Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
Jon Favreau talks to The Hollywood Reporter about The Mandalorian and his other ventures in a wide-ranging article that confirms that a trailer for the Disney+ series is coming to D23.
Continue reading “Jon Favreau talks storytelling, tech and The Mandalorian”
Ahead of Disney’s D23 Expo this weekend, streaming service Disney+ has launched on Twitter (with an epic thread) and Instagram, plus annouced some interational roll-out dates. Canada and the Netherlands will launch on the same day as the U.S., with Australia and New Zealand following on Nov. 19.
The Disney+ panel at D23 is Friday, August 23 at 3:30 p.m. Pacific. We’re hoping that a trailer for The Mandalorian, which will launch with the service, is finally released, plus details on The Clone Wars revival, the Cassian Andor show and (perhaps most of all) the rumored Obi-Wan announcement.
Sounds like The Mandalorian is getting a second season – Jon Favreau tells Jimmy Kimmel that he’s already begun writing it.
A second season of the show is hardly a surprise – after The Rise of Skywalker, the franchise won’t have any new movies until 2022, so the Disney+ series will likely be the franchise’s most high-profile new content for a time.
Meanwhile, a report says that one of the first season’s directors, Rick Famuyiwa, is in talks to direct episodes of Disney+’s second Star Wars series, which focuses on Rogue One’s Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and K-2SO (Alan Tudyk). They say he’s also attached to direct episodes of The Mandalorian‘s second season as well.
S1 of The Mandalorian will debut with Disney+ in November; The Cassian series is expected to begin shooting in the fall.
The Mandalorian is going to D23 – it will be part of the Disney+ presentation on Friday, August 23, with Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. Lucasfilm will have a pavilion on the con floor, bringing at least a part of their SDCC trooper display.
What this means, basically: 10-20 minutes in the midst of a giant panel (it’ll be all the Disney+ stuff in one) and maybe they’ll release a trailer. It’s a big maybe, given they released none of the footage that was shown at the Celebration panel.
D23 Expo is being held at the Anaheim Convention Center from August 23-25. The first episode of The Mandalorian will launch with Disney+ on November 12.
io9 is connecting some dots, linking The Empire Strikes Back’s Willrow Hood, his ice cream maker, and The Mandalorian, in case you forgot about that Jon Favreau photo from back in October.
Because an ice cream maker in Star Wars can never just be an ice cream maker.
What’s the fun in that?
Sure, The Mandalorian debuted footage here at Celebration Chicago on Sunday… But they haven’t actually released any of it elsewhere, not even the behind-the-scenes reel. There are a couple of stills and a basic plot breakdown.
The Mandalorian himself isn’t getting a name just yet, but we did learn that he’s working for Carl Weathers’ Greef Carga, who heads up a guild of bounty hunters. Gina Carano is playing Cara Dune, a former Rebel shock trooper, who gets in pulled in… Somehow. More over at StarWars.com.
Here’s the livestream, sans footage. It’s pretty much the Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau show, though Pedro Pascal is pretty hyped up about the whole thing:
For the record, I am never in favor of con-exclusive footage, but hey, if Lucasfilm and Disney would prefer to play whack-a-mole all over the internet with fuzzy subpar copies, that’s their business. Meanwhile, there are many recaps.
And here’s the cast on the live show stage later:
The first episode of the show will be on Disney+ at launch on November 12, and the current plan does seem to be a weekly release, which is a big relief (for me at least.)
The Disney+ publicity push started in earnest today, with the monthly price ($6.99) and launch date (November 12 for the U.S./Canada) finally announced.
For Star Wars fans, there is at least one big surprise: All the films will be coming to the service within the first year, which is contrary to what was said previously. (Deals were made? Deals were made!) As for the original content, Alan Tudyk (K-2SO) is indeed joining the Cassian Andor live-action series, while Stephen Schiff (The Americans) was confirmed as the showrunner. It goes into production this year and will premiere in 2021.
There wasn’t much about The Mandalorian – they’re presumably saving all that for the panel here at Celebration on Sunday – but it will be up on the service at launch.
Though we did get a look at a prop here – there’s a speeder bike from the show on display in front of the StarWars.com stage:
As for the price, you can also buy an annual plan for $69.99, which comes out to $5.83 per month. For more details, head to Variety.
Werner Herzog has much more important things going on that his “real small” Star Wars role – he’s actually promoting his documentary Meeting Gorbachev – but he does drop us a big hint about his character in the upcoming TV show The Mandalorian.
Now this is not a secret anymore, a small part, real small part, in “The Mandalorian,” the Star Wars sequel or whatever you call it. I like to do it because I know I’m good on screen, but only if I have to play a real villain.
So there you have it: Werner Herzog is likely playing a Star Wars villain, and he’s not particularly concerned with what place his project has in the franchise – as is his right, because he’s Werner Herzog and we’re all mostly still amused that he’s here at all.
The Mandalorian, which stars Pedro Pascal in the title role, will debut on the streaming service Disney+, probably later this year.
Oh, Jon Favreau. So, is Taika Waititi voicing IG-88? All we know for sure is that he is a confirmed director for the series. We don’t even know if that’s actually IG-88, although we have seen it – or a similar droid – before.
Or… Is the helmet the actual hint here? I leave it to you, Mandofans.
The Mandalorian, the first live-action Star Wars TV show, is expected later this year. It will be exclusive to the Disney+ streaming service.
After the lines at Celebration Orlando proved more than a little traumatic, Reed has introduced a whole new system for getting into panels: A reservation and virtual queue called Lightspeed. It includes an advance lottery for the big panels that will be on the three big stages, with fans assigned to seating sections. It all sounds totally simple and I’m sure no one will be confused at all! The first lotteries open next Thursday, March 28… If you have your badge. (Apparently, they’re in the mail?)
But seriously, the line for the prayer circle for the livestream’s return starts here.
In other Celebration news… The Mandalorian panel with Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni will be Sunday, and there are merchandise exclusives.