Star Wars: Episode VII Audition Rumors: Rachel Hurd-Wood and Alex Pettyfer

Fan created Poster Art via Joblo

Latino Review has a pair of names that it's "sources" claim have already been on auditions for roles in Star Wars: Episode VII.

British actress Rachel Hurd-Wood (Peter Pan and Solomon Kane) and British actor Alex Pettyfer (I am Number Four and Magic Mike) reportedly have gone for auditions on the film.

A cautionary note before we jump to any conclusions, just about every actress and actor that could fit the parameters of the casting call is likely to try to land an audition for Episode VII.  Hurd-Wood and Pettyfer were both born in 1990 making them both 23 years old.  Hurd-Wood could potentially play slightly younger and fit either of the two female roles. Pettyfer would fit perfectly age wise for the younger male role and possibly could play older as the late twentysomething male.

Late-teen female, independent, good sense of humour, fit.

Young twenty-something male, witty and smart, fit but not traditionally good looking.

A late twentysomething male, fit, handsome and confident.

Seventy-something male, with strong opinions and tough demeanour. Also doesn’ t need to be particularly fit.

A second young female, also late teens, tough, smart and fit.

Forty something male, fit, military type.

Thirtysomething male, intellectual. Apparently doesn’t need to be fit.

Another factor to keep in mind with casting is that we could see actors and actresses cast such as Hurd-Wood and Pettyfer who have had some work but haven't had that breakthrough performance yet.  One reason for this is that any actor or actress that Disney wants to appear in all three films will have to be signed to a contract that covers all three films to prevent a rapid escalation of production costs.  It will be much cheaper and easier to fill these roles with actors and actresses who are less well known than to attempt to land an A-list actor or actress.

There are many steps between auditioning and casting.  For a reminder of that see below:

The Princess Leia Auditions:

Lisa Eilbacher



Terri Nunn




Cindy Williams




Amy Irving



Anne-Marie Martin





Linda Purl



and  Carrie Fisher




SOURCES: Latino Review and WishItWas1984

Star Wars: Episode VII Release Date: Why I Think It Will Be Released In April or August

The rumormongering surrounding Star Wars: Episode VII is in full effect and a recent release date rumor set the internet ablaze with the possibility that Episode VII could be pushed back until December 2015 instead of the announced Summer 2015 release window.

Big Shiny Robot editor Bryan Young posted a great dissection of why he thinks this rumor is false.

Traditionally Star Wars films have been summer fare, opening in May and extending into the early summer in theaters.  The summer blockbuster concept as we know it really kicked off with JAWS (1975) and the success of the first summer blockbuster was confirmed and expanded upon by Star Wars (1977).  The success of JAWS and Star Wars has lead to the summer movie season as being the landing spot for blockbuster films, or as has become a popular way to refer to them studio "tent pole" films.

Analysing historical box office results and release dates going back almost 40 years can be problematic. For example while both Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back premiered in May, their initial release was limited and it wasn't until June that they saw a wide release.  There is also some issue with looking at the box office results from the Special Edition theatrical released for the original trilogy because of the monthly back-to-back-to-back release schedule that was employed in January through March of 1997.  

We may also take some guidance from the Disney/Marvel Studios films and some other resent blockbuster films as we consider potential release dates and box office half-life.  

Let's take a look at how 2015 is shaping up so far:

2015 Theatrical Release Dates via ComingSoon.net

January 16
- Beware the Night (Sony: Screen Gems) Paranormal thriller.
- Norm of the North (Lionsgate) Animated comedy.
February 13
- The Longest Ride (20th Century Fox) Drama, Romance.
- SpongeBob SquarePants 2 (Paramount Pictures) Animated comedy.

March 6
- Fantastic Four (20th Century Fox) Comic book, Action-adventure.
March 13
- Cinderella (Walt Disney) Fantasy.
March 27
- Chappie (Sony) Sci-Fi comedy.
- The Penguins of Madagascar (3D/2D theaters and IMAX 3D) (20th Century Fox/Dreamworks Animation) Animated Comedy.
March TBA
- Christ the Lord (FilmDistrict) Drama.

April 3
- Ted 2 (Universal) Comedy.

May 1
- The Avengers: Age of Ultron (Walt Disney/Marvel Studios), Comic Book Action-adventure.
May 29
- Monster Trucks (Paramount) Animation.

June 5
- B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations (3D/2D theaters and IMAX 3D) (20th Century Fox/Dreamworks Animation), Animated comedy.
June 19
- Assassin's Creed (20th Century Fox/Ubisoft) Action-adventure.
- Inside Out (Disney/Pixar) Animation.
June 26
- Terminator (Paramount) Sci-Fi Action-adventure.

July 3
- Independence Day 2 (20th Century Fox) Sci-Fi Action-adventure.
- Untitled Illumination Entertainment 2015 Project 3D (Universal) Animation.
July 10
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (Walt Disney) Action-adventure comedy.
July 17
- Superman/Batman (Warner Bros.) Comic Book Action-adventure.
July 25
- The Smurfs 3 (Columbia/Sony Animation) Family comedy.
July 31
- Peregrine's Home for Peculiars (20th Century Fox) Family fantasy.

September 25
- Hotel Transylvania 2 (Sony Animation) Animated comedy.

