the last jedi – Page 29

February 15, 2016February 16, 2016

Episode VIII begins production; Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern, Kelly Marie Tran join cast

StarWars.com has the official announcement that Episode VIII has begun production at Pinewood this morning. It adds officially adds three new actors: Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern, and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran. (Entertainment Weekly takes a look at Tran’s previous work.)

Returning from The Force Awakens are Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis.

Video footage shows director Rian Johnson, Hamill and Ridley filming on Skellig Micheal in September, and a hint as to where VIII picks up…

…Or is it? Note that only one shot – Ridley holding out the saber – is actually a close duplicate to what we saw in The Force Awakens. While they may be keeping things less restrictive this time, let’s not put too much faith in what they’re willing to show us.

Meanwhile, as the day winds down…

February 10, 2016

Han Solo standalone still on for May 2018 release: Episode VIII has begun filming

Disney’s earnings call yesterday, CEO Bob Iger said that the release date for 2018’s Han Solo standalone will remain in May – at least for the moment – despite Episode VIII’s pushback to December.

He revealed that filming has begun on VIII, and that The Force Awakens tie-ins have earned the company more than $3 billion globally. Hopefully this means we’ll get a dedicated announcement and updated cast list very soon…

Filming on the next Star Wars film, December’s Rogue One, is “virtually completed.” He also confirmed that Disney will break ground on the new Star Wars attractions at Disneyland and Disney World later this year. (A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpse of one of the attractions showed up in a commercial for the Disneyland 60 TV special.)

February 9, 2016February 19, 2016

Rumor: Ewan McGregor in talks for Obi-Wan Force ghost cameo?

Last time we heard a rumor from the folks at Schmoes Know it was regarding an end credit scene for The Force Awakens. Will Kristian Harloff’s current tweet-scoop be more lucky? An appearance from Ewan McGregor as Force ghost Obi-wan Kenobi isn’t so far-fetched as to be out of the question.

McGregor already had a brief line in The Force Awakens, so maybe this time things will pan out for the Schmoes. We’ll see.

February 1, 2016February 1, 2016

Rian Johnson, cast hint that Episode VIII filming is nigh

Getting close… [Tumblr]

“#VIII” [Instagram]

“So, just finished training and all that kind of stuff, for the next one. And as you can see, Finn is back.” [Video]

We know Episode VIII filming is due to begin soon, and there’s plenty of evidence from Rian Johnson on Tumblr, an Instagram from Daisy Ridley, a Snapchat from John Boyega, and tweets from Anthony Daniels and Carrie Fisher.

Continue reading “Rian Johnson, cast hint that Episode VIII filming is nigh”

January 26, 2016March 1, 2016

Rumor: Will Episode VIII share a filming location with Game of Thrones?

Making Star Wars is reporting that Episode VIII may be heading to Dubrovnik, Croatia for some location shooting. The city, which fronts the Adriatic Sea, has also been used as a filming location for HBO’s Game of Thrones, most notably as King’s Landing.

My idle speculation: A new planet, or perhaps a different part of Takodana, to check in on Maz?

January 26, 2016

Rumor: Disney shopping Star Wars films to basic cable again

Variety reports that Disney began pitching the free TV rights – technically basic cable – on the Star Wars films last week, for all three trilogies. The asking price on is claimed to be “high” – even for the “vintage” titles. Movie rights are worth less and less to networks these days, but Star Wars seems to be an exception.

Spike TV held the Star Wars rights through 2014, paying $65-$70 million for six years and six films. The Indiana Jones films went for about $25M each in 2008.

Cable outlets who have met or are meeting with Disney include Turner, FX Networks, Viacom, NBCUniversal (which owns SyFy, which aired A New Hope when it first launched as the Sci-Fi Channel and USA Network, who had the rights to the original trilogy in the 90s,) A+E Networks and AMC Networks.

Variety cites speculation that the pitches to outside networks may be Disney’s way of seeing “what the market will bear” – aka covering their ass – before settling the rights on one of their own networks. (I’ve been expecting the films will indeed show up on Freeform.)

The Force Awakens will debut on Starz next year as the last film under the channel’s deal with Disney. TFA likely won’t show up on basic cable until 2018, while Episode VIII and IX will go to Netflix first under Disney’s current deal with the streaming service.

January 20, 2016January 20, 2016

Episode VIII pushed back to December 15, 2017

Episode VIII has a new release date – December 15, 2017. I am not at all charmed by this news, but I suppose it was inevitable once The Force Awakens started breaking almost every box office record there is. VIII was originally announced as the franchise’s return to May.

The film is being written and directed by Rian Johnson, with most of The Force Awakens cast expected to return. The release from StarWars.com also notes that principal photography will begin in London next month – half a confirmation of a report from earlier this week. The part about script tweaks will no doubt remain unconfirmed.

I expect that we won’t see another Star Wars film release in May until/unless the franchise starts to falter. The next Star Wars movie, the standalone Rogue One, is set for the coming December. The untitled Han Solo standalone was announced for May 25, 2018, but that was also before The Force Awakens and I expect we’ll see that pushed back as well.

January 18, 2016

Rumor: Episode VIII filming pushed back to February?

There are a few things floating around in regards to Episode VIII, gleaned from The Wrap‘s Jeff Sneider during a Meet the Movie Press chat. (Via Screenrant.)

Sneider said that principal photography in VIII has been pushed back a month in order to accommodate script changes. The new female roles have apparently been minimized to focus more on Rey and the other characters we met in The Force Awakens, and Gina Rodriguez is out. Bel Powely is still a question mark, but one of the roles has gone to an unknown Asian actress.

It’s rather telling that Sneider hasn’t this for The Wrap – almost nothing we’ve heard about VIII has been solid enough for the trades to touch formally, so feel free to be cynical on this. In any case, Episode VIII is still set for a May 26, 2017 release.

January 11, 2016

John Boyega says Episode VIII will be darker; IX director Colin Trevorrow on collaborating, Lucas petition

John Boyega talks to Vogue UK, and he tells them that the Episode VIII script is “great” but “much darker” than The Force Awakens, and that his part in the new film “will be much more physical.”

Meanwhile, Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow talked to Entertainment Tonight about “working closely” with VII director Rian Johnson, as well as the petition to have him replaced by George Lucas.

January 9, 2016

Rumor: Bel Powley now up for mystery Episode VIII role?

There’s a new name in the mix for the unknown new female character in Episode VIII: Diary of a Teenage Girl’s Bel Powley. Previous names related to the role are Gugu Mbatha-Raw (who’s apparently out?) Gina Rodriguez and Olivia Cooke.

There was an earlier rumor that there were two new roles for the Rian Johnson directed film drawing from the same shortlist, but that’s yet to be collaborated beyond the initial report.

Powley is getting a lot of good buzz for Girl, and also appears as the young Princess Margaret in A Royal Night Out.

As always, remember these are only rumors, and they are anything but solid. Episode VIII is due to begin shooting this month, so hopefully we’ll hear something solid on any newcomers soon.