy Serkis says that his trailer speech “emotionally rooted” his character – go ahead and add that one to your speculation file.

→ In light of yesterday’s revelation that George Lucas hasn’t seen The Force Awakens trailer and all the hay that was made of it yesterday, Eleven Thirty-Eight has a nice reminder today that George’s perspective is not our perspective.

→ Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is #13 on The Hollywood Reporter’s Power 100 list of women in entertainment.

Cracked’s four stupidest reactions to The Force Awakens trailer. Yeah, pretty much.

→ Rumor corner: Making Star Wars details a chase scene, and some new ships.

The Force Awakens: George Lucas hasn’t seen the trailer

HONEY BADGER DON'T CARE.→ George Lucas hasn’t seen The Force Awakens trailer yet, Page Six reports this morning. “I don’t know anything about it. I haven’t seen it yet,” he said. “Because it’s not in the movie theater. I like going to the movies and watching the whole thing there.”

→ On the other hand… “I got really excited when I saw the trailer the other week,” Domhnall Gleeson said recently. “I am a fan. I saw the prequels before I saw the first ones. I am very excited about it.”

→ Did J.J. Abrams start a trend? The first picture from the new James Bond film sure looks familiar. (This is where some film geek comes in the comments and tells me every film that’s tweeted a clapper picture since 2008, right?)

→ And in rumors, Making Star Wars talks about a new kind of walker.

Today in The Force Awakens: Six Star Wars technologies we might see for real

real-star-wars-landspeeder-split→ Popular Science points out six Star Wars technologies that may not be as far away as we think. Most shocking? There’s already a robot ball.

Why racial diversity in The Force Awakens matters.

→ Chris Taylor implores fans to stop overthinking the new teaser. Alas, it is in vain, but I’m sure he knows that.

→ Rumor corner: Jason on Making Star Wars has more thoughts on the beginning of the film, given what we heard yesterday. And there are yet more 4chan/Reddit ‘spoilers,’ including at least one direct contradiction to what we heard yesterday from the same ‘source.’

The Force Awakens evening report: Oscar Isaac geeks out on actually getting to talk a little about Star Wars

tfa-ss-isaac327→ Oscar Isaac talks about The Force Awakens trailer to MTV’s Josh Horowitz. No reveals of course, but I’m sure it’s a relief to have SOMETHING out there.

→ A rumor that got lost in the trailer shuffle: Does Andy Serkis play multiple roles?

→ On that note, Making Star Wars has the reasoning behind certain large objects we saw in certain leaked photos several months back. (…If only they’d been in the trailer…) Also, when does Oscar Isaac’s character come in? If you’ve been following the rumors, this answer may surprise you…

→ Jason also found a stormtrooper.

→ The Onion’s Clickhole is at it again: 6 Easter Eggs you may have missed in the trailer and “This Fanboy Loves ‘Star Wars’ So Much He Plans To Watch ‘The Force Awakens’ In Theaters.”

Is Star Wars going to take over Toontown at Disneyland?

toontownIs Disneyland sacrificing Mickey’s Toontown for the long-awaited Star Wars area? Micechat is claiming that construction will begin there by 2016.

It does seem to make more sense than MiceChat’s previous Tomorrowland rumor – Tomorrowland has not only been a part of the park since inception, it’s getting it’s own movie next year. Toontown only opened in 1993, and the Disney World version was closed in 2011.

Apparently there’ll be some sort of Disneyland announcement later this week that may or may not have anything for us but /Film speculates we won’t hear anything about Star Wars plans until Celebration or the D23 Expo next year, which is in line with what we’ve heard before.

The Force Awakens morning report: Will we see the full trailer in May? And what about another teaser?

tfa-promo1-falcon-imax800→ When will we see a full trailer for The Force Awakens? According to /Film, another trailer will be attached to Avengers: Age of Ultron on May 1 – though perhaps it’ll debut at Celebration Anaheim in April, first? And what about the Super Bowl in February, or Cinderella in March? Lots of chances for a second teaser ahead of us.

→ /Film also has a nice feature I forgot to include in yesterday’s roundup – a look at the trailer and Ralph McQuarrie’s unused concept art.

→ Meanwhile, on to the rumors… Jason at Making Star Wars shares some TIE pilot fan art from Tom Hodges that’s “pretty accurate,” and a description of the “Wickermen”.

→ There’s a supposed ‘plot leak’ from 4chan that comes to us via Reddit, which we will be sure to take with the upmost seriousness. Or not. It’s mostly stuff we’ve already heard from Making Star Wars with a few extra additions, and most of the established folks who claim to be in the know are calling BS on it. Message board spoilers, y’all: The lowest of the low.

The Force Awakens roundup: Here’s one way to get your own soccer ball droid

3D-ball-droid1→ There’s already a 3D-printable pattern of the soccer ball droid. It’s a 1:1 scale, but: Your move, Hasbro. (Has anyone checked on the R2 Builders? Are they okay?)

→ Tosche Station’s Nanci makes the case for unlearning what you’ve learned.

→ Hey, remember spoilers and concept art and all that jazz? Making Star Wars hasn’t: They have a description of an “exotic city” that may be related to one of the places we saw in the trailer.

→ On that note, did Star Wars Underworld reveal the code name for Gareth Edwards and Gary Whitta’s spin-off film?

→ I know we’ve heard all this before, but here’s Mark Hamill talking about George Lucas talking about the sequel trilogy in 1983.