November 6
- Ant-Man (Walt Disney/Marvel Studios) Comic book, Action-adventure.
- Bond 24 (Sony's Columbia Pictures/MGM) Action-adventure.
- Peanuts (20th Century Fox) Animation.
November 20
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (Lionsgate) Sci-Fi drama.
November 25
- Finding Dory (Walt Disney/Pixar) Animated comedy.

December 11
- Alvin and the Chipmunks 4 (20th Century Fox) Action-adventure comedy.
December 18
- Inferno (Sony's Columbia Pictures) Action drama.
December 23
- Kung Fu Panda 3 (3D/2D theaters and IMAX 3D) (20th Century Fox/Dreamworks Animation) Animated Adventure.

So Disney's 2015 slate so far is Cinderalla (3/13), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (5/1), Inside Out (6/19),
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (7/10), Ant-Man (11/6), and Finding Dory (11/25). In projecting a release date or attempting to analyze Disney|Lucasfilm's potential box office strategy we not only have to look at Disney's slate but also what other studios are doing with their films.  The goal of any studio is to use each film to make as much money as possible, as such you may think your film will outperform another film but if both films share a common audience you may be better off avoiding this box office face off to maximize your profits.  

Examining the box office performance of some Star Wars films and some other recent films, can give us an idea of performance trends and tell us how big a release window Episode VII may need and what dates on the calendar are needed for Disney's other projects. In doing this analysis I will be looking at the number of weeks as the #1 film, as a top 10 film, in more than 1,000 screens, performance as a percentage of total box office at the four, six and eight week marks and overall performance. 

A note on my methodology, this is hardly a comprehensive review, greater time and resources would no doubt allow us to develop box office metrics much like advanced baseball statistics to help predict performance. Alas I don't have the time and resources of a major studio to devote to this research project, so this is the back of the envelop numbers I have to work with. 

Live Action Star Wars Films Box Office Stats

May 25, 1983: Return of the Jedi: 
Total Domestic Gross: $252,583,617. 
Weeks as #1 Movie in Box Office: 3, plus 6 of first 7 weeks.
Weeks as a top 10 film: 18
Weeks on 1,000 screens or more: 14
% of Gross after four weeks: 48%
% of Gross after six weeks: 62%

% of Gross after eight weeks: 73%

May 19, 1999: The Phantom Menace:
Total Domestic Gross: $431,088,295
Weeks as #1 Movie in Box Office: 3
Weeks as a top 10 film: 11
Weeks on 1,000 screens or more: 12
% of Gross after four weeks: 72%
% of Gross after six weeks: 83%
% of Gross after eight weeks: 90%

May 16, 2002: Attack of the Clones
Total Domestic Gross: $302,191,252
Weeks as #1 Movie in Box Office: 2
Weeks as a top 10 film: 6

Weeks on 1,000 screens or more: 8
% of Gross after four weeks: 86%
% of Gross after six weeks: 94%
% of Gross after eight weeks: 97%

May 19, 2005: Revenge of the Sith
Total Domestic Gross: $380,270,577
Weeks as #1 Movie in Box Office: 2
Weeks as a top 10 film: 8
Weeks on 1,000 screens or more: 8
% of Gross after four weeks: 89%
% of Gross after six weeks: 95%
% of Gross after eight weeks: 98%

Conclusions: The Prequel Trilogy films all averaged 2.33 weeks as the top film in the box office, spent  8.33 weeks as a top 10 film, and stayed on over 1,000 screens for at  9.33 weeks. If you focus on Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith they averaged 87.5 % of their total domestic gross in the first month in theaters, 94.5% of their gross in the first six weeks and 97.5% of their gross a the eight week mark. So two months is basically their theatrical shelf life but by the fourth week they make the vast majority of their money and by the sixth week they make just about as much as they will make total, the rest is just scraps coming in.

Top 3 Performing Live Action Films of 2012 and 2013 Box Office Stats

May 4, 2012: The Avengers
Total Domestic Gross: $623,357,910
Weeks as #1 Movie in Box Office: 3
Weeks as a top 10 film: 8
Weeks on 1,000 screens or more: 10
% of Gross after four weeks: 85%
% of Gross after six weeks: 93%
% of Gross after eight weeks: 97%

July 20, 2012: The Dark Knight Rises
Total Domestic Gross: $448,139,099
Weeks as #1 Movie in Box Office: 3
Weeks as a top 10 film: 8
Weeks on 1,000 screens or more: 9
% of Gross after four weeks: 89%
% of Gross after six weeks: 95%
% of Gross after eight weeks: 98%

March 23, 2012: The Hunger Games
Total Domestic Gross: $408,010,692
Weeks as #1 Movie in Box Office: 4
Weeks as a top 10 film: 10
Weeks on 1,000 screens or more: 11
% of Gross after four weeks: 84%
% of Gross after six weeks: 92%
% of Gross after eight weeks: 95%

Conclusions: The top grossing films of 2012 were only able to sit atop the box office charts for an average of 3.33 weeks, spent 8.66 weeks in the top ten, and stayed on over 1,000 screens for 10 weeks. These three films made 86% of their gross in the first month, 93% in the first six weeks, and by the eighth week had made 97% of their totals. The Avengers and The Hunger Games both had long legs, but The Avengers was more top heavy while The Hunger Games as a percentage did better in later weeks.

