Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
The big Rebels thing going around this week is that a French trailer for the show has emerged. Possible spoilers, natch – but not nearly as many as there are over at Making Star Wars, where they claim to know the entire plot of the first couple episodes!
We also have one possible premiere date – September 30.
→ Friday means Da7e’s Star Wars column over at Latino Review, and while he mostly unpacks the rumors from earlier this week, the real meat here? Is that despite Kathleen Kennedy and J.J. Abrams really wanting to move the film back to May 4, Bob Iger isn’t letting them do it, no matter what’s going on with Harrison Ford’s extremities. Lots of doom-and-gloom going on here, so please remember that rumors are rumors and don’t let yourself go into full Threepio panic mode over them.
→ /Film’s Germain Lussier on why Iger would be so firm on the December date. In short: MONEY. Naturally.
→ In the ‘well, yeah’ department, Latino Review is also saying that Carrie Fisher’s daughter Billie Lourd will be in the movie. We had plenty of friends-and-family cameos throughout the prequels (all the Lucas kids, Nathan Hamill, Sofia Coppola, etc.) so naturally we’ll probably see some in this round as well. And then, of course, there’s this tweet, which also names Maisie Richardson Sellers. Abe Gurko is, depending on who you listen to, Carrie Fisher’s current or former assistant.
→ Only a matter of hours left to donate to A Force for Change if you want a chance at lunch with J.J. Abrams.
Rumor: The basic plot of Episode VII? Making Star Wars gathers together some of the latest (and very basic) rumors about the plot of the film and why Han Solo is apparently so essential to it. (AICN is the original source here, so take that as you will.) There’s a new-to-me tidbit that Daisy Ridley’s character may have been living on Tatooine for a long time, but as always: Game of telephone.
LEGO brings us the minifigure cast of Episode VII… It is pretty cute, but slave Leia, really? Meanwhile, it appears that Omaze is adding a lunch with J.J. Abrams to A Force for Change. Enter by Friday for a chance to win that one.
And in the Harrison Ford doom and gloom department, not only do we have the Oscar Isaac rumor, but the San Jose Mercury News says that one of the options that was (supposedly) being discussed at Pinewood the other day could involve writing Ford out of the film entirely. Don’t hold your breath for that one…
Rumor: Oscar Isaac’s role to be beefed up? So says the New York Post, perhaps sick of the British tabloids getting to have all the ‘fun’ regarding Harrison Ford’s injury. They also claim that there’s speculation that Isaac may be a Solo, which seems to be to be coming out of pretty much nowhere. (Speculation on Adam Driver as a Solo, yes. Isaac as Han’s mentee, or at least playing a similar type of role, yes. Isaac as Han Solo’s son? Not so much.) The article does contain a denial from Disney about the “beefing up” part, but note we have no idea how big his role is to begin with.
Rumor: Two factions that will appear in Episode VII? Latino Review is saying that Mandalorians and at least one ‘Sith Witch’ will appear in the film. Okay then.
According to Jedi News, there was a meeting today at Pinewood to discuss a possible delay due to Harrison Ford’s injury. Recent (if not particularly trustworthy) reports have him needing 6 months of rehab to recover. And Jedi News has heard rumblings that production “could be pushed back by a substantial amount of time.”
Nothing here is particularly solid, but I doubt a delay to, say, May 2016 release would be met with that much objection from the fandom. Disney, on the other hand…
UPDATE: PR is telling TFN there is still no change in the release date. Because of course they are, at this point. If there’s any truth to these rumors, there’s a lot of rubber-stamping that’ll need to be done before PR can confirm anything.
Rumor: Tom Cruise to cameo in Episode VII? He apparently met up with J.J. Abrams and some other folks over the weekend in London. That part I’ll believe. But a cameo? Remember N’Sync? Yeah.
Rumor: Harrison Ford out for six months, flying back to U.S. for rehab? This is via The Sun, so it’s not exactly written in stone, but they claim that Harrison Ford will require six months of rehab for his broken leg, not eight weeks as we’ve heard earlier.
Deadline was the first to report that Disney and Lucasfilm have tapped Looper writer-director Rian Johnson to take over from J.J. Abrams on the next two Episodes. The Wrap countered, saying that while Johnson will write and direct Episode VIII, he only write a treatment for IX.
The Hollywood Reporter is also saying that Johnson is in talks. They agree with The Wrap on his IX only being a treatment. Variety’s writeup mentions only VIII.
We don’t consider any news fully confirmed until Lucasfilm weighs in, but four trade reports in such quick succession is a fairly good sign that where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
Johnson isn’t verified on twitter, but you may consider his last tweet telling.
In addition to Looper, Johnson’s directing credits include Brick, The Brothers Bloom and several episodes of Breaking Bad. Vulture has nice little overview, if you don’t mind some major Breaking Bad spoilers, and there’s also THR on why he’s a good choice for the job. Another must-read is Drew McWeeny’s take on the bigger picture.