Mark Hamill appeared this weekend at Salt Lake Comic Con, and while he was (naturally) tight-lipped about Episode VIII, he did drop a few things: Namely, that he’s a part of “an intense action FX sequence” that was being shot at night.
You can watch a video (via) of his appearance below, or head over to Big Shiny Robot for a recap.
→ In the realm of rumors, Making Star Wars has some possible details on some things that relate to Rey’s vision in The Force Awakens.
→ Every other ‘new’ rumor you’ve heard lately originates from Reddit. And what do we say to Reddit rumors? Not today.
Daisy Ridley appeared on the comedy podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno and dropped a few vague comments about Episode VIII.
First of all, don’t expect the title for some time:
I heard a title, but I don’t know if it’s going to be that. I really don’t know much about anything. I heard it, but I heard it a long time ago, before we started filming. So I feel some things have tweaked slightly during production. It’s going to be a while before it’s released, I imagine.
Pablo Hidalgo told us back in July that the film doesn’t have a title yet, so it seems likely they have options to consider or some firm ideas, but nothing quite set in stone yet. The Force Awakens, as the first live-action film in a decade, was an outlier in a lot of things. VIII announcements aren’t – and don’t need to be – on the same schedule, particularly with Rogue One coming up.
Daisy also said that Rey “maybe” gets a new outfit. Romance also got a “maybe,” but she went as far as to say:
The thing is, I read this article the other day. It was talking about being in love with your friends and how like, that is the ultimate thing. So I think romance covers a lot of bases.”
The Star Wars stuff comes on at the end of the podcast, beginning at about the 25:00 mark. (If the site audio doesn’t work for you, it is on iTunes.)
It seems that John Williams didn’t tell a Boston crowd that he was beginning work soon on Episode VIII, as earlier reports have claimed. Star Wars News Net has a video of his remarks regarding VIII, and he only mentions signing on and seeing a rough cut of the film “in a few weeks.” The conspiracy theorists can stand down – per usual, actual scoring is generally one of the last things to be done on a film.
Just as the ancient scrolls predicted Mark Hamill told us a couple weeks ago, Episode VIII wrapped principal photography today. “Final slate of the final shot,” Director Rian Johnson said today of a video shared from the official Twitter and Facebook accounts. “VIII is officially wrapped. Thanks to the best cast and crew in the galaxy, and thanks to the fans for all the love and support through the whole process. Cannot wait to put it together and share it with you all! ”
Before you freak out on Pablo for having a sense of humor, here’s what he said later: “Theorize all you want! It’s cool! Just keep it out of my timeline.”The ‘Your Snoke Theory Sucks’ sticker by the Steele Wars podcast seems to be quite the hit out of London last weekend, spotted in the hands of both Pablo Hidalgo and Rian Johnson. Steele Saunders even talked to Inverse about them, and why they proved to be so popular. Not at the con? You can still get your own in both sticker and t-shirt form.
→ IGN’s Daniel Krupa takes a look at the 6 classic movies that Episode VIII director Rian Johnson encouraged his cast and crew to watch, and how they might influence the upcoming film.
Another Celebration is over, and while this one felt a bit restrained, here are the big hits. Follow the links for all the details!
Rogue One
We didn’t get a Rogue One trailer – what was shown only to the live audience was mostly footage we’ve already seen with only a handful of new additions – but there was a nifty sizzle reel. And we learned a couple things about the worlds and characters of the film – plus a poster! And Gwendoline Christie is a fantastic panel host. Later, Kathleen Kennedy said they’re leaning towards not giving the film an opening crawl. Also, check out these amazing cast photos from behind the scenes at the con.
Rebels expands the GFFA
But the con’s big surprise – at least for our purposes – is Thrawn coming to Rebels. The rumor has been floating around since January 2016, but what really took it over the top was the additional news that Timothy Zahn will be writing a new novel about the character. In other book news, we learned that Alexander Freed is doing the Rogue One novelization, while James Luceno is writing the film’s tie-in, Catalyst. We also got a cover for the Ahsoka novel, as well as some hints as to what the character got up to between The Clone Wars and Rebels.
Episode VIII
With the focus on Rogue One, we didn’t get much on VIII. But Mark Hamill praised Rian Johnson’s dialogue, and Johnson showed a few new behind-the-scenes pics at the Future Filmmakers panel. We didn’t get a title because it doesn’t have one yet. But remember, there’s still one more Celebration between now and the film’s release…
And finally, here’s a sweet video that was played at the Closing Ceremonies:
We’ll have a new tweet roundup in a day or so, as well as continuing wrap-up coverage, but those are the highlights!
No Episode VIII title* out of the Future Filmmakers panel at Celebration Europe, but they did confirm Alden Ehrenreich as the young Han Solo and bring him out on stage. He was the first person to audition (out of 3000 people!) and won the role over 6 months. Directs Christopher Miller and Phil Lord have only just moved to London for pre-production, and they expect to start shooting in early 2017.
Earlier, Kathleen Kennedy said Episode VIII director Rian Johnson “moves the camera as well as Steven Spielberg.” We learned that Johnson spent about six weeks with Lucasfilm before even starting in on the script.
The panel winded down with surprise appearances from John Boyega, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher. (Plus Gary and Millie.) It looked fun, but there was nothing really earth-shattering revealed. Check out the StarWars.com liveblog for details.
Below the cut, videos from the panel, and the interviews afterward!
Mark Hamill was his usual self at his Celebration Europe panel today, and while he can’t talk much (at all, really) about Episode VIII, he did rave about Rian Johnson:
I was looping Episode VIII yesterday, and there’s dialogue in there, I thought, ‘Oh boy, I can already see this on a t-shirt. Rian Johnson is amazing. He’ll make you forget all about ‘May the Force be with you.’ He’s come up with so many new catchphrases.
Props also go to the fan who took advantage of a stumble where Mark forgot Rey’s first name to get him to reveal her last name, though Mark didn’t take the bait. Entertainment Weekly and /Film have the highlights.
Just as 
Rogue One