May 3, 2013: Iron Man 3
Total Domestic Gross: $408,351,942
Weeks as #1 Movie in Box Office: 2
Weeks as a top 10 film: 5, and 6 of first 7 weeks.
Weeks on 1,000 screens or more: 7 weeks
% of Gross after four weeks: 92%
% of Gross after six weeks: 97%
% of Gross after eight weeks: 99%

June 14, 2013: Man of Steel
Total Domestic Gross: $289,875,976
Weeks as #1 Movie in Box Office: 1
Weeks as a top 10 film: 5
Weeks on 1,000 screens or more: 6
% of Gross after four weeks: 95%
% of Gross after six weeks: 99%
% of Gross after eight weeks: 99%

May 24, 2013: Fast & Furious 6
Total Domestic Gross: $238,546,400
Weeks as #1 Movie in Box Office: 2
Weeks as a top 10 film: 5
Weeks on 1,000 screens or more: 5
% of Gross after four weeks: 94%
% of Gross after six weeks: 98%
% of Gross after eight weeks: 99%

Conclusions: The top grossing films of 2013 were only able to stay atop the box office for an average of 1.66 weeks, spent 5 weeks as a top 10 film, and 6 weeks on over 1,000 screens.  They made 94% of their money in the first month, 98% in the first six weeks and 99% of their money by the end of eight weeks. The interesting thing is that two films were released in May 2013, this is something that we could once again see in 2015 if The Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars: Episode VII are both released in May.  Iron Man 3 barely made more money then the third top grossing film of 2012 and perhaps the addition of Fast & Furious 6 only three weeks after Iron Man 3's release cut some of the legs out of Marvel's film.  

Concluding Thoughts:

The Avengers made $215 million more than Iron Man 3, and I have a hard time seeing Disney potentially costing itself $150-200 million in lost box office revenue by putting Star Wars: Episode VII and The Avengers: Age of Ultron too close together.

I think a good rule of thumb looking at the above box office numbers is what I am going to call the 85/95 rule. A true blockbuster film will make approximately 85% of it's revenue in the first month of it's release and 95% of it's money in the first six weeks.  If you believe your film is of this category, then you need to attempt to get as much uncontested box office during that crucial first month and if you are lucky favorable genre/demographic match ups in that week four through six period to attempt to give your film legs. 

The two hundred pound guerrillas of the 2015 box office season are Warner Bros.' Superman/Batman (7/17) and Disney/Marvel Studios' The Avengers: Age of Ultron (5/1). The Avengers release makes it most implausible that Star Wars would release the same month.  The team up of DC Comics titans Superman/Batman means that the last weeks of July and the first few weeks of August are also going to be tough box office weeks for other films to premiere in.  

There are four months that would arguably fit in the announced Summer 2015 announced release window.  April, August, September and October are the months that I can see Episode VII fitting into the current theatrical release calendar. April would be earlier than would be considered part of the summer movie season and October would be later than what would be part of this movie season.  

April theatrical release dates: 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th.

August theatrical release dates: 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th.

September theatrical release dates: 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th.

October theatrical release dates: 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th.

If Star Wars is released in April there are three films to think about surrounding it right now. Disney's new Cinderella film will be released March 13, the comedy Ted 2 will be released April 3rd and The Avengers: Age of Ultron will be released on May 1st. The potential hints to an April release are the timing of Celebration Anaheim April 16th-19th. If Episode VII were to be released in August, September or October, the mid-April convention date would drastically limit the content that could be presented at the convention and also would limit the promotional bounce and media attention that could be put towards driving more butts to the movie. 

If Episode VII is released on April 3rd it gives Disney three weeks for Cinderella to perform before it has intramural competition, and gives Star Wars four weeks before The Avengers comes out. Releasing on April 3rd would put it head to head with Ted 2, which is hardly a family friendly fare. 

If Star Wars is released in August then the July slate of films is something we need to keep in mind. Disney's next Pirates of the Caribbean film comes out July 10th, Superman/Batman will come out July 17th, and then there are two family films coming out at the end of the month in The Smurfs 3 on July 25th and Peregrine's Home for Peculiars on July 31st.

If you are Disney and want to release Star Wars in August, then the 14th is the date I would target. You give your own film Pirates of the Caribbean five weeks and you give Superman/Batman four weeks in the theaters.  The less appealing family films coming out at the end of July should fade after 2-3 weeks leaving a relatively open path for Star Wars to dominate the box office turnstiles. 

To my mind for promotional reasons April makes the most sense for Episode VII, but in terms of favorable box office competition August makes the most sense. I don't think we will get a traditional May release because the chances of box office cannibalization between Star Wars and The Avengers is just too great. 

SOURCES: ComingSoon.net, Big Shiny Robot

Star Wars Episode VII Rumor: Star Wars Cinematographer Named, To Use Film Instead Of Digital Cameras

Always at the cutting edge of cinematic technology, George Lucas was always trying to push the boundaries.  This included his promotion of digital filming and digital theater projection.  Star Wars Episode II and III were both shot on Sony CineAlta, high-definition digital cameras.

The hiring of J.J. Abrams to direct Episode VII foreshadowed a shunning of this digital film making and a return to the more traditional use of film.

In June at the Producers Guild of America, Produced by Conference, Abrams said the following about digital versus film movie making:

“I have not yet shot a movie digitally,” he explained. “Film is the thing I am most comfortable with. If film were to go away — and digital is challenging it— then the standard for the highest, best quality would go away...Also, with all the CG, it was important to me that it was as warm and human and analog as possible... "It may not be obvious to many of the people who saw it, but I think it is more important than people know."

