Tag: anthology films

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Roundup: John Williams speaks hopefully about sequel trilogy

John WilliamsMusic. John Williams is perhaps one of the biggest question marks for the sequel trilogy, but at a recent concert he made some optimistic remarks, according a reader at the John Williams Fan Network. “I need to make sure I’m still ready to go in a few years for what I hope would be continued work with George,” he said on February 9. (via)

Opinion. Wired’s Laura Hudson writes about Leia and Hollywood’s woman problem, adding another voice to those of hoping for a female lead for Episode VII. Meanwhile, Tricia Barr looks at the male-centric wishlists for the spin-off films.

Ric Olie, is that you? Showbiz 411 is taking the Han Solo rumors fairly optimistically, and that Fisher and Hamill are sure to return as well, but the films will be about their kids. To which 99% of the internet says: Well, duh.

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Roundup: Star Wars authors consider future movies, Ewan down with a return to the desert

X-Wing: Mercy KillPonders. Christian Blauvelt asks eight Star Wars authors (Drew Karpyshyn, Paul Kemp, Troy Denning, John Jackson Miller, James Luceno, Michael Reaves, Christie Golden and Aaron Allston) what they’d like to see in Episode VII and the other new films. Lots of love for the EU and female characters, naturally, which is more than I can say for most of the other wishlists that have been popping up daily.

Spin-offs. Ewan McGregor continues to voice his willingness to return as Obi-Wan. “I don’t know what he did in the desert,” he tells MTV. “We could make up some stuff.”

Superfans. Kevin Smith is (still) very excited. Though his casting for a young Han Solo is… the worst I’ve seen yet. Hopefully for the LULZ.

Video. J.J. Abrams D.I.C.E keynote speech.

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Calamari wishes and Carbonite dreams: Best #StarWars, #EpisodeVII and #SWEU tweets for Feb. 4-10

@wonderella: Disney's filling in the gaps in the Star Wars saga! Finally we'll see Han's adventures between Empire and Return of the Jedi.

Last week, we learned that Star Wars solo films are a real thing that’s actually happening, although no one has confirmed who they’ll actually feature…. But naturally Han Solo was trending for a while because, well, the internet. (Suck it, Boba Fett!) All that and the usual below the cut.

Continue reading “Calamari wishes and Carbonite dreams: Best #StarWars, #EpisodeVII and #SWEU tweets for Feb. 4-10”

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Kasdan wants his Star Wars spin-off to ‘start fresh’

KasdanIn another interview from his appearance at the Paley Center on Thursday, Lawrence Kasdan told Hero Complex that he wants his film to be something new:

“I’m trying to start fresh,” he said. “There are certain pleasures that we think the saga can bring to people that they’ve been missing, and we’re hoping to bring them that, and at the same time, have them feel that it’s all new.”

It’s implied (by Hero Complex) that means ignoring the existing Expanded Universe, but it’s worth noting that some fans are also hoping these spin-offs don’t rehash things that the EU has already covered extensively – like Han’s backstory.

He also credits George Lucas with bringing him onto the project, his favorite Star Wars film, and the focus of the original trilogy.

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Frank Oz willing to return as Yoda

YodaThough he hasn’t heard anything from Lucasfilm, Frank Oz would be willing to return to voice Yoda, according to Hero Complex. But don’t expect another puppet version:

“I think it depends on the story, but I think at this point you can’t go back to the puppet,” he said. “The reason George [Lucas] did the CGI, which I supported, was that he wanted to tell a story that would have been hampered by the physical limitations of the puppet.”

However, remember that while it’s been confirmed that there are spin-off plans in the works, the Yoda film is still just a rumor.

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Roundup: Will Episode VII feature a Lord of the Rings transplant as the big bad?

John Noble in FringeActors. An Australian DJ (?!?) is claiming that John Noble will be playing the villain in Episode VII. You probably know Noble as Fringe’s Walter Bishop, or from Lord of the Rings, where he played Denethor, perhaps Middle-Earth’s least stable father figure. Like Walter Bishop, I have my skeptic face on.

Abrams alumni Keri Russell would be down for Star Wars, because once again, who’s going to say they don’t want to be in Star Wars?

And finally, Ewan McGregor doesn’t know anything about the new movies, but it seems like he’s still game. He’ll be talking about his new film, Jack and the Giant Slayer, on Ellen this Friday.

The once and future directors. HuffPo’s Mike Ryan has a great article exploring the Star Wars directors thus far. And at the Star Wars Blog, Bonnie Burton has the relevant quotes from her past interviews with J.J. Abrams.

Solo, solo. Hollywood.com’s Christian Blauvelt talks about casting (and writing) a younger Han Solo with Scoundrels author Timothy Zahn. Since the conversation naturally turns to casting Thrawn, Zahn spoke a bit more about casting his characters back on January’s book tour for Scoundrels.

Video. J.J. Abrams talks about Star Wars, Star Trek and the mystery box in a TED Talk from 2007. (via)

Money matters. George Lucas has filed to cash out his Disney stock – the 37,076,679 shares that were half the purchase price for Lucasfilm. (Note: The move doesn’t mean he has to or even will sell immediately, just that he can.) In any case, it was announced early on that Lucas would donate the company’s purchase price to fund “educational issues.”

Lists. Empire has nine characters who deserve a spin-off. They’re all dudes, naturally, but step over to Alyssa Rosenberg’s blog for five women who should be in Episode VII.

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Rumor: Spin-off films focus on Han Solo, Boba Fett

Boba Fett, Han. Entertainment Weekly’s ‘sources close to the projects’ claim that the two Star Wars standalone films annouced yesterday will feature a young Han Solo and an original-trilogy era Boba Fett.

The Han film will take place sometime between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, while the Fett film will be set in-between the OT films, they claim.

Han is generally believed to be about 10 at the time of Revenge, and there was, if I recall the concept art book correctly, some early talk of him actually showing up on Kashyyyk in the film. UPDATE: Slashfilm dug it up.

UPDATE #2: Meanwhile, Deadline claims that Lucasfilm is still “kicking around” spin-off ideas, and nothing is set in stone yet.

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Disney CEO confirms standalone Star Wars films

Disney CEO Bob Iger dropped a couple of bombs on us this afternoon regarding future Star Wars movies.

Lucasfilm is working on ‘a few’ standalone films featuring existing characters – but not part of the overall saga. Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are working on them – thus confirming the second half of an older rumor.

Iger said that Disney and Lucasfilm hope to make Episodes VII-IX over “a six-year period.” They’re still aiming for a 2015 release, but “a few other films” will be released “in that period of time.” Bryan Young speculates that this likely means we’ll be getting a Star Wars film on a yearly basis, which is in line with sister studio Pixar’s outputiger-cnbc

UPDATE: StarWars.com adds that Kasdan and Kinberg are working on two films separately, each focusing “on a specific character,” and that they’re both expected to come out after Episode VII.

Iger declined to name any specific characters, so the Yoda film still remains strictly a rumor – but certainly a far more likely one now. I’d also place bets on Boba Fett getting his own movie – but if it keeps him (and his director fanboys) out of further Episodes, that’s a price I will (grudgingly) pay.