Tag: the force awakens

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Rumor: Modelmakers at Pinewood under contract for 7 years, space booked for Indy 5?

The Millennium Falcon under construction (for ESB)

SEQUEL TRILOGY RUMORS: Take seriously at your own risk.And here’s another from Den of Geek this morning, which at the very least seems/feels slightly more probable than the last one. They report that there’s been a clampdown on the Pinewood prop shop, but that the modelmakers are working on a Millennium Falcon (as frequently reported and possibly proved) and lightsaber hilts. The modelmakers also supposedly have seven-year contracts covering the new trilogy and three spin-offs.

They’re also reporting that the planning office has a listing for an Indiana Jones 5, which wouldn’t be all that surprising giving Disney and Paramount’s announcement regarding the franchise in December.

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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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Did Lucasfilm just give us our first (fuzzy) look at Episode VII concept art?

An Episode VII production meeting?

Lucasfilm.com relaunched yesterday, and an eagle-eyed Justin LaSalata noticed that the lead photo on the production page – a meeting featuring Kathleen Kennedy and maybe (far right) John Knoll – shows what’s probably concept art for Episode VII that includes what looks like the Millennium Falcon, a mountainous location, an X-Wing pilot and maybe even an older Luke? (Or, maybe, ghost Obi-Wan on Dagobah in Return of the Jedi?) Look closer:

An Episode VII production meeting? (Close up.)

The Falcon appearing is pretty much a given at this point, but this is the first thing we have officially that even hints at it. Of course, it could all be for something else…

There’s also what looks like a few new – or at least better quality than we’ve seen – images of the Ghost on the Rebels page.

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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: 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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Gary Oldman “called” for a part in Episode VII

Add another name on the pile: Gary Oldman admits “they’ve called” him for Episode VII, though he seems rather ambivalent about it.

Given the high-profile franchises we’ve already seen him in – Nolan’s Batman and Harry Potter, not to mention this Robocop remake and the upcoming Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – he doesn’t seem a particularly inspired choice Still, he’s a fine actor, and who doesn’t love The Fifth Element? (via)

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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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Roundup: Possible international release dates for Episode VII; Can we put the Cumberbatch rumor to bed?

Episode VII. Are these the international release dates? The Facebook page Star Wars Pictures says their source is the International Movie Database, whatever that is. (via)

Actors. Does the filming date of Benedict Cumberbatch’s latest movie put a nail in the Episode VII rumors? Variety says that Blood Mountain begins filming in Morocco this coming April, while J.J. Abrams said Star Wars is starting in May. I suppose it all depends on which rumors you chose to cling to. Meanwhile, add another name to the audition pile: Up-and-comer Miles Teller.

Rebels. Jedi News has heard that the four (at least) main characters of Rebels will be introduced via a “series of vignettes airing from August.” The debut movie is apparently only an hour long. But apparently we knew all this already?

TV. First look at Carrie Fisher and James Earl Jones on The Big Bang Theory.