Twitter user @bobafettfanclub posted the following tidbit of news today:

EXCLUSIVE: Cinematographer Dan Mindel ASC BSC is shooting the next Star Wars, on Kodak film 5219. Announced at ASC Clubhouse minutes ago.
— Boba Fett Fan Club (@bobafettfanclub) August 22, 2013

The ASC is The American Society of Cinematographers, an by invitation only group of just over 300 professional cinematographers with the Clubhouse located in Hollywood.

Cinematographer Dan Mindel has previously worked as director of photography with JJ Abrams on Mission Impossible III, Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness and has previously worked for Disney on the recent John Carter film. Mindel is the man behind the camera for the next Spider-man film as well, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 due out May 2, 2014.

The ASC's magazine had some in depth interviews with Mindel in it's June 2009 issue regarding the shooting of Star Trek and it's June 2013 issue regarding the shooting of the sequel Star Trek: Into Darkness.  These comments may give us a window into how Abrams will shoot Star Wars: Episode VII and may fit with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy's statements at Celebration Europe.

At the Star Wars fan convention Kennedy discussed briefly the film making process that she envisions for Episode VII:

10:55: “Much like many of you, looking at all the Star Wars movies and getting a feeling of what the early films did in combination with real locations and special effects — that’s something we’re looking very seriously at. We’re going to find some really cool locations for Ep VII. We’re going to use every tool in the toolbox for this movie.” – Kathleen Kennedy

10:56: “It’s using artwork that you can touch and feel in combination with CG effects.” – Kathleen Kennedy

American Cinematographer June 2009 Interview:

Mindel, who previously teamed with Abrams on Mission: Impossible III (AC May ’06), recalls, “J.J. told us early on to use the original TV show as our key reference. He wanted us to pay attention to that young, go-get-’em, positive attitude.” 

Mindel was eager to employ the anamorphic format for Trek’s 23rd-century vistas. “I’m not interested in using Super 35mm,” says the cinematographer. “J.J. wanted me to convince him to shoot anamorphic, so he and I looked at every test we could do, and when he saw the 50mm Primo projected, with the falloff in focus, he was convinced.” 

American Cinematographer June 2013 Interview:

Mindel on filming:

 In the end, J.J. agreed we should use anamorphic combined with Imax. So, we set off down a road that involved 15-perf and 8-perf 65mm and anamorphic 35mm, and that allowed us to create a gorgeous movie.” (Some inserts and aerial plates were captured digitally with Red Digital Cinema cameras.)The basic breakdown involved shooting 35mm for all interior scenes and 65mm for exteriors. Abrams mandated long sequences in each format because he didn’t want the transitions to be distracting. “As the information changes, the mind goes with it if [the approach] is consistent,” he observes. “I think most people won’t be aware of the format changes.”

Abrams on 3D and filming:

Abrams is equally pleased that he was able to shoot Into Darkness on film and convert to 3-D. “I think film has the greatest look and the greatest resolution,” he says. “The studio wanted a 3-D movie, and [shooting film] became an easier decision once we realized we could deliver that with a quality conversion. We were lucky to work with stereographer Corey Turner, who did incredible work that adds to the thrill-ride aspect of the movie. My goal was to make as good a film as I could in 2-D and let it be converted to 3-D for those who wanted the ‘hot sauce.’ I think we achieved that.”

It is worth noting that Kodak has agreements in place with six major Hollywood studios to supply film for it's movies, these include Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., NBC Universal Inc., Paramount Pictures Corp., Sony Pictures, and 20th Century Fox. The Walt Disney Company is now the parent company of Lucasfilm.

For more information on Kodak Vision3 500T (5219/7219) film visit Kodak.com.

UPDATE: The Boba Fett Fan Club now has the story up on their website.

SOURCES: Twitter, THR , Star Wars Blog, ASC Magazine June 2009 and June 2013

Spoiled: Will You Embrace Or Avoid Spoilers For Star Wars: Episode VII?

As the rumor mill gets cranked into over drive for the next two years leading up to the release of Star Wars: Episode VII, I felt it was a good time to address the topic of spoilers generally, and the approach that I plan on following more specifically.

There is much debate regarding spoilers, in the age of serialized television, DVR's, binge watching and near constant social media use the avoidance of spoilers has become increasingly difficult.  TV watching in particular has become a communal event on social media.  Alas not everyone is on the same schedule, the differences between time zones or just the interruptions of daily life can lead us to consume our favorite media at times other than it's initial airing or release.

There are different approaches by different writers and publication on how they cover entertainment and how they handle the issue of spoilers.  The Vulture.com's Dan Kois proposed the following rules for writers regarding spoilers.

	Unmarked spoilers allowed in text of article	Spoilers allowed in article headlines or in non-show-specific articles
Reality-TV shows	As soon as the episode is over.	As soon as the episode is over.
Narrative TV shows	The day after the show runs in its normal time slot.	Three days after the show runs in its normal time slot.
Movies	The Monday after the movie opens.	One month after the movie opens.
Plays	One month after the play opens.	Three months after the play opens, or when it closes, whichever comes first.
Books	Three months after the book is published.	Six months after the book is published.
Operas	100 years after opera's premiere.	Never.

From my perspective the very concept of journalism embraces the transitory nature of events.  News is news because there are events that occur and must be highlighted within the shadow that those events cast. There is a never ending conveyor belt of events and as such if you don't cover the event with immediacy it becomes irrelevant or of greatly diminished relevance rather quickly. 

