Star Wars in the news: Seth Green, Ben Burtt, Lucasfilm Singapore, and TOR’s ten-year plan

Anamayhem. Seth Green talks Robot Chicken: Star Wars III and the comedy show that he and Matthew Senreich are doing with Lucasfilm. Which we’ll hear about in two years. Yay?

The audience is listening. A ten-minute segment on NPR this weekend featured J.W. Rinzler and Ben Burtt on – what else – The Sounds of Star Wars. You can listen or read about it! Oh, glorious text!

Upsizing! Lucasfilm’s facility in Singapore gets some love – and do I spy a hint at that World War II fairy musical we’ve been so wildly anticipating?

And in your gaming corner… EA CFO Eric Brown said at a gaming industry event that they hope Bioware’s upcoming The Old Republic MMO will last ten years. With even the less-than-wildly-successful Galaxies still (technically) up and running 7 years on, TOR making it a decade can’t be that far-fetched.

Celebration V book and comic news: Wraith Squadron, Fate of the Jedi, Crimson Empire 3 and more

Del Rey brought plenty to the table for Celebration, but the biggest EU news is without a doubt the reveal that Aaron Allston will be writing a brand-new Wraith Squadron novel. It’s too early for details, but expect a spring/summer 2012 release date.

We also learned that Thrawn will appear in Zahn’s Hand of Judgment, Drew Karpyshyn will be writing a third Old Republic novel, Jeff Grubb’s 2012 paperback will feature Hutts, and Han Solo will appear in the Dash Rendar/Holostar novel. And TFN reports that something is in the works for the 20th anniversary of Heir to the Empire, to which I say: Damn straight.

As for Fate of the Jedi, we learned that the final book will be titled Apocalypse. Cheery! Also addressed was the heightening of drama, Vestara’s role, and (sigh) the whole Jacen/Tahiri thing. Except, not really. (I do love the Mando quote, of course.)

Meanwhile, the comic fans got a surprise of their own: Crimson Empire III is a go, for real this time. The 6-issue series will begin in March with Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley scripting and Dave Dorman on covers.

Knight Errant got a big push, complete with a costumed representation, but if the EUC report is anything to go by it’s too soon for much of a reveal.

As for Legacy, there are currently no plans for anything after the War mini – Ostrander and Duursema will “will be working on something entirely different.”

The rest of the news rehashes much we’ve already heard, but a hardcover edition of Dark Empire will commemorate the comic’s twentieth anniversary. And the return of Dark Horse Presents may yield some Tales-like stories.

Also getting some love at the con (but not enough for their own entry) was The Force Unleashed (Yoda? Really? That Muppet needs a better agent.) and The Old Republic.

SDCC: Saturday (and some Friday) roundup

Someone got stabbed with a pen in Hall H this evening; There’s a report from San Diego’s NBC affiliate and Comic Book Resources and Entertainment Weekly are on the case. (Harrison Ford is not a suspect.) The rumors have been flying over Twitter, including allegations that seat-squatting (a common practice) was a factor.

Zahn’s Hand of Judgment revealed in schedule shuffle

Don't get excited, it's just the Japanese Allegiance coverSue Rostoni updated her schedule blog today, and most of 2011 is affected. A lot of the moves are only by a month or so, however, and perhaps the biggest news here is that Timothy Zahn’s Allegiance sequel finally has an official title: Hand of Judgment. (You may know it by the working title: Choices.) It’s also moved up a month to July.

The most pressing move is Paul S. Kemp’s The Old Republic: Deceived, which drops from December to March – to be closer to the release of the MMO. (Which is just now launching beta testing: I’m no gamer, so make of it that you will.) Joe Schreiber’s Red Harvest moved into the vacant late-December spot.

Also drastically pushed back were Alex Irvine’s Nomi Sunrider novel (from May to December 2011) and Pablo Hidalgo’s Essential Reader’s Companion (to March 2012.) As for the rest, check the book schedule.

Out this week: The last (maybe?) Clone Wars novel

…For the time being, that is. (And not counting the kids stuff, because there are just not enough hours in the day.) Yes, it’s The Clone Wars Gambit: Siege by Karen Miller, starring Anakin Skywalker and his lustrous hair, in bookstores today.

The new Diamond shipping list ought to be up this afternoon due to the holiday, but Midtown Comics is listing The Old Republic #1 – aka the print debut of the ‘Threat of Peace’ webcomic – to be in stores Thursday.

Also, I’ve redone our book schedule page a tad in order to make it easier to keep more new releases and additional links (like reviews) up top.

EUbits: Delusions of granduer from Hayden Blackman, the Insider; Sample Fatal Alliance via audio; Taylor interview

TeeEffYou, too. A summary has appeared at Random House for The Force Unleashed II novelization. Admiral Ackbar may appear in the game and Hayden Blackman wants a movie and/or TV show. I’m torn between eye-rolling and snickering, and ended up just pulling something from Robot Chicken. As you do.

Sample. With less than a month to go to release, there’s an audio excerpt of Sean William’s The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance.

Maybe they should just start a blog. The Insider is going digital.

Interviews. SWBooks.co.uk talks to comic writer Tom Taylor; The EU Review has John Jackson Miller.