Tag: rumors

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The Clone Wars: Sam Witwer to voice Darth Maul?

NukeTheFridge.com reports that Sam Witwer, who portrayed Starkiller in The Force Unleashed series and voiced Son in the Mortis arc of The Clone Wars, is returning to the show to voice Darth Maul. The first reports of the Being Human‘s star coming back to the show came from an interview at Dragon*Con by Star Wars Report, where Witwer confirmed that he will be doing a character new to him, and recounts:

Dave Filoni calls me up, gets me on the phone, and he says, “Listen, so we want you to come back to work and we need you to play…” and he tells me the character’s name. And I almost had a car accident. And he says, “Can you do it?” And I’m like yes. And then I worried about later whether I could do it or not. But I was like yes, yes, I will do that. So it is a tremendous opportunity and I can’t wait for you guys to find out about it.

Until we get official word, it’s just a rumor that he’ll play Darth Maul, (who was previously announced as returning next spring) – but an exciting one at that.

Meanwhile, Slate has done an article for parents on how to sound intelligent when you talk to your kids about The Clone Wars. Basically, it sorts out that everything you know about Star Wars from the original trilogy has been turned on its head: Clonetroopers and the Republic are good, while the rebellious Separatists are evil. Not a whole lot on knowing who the show’s original characters are – Ahsoka barely gets mentioned, and I think Rex doesn’t even get mentioned. If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably well ahead of the people who need to refer to the Slate article for help.

Always feel bummed about contests that are for US residents only? Well, here are two different chances to win Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season Three DVD and Blu-ray sets: SFX is giving away the Blu-rays and Entertainment Focus is giving away the DVDs – for people in the United Kingdom.

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Report: Life On Mars co-creator wrote for Star Wars live-action series?

Den of Geek is claiming that British writer Matthew Graham, co-creator of the BBC shows Life On Mars (not the U.S. remake) and Ashes To Ashes, may be one of the writers on the Star Wars live-action series.

We got in touch with Matthew Graham and asked him whether the news was true. All he would say to us was that he had done some work out at LucasFilm during 2008 and 2009 “on something unbelievably cool”, and that his contract “had come to an end”. “I hope one day I’ll be able to talk about it,” he told us.

Possible? Possible: Rick McCallum said in a 2008 Star Wars Insider interview that two of the show’s writers were British.

Graham also wrote a recent Doctor Who two-parter. Other high-profile Brit genre TV writers have been approached: Russell T. Davies, who spearheaded the current Who revival, said he down an offer from George Lucas.

The Star Wars scripts are currently shelved; Producer Rick McCallum recently said they hope to start production in “three or four years.”

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Didn’t we just leave this party? Harrison Ford reportedly wants Indiana Jones killed off

According to gossip site ShowbizSpy, Harrison Ford has been lobbying George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to kill off Indy in the next installment of the series.

“Harrison thinks it would be good for Indy to die and pass on his hat to his son in the next one,” reveals an insider.

“George especially is resisting the notion but Steven is considering it. Funnily enough Harrison wanted the same for Han Solo in the final Star Wars but George put an end to it. This time he doesn’t have all the say though.”

Bogus? Maybe. It’s a little too similar to the Han Solo story for me to believe, but I wouldn’t be all that surprised either. (via)

UPDATE: A rep for Ford told the Huffington Post that the report is false. Shocking! Now back to your regularly scheduled whatever.

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George Lucas planning to resurrect dead movie stars with digital magic? Lucasfilm says no.

Mel Smith (who directed Radioland Murders) told British tabloid The Sun that George Lucas plans to breathe new life into stars of the past.

“George has been buying up the film rights to dead actors in the hope of using computer trickery to put them all together, so you’d have Orson Welles and Barbara Stanwyck alongside today’s stars.”

UPDATE: The quote is originally from an interview in The Daily Mail. Not sure that’s much better as far as reliability goes.

All I can say to this is: Wha? It’s not completely far-fetched, but my doubt circuits are fully engaged on this one.

UPDATE: And Lucasfilm has called bull. Spokesman Josh Kushins told Underwire that “this rumor is completely false.”

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Batten down the hatches, it’s Star Wars sequel trilogy rumor time yet again

Is it ridiculous rumor time already? IESB is reporting that we could see a (sigh) sequel trilogy after the 3-D rereleases. Since IESB seems down at the moment, here’s Bryan’s report over at the Examiner.

Am I skeptical? Of course. Do I really want to hear people squeeing over how this is totally going to be [insert favorite EU thing here] on film? Hells no. Y’all should know better by now. (And IESB is also saying – per io9 – that the trilogy won’t be about Skywalkers.)

Is a sequel trilogy possible? Of course, even taking into account George Lucas’ frequently stated lack of interest in sequels or further movies. But the man has also shown an inability to let go of Star Wars in recent years: Witness his continued involvement in The Clone Wars .

But I’m a cynic, and this whole thing sounds like every single rumor and report about the live-action series thrown into a fanboy’s wet dream blender. I don’t doubt there are folks backstage at Lucasfilm pressing for more movies – who wouldn’t want that job security? – but the trick is whether they will or can convince George. We can’t be sure of until he – not the rumor mongers – comes out and says it. Don’t hold your breath.

UPDATE: Lucasfilm denies the report at Underwire:

“This is, of course, completely false,” Lucasfilm spokesman Josh Kushins told Wired.com in an e-mail Saturday about the report. “George Lucas has plenty of projects to keep him busy right now — including plenty of Star Wars projects — but there are no new Star Wars feature films planned.”

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Star Wars in 3-D rumors rearing up again

With Avatar having beat out most of the top-grossing films of all time in a mere matter of weeks, the press is sniffing around those old rerelease rumors, digging up comments from various directors and basically? A big fat maybe. What else is new? The relevant bit:

George Lucas, the director, spent $13m filming the original in 1976, added special effects in 1997 and 2004, and will now spend another $10m to change it into a 3-D spectacular.

“George cannot leave it alone,” said an associate. “He is salivating at the opportunity to play with it again. This time the Death Star is really going to explode all over the audience and leave them gasping.”

At the moment there are only half a dozen companies that can turn reels of celluloid into 3-D digital movies.

An ‘associate.’ That’s cute.