Spoilers and Star Wars:

Given the age of the original Star Wars trilogies and it's ingraining in pop culture we all know that the spoiler of Darth Vader being Anakin Skywalker and thus Luke's father is one that is ruined for almost everyone who was born after the films release.  But there are also other significant instances of spoilers such as the soundtrack for Episode I revealing that Qui-Gon would die in the film.  More signicantly we had the novelization of the original Star Wars film coming out in December of 1976 long before the film's release on May 25, 1977.  A New Hope was also spoiled by the Marvel Comics adaptation the first issue of which hit newstands in April of 1977. Star Wars and spoilers have a long history and the hunger of the modern fan community will only lead to more spoilers as media outlets seek to use the intense interest in Episode VII to drive viewership and readership.


What will this website's policy be?

I will approach Episode VII just like I approach other story telling that I cover on this site.  This site has no official ties to Lucasfilm and as such no fiduciary duty regarding information that may be revealed either to me or to others on the internet regarding Episode VII. As such I consider just about everything regarding the film fair game.  So in the lead up to the film, information such as setting, casting, plot synopsis, etc all will be discussed as news develops.  If a major plot twist or ending is leaked before the film is released I will almost certainly not discuss that on the website, just because I feel that that is going a step to far.

In any post that does involve story spoilers the headline of the post and the body of the post will both include spoiler warnings.  I will effort to keep headlines as vague as possible to avoid unintentional spoilers but I cannot promise that this effort will be 100% effective.

Once the film is released everything is fair game and I would anticipate a post as soon as I get home from the movie, followed by subsequent more in-depth posts to follow.

Testing the effect of spoilers:

Interestingly a 2011 University of California, San Diego research study by Jonathan D. Leavitt and Nicholas J. S. Christenfeld found that at least in literature spoilers don't ruin the enjoyment of the story, in fact study participants enjoyed the stories more when they were spoiled.

The experiment involved 176 male and 643 female test subjects in which they read three different types of stories, ironic-twist stories, mysteries, and more evocative literary stories. For each story the scientists crafted an introductory paragraph that briefly discussed the story and seemed to inadvertently include a spoiler of the ending of the story.

"Each experiment included four stories selected from anthologies. Each subject read three of these stories, one spoiled (with the spoiler paragraph presented before the story), one unspoiled (with the story presented without alteration), and one in which the spoiler paragraph was incorporated as the opening paragraph."

The results of the experiment:

The study found that in the case of the ironic-twist and mystery stories the study participants "significantly preferred spoiled over un-spoiled stories."  The evocative literary stories were still preferred in the spoiled condition but to a lesser degree than the other story types.

The authors of the study assert a couple theories that may influence these findings including the concept of "perceptual fluency" as well as "schema discrepancy theory."  The reach the conclusion that "In all these
types of stories, spoilers may allow readers to organize developments, anticipate the implications of events, and resolve ambiguities that occur in the course of reading." As a result of their findings the authors suggest that we are perhaps wasting our time try to avoid spoilers.

Now this study is focused on written story telling and doesn't deal with the visual story telling of films or television. The study also used short stories exclusively in their testing.  So I have some concerns that the spoilers my be less preferable in serialized storytelling in which there is a significantly higher time and psychological investment in the character, plot and their outcomes. On the other hand a film may be more analogous to a short-story than to a TV series, so this study may have more weight when discussing films.

What do I recommend?

I am not sure if I am the norm when it comes to spoilers or not.  I am not one to turn to the end of a book and read the last page before beginning. At the same time I don't fear spoilers and for stories that I love I want as much information about them that I can get as soon as I can get it.

As an example of why I don't fear spoilers, this past year I accidentally ran across an image of Robb Stark dead on a throne with his wolf's head in place of his own and the description that he had been killed.  Now this spoiled a rather significant plot point in the Game of Thrones TV series for me, but it didn't impair my enjoyment of the series a bit.  I didn't go any further, I didn't seek out how or when Robb was killed, but as season two progressed it became pretty clear that the end was coming soon.  The Red Wedding occurred in the ninth episode of season two, "The Rains of Castamere," is a delightfully gruesome episode and the shocking effect of the deaths in that episode were still startling and emotionally stirring for me.

As in everything in life I think you need to embrace what you enjoy and what makes you happy, if you prefer to stay spoiler free then you should try to do that.  I would argue that in the information age staying spoiler free is virtually impossible and that you shouldn't expect us to hold the spoiler train for those late arriving at the platform.  The voracious Star Wars consumer that I am will not be able to resist spoilers in most cases, what will you do?

SOURCES: Vulture, UCSD, Psychological Science, NPR.

Star Wars Rebels News: Video of D23's Star Wars 101 Panel Regarding Rebels and Other Star Wars Projects

At last weekend's Disney fan convention the Lucasfilm presence was fairly limited, but there was one panel that featured Lucasfilm's Brand Communications Manager Pablo Hidalgo.  Hidalgo served as ambassador for the galaxy far, far away to this gathering of Disney fans.

After a presentation where Hidalgo gave a summary of the Star Wars saga story and additional context about the films and the franchise, he answered some questions from the audience.

I have included two questions in the clip below, one deals with the new series Rebels and one deal with the status of projects like Star Wars: Detours which was put on the shelf after Episode VII was announced.

