Tag: rumors

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Rumors: Jack Reynor cast in Episode VII? And are they looking for a Princess Leia?

Jack Reynor

SEQUEL TRILOGY RUMORS: Take seriously at your own risk.At AICN, buried under Harry Knowles’ thoughts on last week’s concept art, he claims to have heard that Irish actor Jack Reynor has a role in Episode VII. Reynor will be seen in Transformers: Age of Extinction, but we’ll try not to hold that against him if this turns out to be true: Actors gotta eat.

Taking a weirder turn is Den of Geek‘s report that the role of Princess Leia may be open, which seems odd. Is Carrie Fisher really not returning, is it a red herring, or did someone mishear something along the line? I know which one gets my vote…

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Roundup: No more Expanded Universe toys from Hasbro, TNG’s Brent Spiner on Rebels?

Toy Fair. Jedi Temple Archives reports (a bit hyperbolically) that Lucasfilm has told Hasbro that the Expanded Universe is off limits, save for a few figures that were already in the pipeline.

I think this makes sense. We’ve never gotten all that much EU from Hasbro to begin with, and at this point any EU figure is going to be pounced on by fans as some sort of “proof” for Episode VII. They’re cutting back on prequel-era figures as well, to focus on the OT – with a heavy focus on Return of the Jedi as we approach the new films – and Rebels.

Rebels. Is Brent Spiner voicing a character? This tweet from Gallifrey One, a con held in Los Angeles this weekend, leads us to believe so… The actor, who played Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation, has worked with Rebels’ Greg Weisman before – they were on a Young Justice panel at the con. (He voiced The Joker on the show.) He was also one of several TNG actors who did voices on Weisman’s Gargoyles. And we’ve had Trek crossover before: George Takei voiced General Lok Durd on The Clone Wars.

Episode VII. Tom Hiddleston and Alex Pettyfer talk their Star Wars chances. (Both unlikely, if for very different reasons) while an Irish unknown, Daryl McCormack, talks about getting far on in the audition process.

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Roundup: Is Billy Dee back for Episode VII?

Through yonder Lando breaks. Ali Arikan say Billy Dee Williams is indeed on board for Episode VII. (Detailing on his last report.) Meanwhile, Fans Share (via) says Williams has been “insinuating” that he’s doing work on Rebels as well. Though a lot of that seems awfully familiar, so it may just be regurgitated rumor-mongering.

Business. The Hollywood Reporter has some details of what’s going on with ILM in London as the company beefs up in preparation for more Star Wars and Marvel (among others) work. They’re also expanding in Vancouver.

Expanded Universe. The Star Wars Books Facebook page had a chat with author Joe Schreiber today on Maul: Lockdown. You can read it directly or through the recap at Suvudu.

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Rumor double down: Episode VII starts filming mid-May

J.J. Abrams said Episode VII would be shooting in May, we heard a report last week that May 18th was the first day and most of the returning folks are signed on, and now Drew McWeeny at HitFix is jumping on that train as well.

Reminder: We define ‘confirmed’ as and ONLY as word from Lucasfilm themselves, or a media outlet with Lucasfilm’s blessing (like last week’s parade of Rebels posters) but this one does seem to be a pretty safe bet if you’re into that sort of thing. I just hope this doesn’t mean we’re on the hook until May for cast announcements!

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Rumor: All 6 Star Wars movies headed back to theaters in May in Australia

Access Reel is reporting that all six movies will be shown in Australian theaters the weekend of May 4: The prequel trilogy on Saturday the 3rd, and the original trilogy on Sunday the 4th. As far as they’ve heard it’s only in Australia, though… (via)

If this is an international happening, it would be a nice way to capitalize on the “May the 4th” phenomenon, but I expect it’s something they’d have to announce very

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Rumor: Episode VII filming begins May 19, “everyone’s back”

SEQUEL TRILOGY RUMORS: Take seriously at your own risk.

Today from Ali Arikan on Twitter: Episode VII will shoot May 19 to August 8, with moving into offices in late April. “Everyone’s back,” he says, and casting is complete “barring two leads.” (Does “everyone” extend beyond the expected Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Anthony Daniels? Billy Dee?)