I hope you enjoy.





Stay tuned for the latest Star Wars news and opinion right here.

Episode VII Rumor: Ian McDairmid To Return as Palpatine?

The tremendous fan site Jedi News has published a report based on the rumor from one of their sources that claims veteran actor Ian McDiarmid will be reprising his role as Palpatine in Episode VII.  

"Information passed to Team Jedi News via an unnamed source has informed us that Ian McDiarmid is set to return to the galaxy far, far away for a part in Episode VII.

The specifics of the role are unclear, but it seems likely that McDiarmid will be returning to his signature role of Palpatine. Whether as the original or a clone of, we are yet to discern."

There has been no official confirmation or denial from Lucasfilm as of this posting, but some things make me think this rumor has some real legs. 

There are a number of way that McDiarmid could be used in Episode VII. Most of these ways would be incorporeal, but there is one way where he could have a very significant role in the film. 

The most likely scenario for McDairmid to appear is that he could appear as a holo-recording, a Sith spirit, or as the avatar of a Sith Holocron.  Of these the Sith spirit idea is the least likely because during The Clone Wars series Lucas is reportedly to have killed an appearance by Darth Bane and Darth Revan because he didn't like the idea of Sith surviving death in a way similar to Jedi Force ghosts. A holo-recording could have McDairmid appearing in any number of ways.  For example if the plot features visits to worlds still under the control of the Imperial military there could be propaganda recordings of the Emperor playing.  Or we could have a scenario where through the use of digital projections they create a virtual Emperor and present the Emperor's death as false Rebel propaganda and have the Empire clinging to control with a virtual Emperor being the public face of the Empire still.

The way that I am most intrigued by is the idea that Palpatine created a Holocron in order to corrupt a future Jedi or Force-user to the ways of the Sith.  This holocron gets discovered and we see a new character learn from Palpatine and becoming the trilogies villain. In fact we could see a villain's journey that parallels the heroes journey of the protagonist in the film building to the climactic finale in Episode IX. 

The way that McDairmid could have a more substantial role as the villain of Episode VII is if they borrow ideas from the Dark Horse Comic's Dark Empire comic books or the Thrawn novel trilogy.  Both of these Expanded Universe launching stories relied heavily on the concept of cloning.  Dark Empire focused on the cloning of bodies of Emperor Palpatine and the transfer of his essence from his apparent death on the second Death Star into the cloned bodies. 

McDairmid is a brilliant actor and Palpatine is a great character, but I don't have much interest in seeing Palpatine return as a clone to be the main villain in Episode VII.  

The timing of McDairmid's return to more active involvement in Star Wars coincided rather conveniently with George Lucas' hiring of Kathleen Kennedy, his retirement and sale of Lucasfilm to Disney and his gestating plans for a sequel trilogy. Kennedy was hired in June of 2012 and a few months later Celebration VI (August 2012) marked the first U.S. Celebration that McDairmid attended.  We know that in August 2012 Lucas had lunch with Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher and revealed to them hi plans to go ahead with Episodes VII, VIII, and IIX.  It seems likely that if he viewed Palpatine as playing a role in Episode VII that he may have talked to McDairmid that same summer as well. 

SOURCE: Jedi News http://www.jedinews.co.uk/news/news.aspx?newsID=12985

The Vision Thing: What Lucasfilm can learn from Marvel Studios

The stewardship of Marvel Studios by President Kevin Feige has been a resounding success.  It shouldn't be seen as a coincidence that Feige went into this with a long term plan and continues to form long term plans for the future of Marvel Studios and it's film franchises.

As Abraham Lincoln said "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will sped the first four sharpening the axe." The importance of having a plan and a vision is key.  While a great deal of the success of Marvel's The Avengers film can be attributed to planning, execution, adaptability and luck also play a major role in this.  Picking the right people to execute the plan is just as important as having a plan. The two most obvious examples from Marvel Studios is the decision to cast Rober Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man and the decision to hire Joss Whedon to write and direct The Avengers. The massive success of Iron Man provided validation for Feige's vision and allows Marvel to continue following it's plan.  Success breads confidence and opportunity, the success of The Avengers allows Marvel to take on more risk as it attempts to expand it's stable of cinematic characters and franchises.

From comics to film vs. from film to film:

It is important to remember that Marvel and Star Wars are fundamentally different properties. Marvel at it's core is a comic book company.  Comics are cyclical storytelling vehicles, where stories run guided by a single writer or series of writers for a limited period of time and then very often end and begin again.  This cycle of character origin, growth, decline/death and re-birth happens across the industry on widely varying timelines.  The nature of the story telling results in not only numerous characters but also numerous incarnations of the same characters.  This does allow continuity to exist but said continuity can be very fractured.  

While Marvel Studios is using characters and stories that originated in it's comics, it is crafting a series of films that fit together in their own continuity, there is an internal consistency within the film universe.  This universe is created as the individual character films tell their stand-alone stories, set up their own sequels but also set up the larger cross-franchise story of the Avengers.  

Star Wars at it's core is a film property.  While it has birthed an Expanded Universe of comics and novels and other story telling mediums, the focus of the franchise is cinematic.  George Lucas has borrowed from the Expanded Universe, particularly the comics bringing them into the Prequels as well as The Clone Wars series.  As an already established film franchise spanning over 30 years, there is already an established film continuity that is guiding Star Wars storytelling.  This is vastly different then some of the haphazard films produced featuring Marvel characters in the 1980's and 1990's.

Instead of moving on from Episodes I-VI and rebooting the Star Wars franchise, it appears that Lucasfilm is embracing it's cinematic continuity and building upon it. I believe this approach creates a richer experience for fans but creates a more challenging situation for storytellers.  It is often commented that the world J.R.R. Tolkien created for The Lord of the Rings is one of the richest and most nuanced examples of world-building that we have in fiction.  I would assert that the Star Wars universe is the richest and deepest fictional universe ever created.  

Structuring the film franchises:

At the same time it is important to remember that Star Wars and Marvel are structuring their movie plans in what appears to be fundamentally different ways.  

From all that has been revealed so far about plans and rumors regarding the Star Wars films is that we will get a new Sequel Trilogy. In the years between these films it has been announced that Disney is planning to release stand alone Star Wars films.  Speculation is that these will be a story focusing on a young Han Solo as well as a movie focusing on Boba Fett.  If these rumors are accurate we will be seeing films that are set in the Star Wars universe but would not be serving the same role as the Marvel character franchise films. The Star Wars stand-alone films would not be used to further the overall saga story line. At the same time Star Wars is ahead of Marvel at joining it's television universe and it's cinematic universe's together.  George Lucas as the driving force behind both the first six films as well as The Clone Wars series and the now on the shelf Live-Action series provided story telling across the theater and television screens that were all part of the same grand story.  Marvel is just beginning to do this with it's new Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC. 

So if the Star Wars saga and stand-alone films are not going to all tie together in a larger story arc as tightly as Marvels franchises, it presents a different challenge that perhaps speaks to a different plan for executing and structuring the future of the Star Wars franchise. 

If you look at the structure of the way Lucasfilm is handling it's television and film properties it may be telling.  Word of the Lucasfilm "Story Group" as well as the announced involvement of certain individuals working on multiple projects provides for a sort of storytelling cross-pollination.  

Episode VII, VIII and IX (Released between 2015-2021)

On Episode VII we have Kathleen Kennedy as an Executive Producer, J.J. Abrams as Director and producer, Bryan Burk (from Abrams' Bad Robot) as a producer.  We have Michael Arndt writing and we have Lawrence Kasdan, Simon Kinberg and George Lucas serving as creative consultants. Kennedy revealed at Celebration Europe that she is very involved in the writing process as they refine the script for Episode VII.

Star Wars Rebels (Premiering Fall 2014)

For Rebels we have three co-executive producers in Dave Filoni, Greg Weisman, and Simon Kinberg.

Filoni and Weisman both come from television animation backgrounds whereas Kinberg's experience is as a writer and producer for feature films.  It  isn't yet clear how involved Kennedy is or will be on the series, but presumably the majority of her focus will be on the feature projects.

Stand-Alone Films (Between Between Saga Episodes)

We assume we are getting at least two stand-alone films, Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed those plans to release these movies between Episodes VII, VIII and IX.

Writing these stand alone films will be Simon Kinberg and Lawrence Kasdan and reportedly J.J. Abrams will serve as a consultant on these films.  

Unannounced Animated Feature (Unknown Release Date)

We know Lucasfilm is also working on an unannounced animated feature film project directed by Gary Rydstrom, with Kennedy presumably as executive producer, and potentially written by Irene Mecchi with Brenda Chapman getting either a consulting or writing credit on the film.  It isn't clear if this project is Star Wars related.

Conclusions:

It is important to note that both Feige and Kennedy are producers having production experience in both television and film.  I believe that Kennedy's role as President of Lucasfilm because of the other companies that fall under her domain may be forced to delegate the development of the Star Wars brand a bit more then Feige has to at Marvel Studios.  It seems clear that the workload necessary to run Lucasfilm as well as be the creative lead on a Star Wars trilogy is a terribly difficult task and one of the reasons it took George Lucas so long to make the Prequels and contemplate making the Sequels.

It looks like what Kennedy and her team have assembled at Lucasfilm, between the creation of the Story Group and the involvement of individuals on multiple projects is to create a connective tissue that will ensure that the overall story and continuity will mesh. The new films must have that Star Wars "feel" to them, a lived in universe that mixes the grander heroic themes and archetypes with sci-fi action, humor and romance.

Outside of Kennedy herself it appears that the guy to really keep an eye on at Lucasfilm is Simon Kinberg who seems to have a hand in every project.  It makes me wonder if Kinberg is serving a role to Kennedy similar to what Rick McCallum did for so many years for George Lucas.

So as we look at it what Lucasfilm can learn from Marvel in the broadest terms is to have a clear overall plan mapped out. Feige has revealed that in 2006 Marvel Studios was already planning out it's various film "phases" and projects until 2015 and currently they are planning out until 2021.  Not only does this give the company a road map from which to proceed it also has the ancillary benefit of reassuring fans and exciting fans. Fans want to know that when they are emotionally investing in characters that they will see those characters' stories continue.

This plan doesn't need to be publicly revealed but it should be as forward reaching as possible.  It also should accept the fact that some projects may not work as well as others.  Marvel didn't allow the difficulties with The Incredible Hulk star Edward Norton and having to recast the character derail it's larger plans for The Avengers.  There will be Star Wars films that preform less well as The Clone Wars theatrical premiere demonstrated.  You have to trust the plan.  If an element of the plan isn't working you have to figure out a way to work around that and be willing to make some hard and expensive choices.