We’ve heard several things from Arikan, some of which may still pan out, some of which haven’t, but he is respected among the veteran rumormongers regardless. Last month he said filming could start on April 22, which is close to his move-in date this time. As always, I recommend taking this with a grain of salt, but Abrams did say filming was likely to begin in May.

Original tweet below the cut. Continue reading “Rumor: Episode VII filming begins May 19, “everyone’s back””

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Roundup: Spin-off release date rumors, Phil Tippett and a closer look at the Rebels LEGOs

SPINOFF RUMORS: Take seriously at your own risk.Buzz. Could the first spinoff film be pushed back to 2017? That’s what Ali Arikan is claiming on Twitter today. Considering we know next to nothing about it, I find it hard to get too worked up if this proves true. And if it does mean more time between actual Episodes (like the traditional three years,) I’m all for it.

Alumni. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, effects guru Phil Tippett doesn’t totally write off the idea of coming back to Star Wars. Meanwhile, Billy Dee tells Blastr he still hasn’t heard anything about returning.

Rebels. Jedi News has some nice pictures of the LEGO minifigures that have been causing such a fuss.

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Rumor: Episode VII characters to be based on the Expanded Universe

Skywalker/Solo family in the NJO

Episode 7 News is back with some clarification on their previous Mara Jade rumor. Their source now has a name – JediDigger – and they say his info comes from “discussions between people inside Lucasfilm and it’s licenses.”

The gist of his clarification is that they’re using the existing Expanded Universe characters as a template. The actual characters we get will be based on folks like Mara/Shira Brie, Jaina, Ben and such, but with different names – like the oh-so-convenient Korriban/Moriband confusion.

FRYSQUINT: SEQUEL TRILOGY RUMORS: Take seriously at your own risk.“This can not be made clearer, the post ROTJ EU launched in 91 is dead,” he says. “No story from Outbound Flight forward counts.” This all comes “the request of Disney, Kathleen Kennedy and Howard Roffman.”

But “the love of Luke Skywalker’s life” is a “character George Lucas has had since the end of Return of the Jedi,” which seems like it could conflict with the idea of basing her on Mara… Or does it? It’s not like we haven’t seen a similar character from Lucas before.

They’re also claiming that Michael Arndt has “moved on to Episode 8″ and that Abrams has met with Timothy Zahn. UPDATE: Zahn himself says this part isn’t true, which casts even more doubt on the rest.

So that’s a big rumor dump – but again, not a particularly trustworthy one: Taking the EU characters as templates is significantly less dramatic a change than I would expect. I continue to be skeptical.

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Rumor: Mara Jade to be ‘introduced’ in Rebels as a bridge to Episode VII?

Imperial Mara Jade from TCG

Make sure your cynic caps are tightly in place, because this one is super sketchy.

Will Rebels introduce Mara Jade to the Star Wars screen? That’s what was yesterday labeled ‘speculation’ by Star Wars 7 News, who now say they’re received “tips” from “people close to the production” that this could indeed be the case. Here’s what was left as an anonymous comment on their site:

It can be said, that Rebels will introduce Mara Jade, into the film canon, sometimes appearing with the Inquisitor and she will be the living mother of Ben Skywalker.

Episode seven takes place, in 30 ABY. Jacen, and Jaina will be to Ben what Han, and Leia were to Luke. Ben is around the same age as his cousins. Chewie will be alive, and this is an all new timeline from 4 ABY forward.

Pablo Hidalgo, and Leland Chee have been consulting with Kathleen, and JJ, on EU elements, and characters from the database.

As of 2015 Books and comics will be part of the same canon, as Movies, TV and Netflix. Rebels has very strong connections to the ST, it will bring EU characters, ideas, and planets into the canon and it introduces two original characters for the ST, one Imperial, and one Jedi.

Is it plausible? Of course – it certainly doesn’t take a doctorate in EU-based speculation to come up with that theory. Is there really any truth to it? I haven’t the faintest idea – but it’s far too pat for me to buy it, particularly coming from a random anon. It’s exactly what “we’d” want, theoretically – of course I’m suspicious, and I urge you to be, too.

Star Wars 7 News also says that some of The Clone Wars bonus content will also include connections to Episode VII.