What Star Wars can't do is simply copy the Marvel model.  The linkages that Marvel has created in it's movies provides a narrative momentum.  Star Wars storytelling whether in comics, books or television has often been non-linear.  We jump back and forth in the timeline and if the new stand-alone movies follow this pattern they can't really be used to connect Episode VII to Episode VIII or Episode VIII to Episode IX.  As a new Star Wars continuity develops, what the stand-alone films and television vehicles can do for the franchise is to provide depth and breadth to the universe, similar to what the comics and novels did. The difference being that with tighter narrative control by the Story Group and the creators involved we should get a new continuity that is far less messy and takes the Star Wars universe in new and interesting directions.

Star Wars Celebration Europe News: Episode VII Update from Kathleen Kennedy: John Williams to Score Episode VII

This year's Star Wars Celebration marks the debut of new Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy at the company's official fan convention.  

Kennedy was joined on stage by Celebration host Warwick Davis and while we didn't get a ton of news out of the panel we did get an update on the process and production plans for Episode VII and an announcement about a composer to work on the film.

John Williams is returning to a galaxy far, far away and has agreed to score Episode VII.  I am really happy about this because music is very important to the Star Wars films and having an auditory continuity through the three trilogies will help to link them in spite of the visual differences. The language of Kennedy's announcement is important however, it doesn't specify that Williams is under contract (which is likely a mere formality at this point) or more importantly that he is committed to any other Star Wars films beyond Episode VII.

Image Source: Star Tribune

From the Official Star Wars Blog Coverage:

11:19: Is there something you can tell us about Episode VII, Davis asks… “I had breakfast with someone very important to the Star Wars family last Friday, and he has committed to working on [Episode VII]. And that is Mr. John Williams.” HUGE ovation!

11:21: Video interview with John Williams now playing. He says Kennedy and Abrams are “perfect” choices to carry on Star Wars. “You couldn’t find better candidates.”

We also learned that they are very much conscious of the need to mix CG with real sets and practical effects to give the films a feel more like the Original Trilogy.  If there is one major knock on the Prequel Trilogy for me it was an over reliance on CG and green screens.

10:55: “Much like many of you, looking at all the Star Wars movies and getting a feeling in what the early films did in combination with real locations and special effects — that’s something we’re looking very seriously at. We’re going to find some really cool locations for Ep VII. We’re going to use ever tool in the toolbox for this movie.”

10:56: “It’s using artwork that you can touch and feel in combination with CG effects.”

Kennedy also describes what her typical day is like, which makes it sound like they are very much still refining the script for Episode VII as they begin casting and looking for shooting locations.

11:10: Typical day? Kennedy spends part of her time at Lucasfilm, then the rest of the week with Abrams and the writing team at Bad Robot. They do a lot of Skyping and sit in long, lengthy story meetings. “Great stuff is coming out of those discussions.” At the Presidio office of Lucasfilm, she is in Lucas’ old office. Lucas is still at Skywalker Ranch.

Stay tuned for more Episode VII news out of Celebration Europe, the Hamill and Fisher panels still remain and we may get some news out of those or at the closing ceremonies.

SOURCE: Star Wars Blog

Star Wars: Episode VII Projected for $1.2 Billion Box Office Haul

Buried in an interesting Variety piece looking at the state of Disney's big budget film flops and successes is an interesting forecast of how Star Wars: Episode VII will do at the box office.

Credit Suisse’s Michael Senno expects Disney to generate around $733 million in profits from the seventh “Star Wars,” out in summer 2015. Film is expected to generate around $1.2 billion in global theatrical receipts, and more from consumer products and other revenue, Senno said. As a result, Senno set a new target price of $74 for Disney’s stock to eventually reach, helping boost shares on Monday.

“The “Star Wars” franchise should drive strong profit growth and mitigate risk at the studio with fewer risky high budget films,” Senno said.

SOURCE: Variety

Star Wars: Episode VII Casting Call: Connecting the Dots

First reported by the website Bleeding Cool and subsequently independently confirmed by TheForce.Net and Big Shiny Robot, we have our first information regarding casting for Star Wars: Episode VII.

According to Bleeding Cool the characters listed below will be "lead characters" though they stress the casting call may not be in order of importance, i.e. the first character listed may not be the "star" of the film.

"Late-teen female, independent, good sense of humour, fit.

Young twenty-something male, witty and smart, fit but not traditionally good looking.

A late twentysomething male, fit, handsome and confident.

Seventy-something male, with strong opinions and tough demeanour. Also doesn’ t need to be particularly fit.

A second young female, also late teens, tough, smart and fit.

Forty something male, fit, military type.

Thirtysomething male, intellectual. Apparently doesn’t need to be fit."

So we have a physical description for seven characters to be featured prominently in Episode VII, both TFN and Big Shiny Robot were able to get on the record comments from Lucasfilm sources confirming the authenticity of the Death Star plans..err casting call.

Lets take these character descriptions and have some fun.

Some things that immediately pop-out to me:

1) No Twins:

Sorry Expanded Universe fans, but looks like we won't be seeing Jacen and Jaina. If they were going the twin route it would be surprising for one to be a leading character and one not to be.

2) A New Big Three or Four?

We have two teenage females and two twenty-something males.  This generational grouping would seem to be the core for the films.  Will there be three central characters or four this time?

3) Heroes or Villains?

In addition to the youngsters we have a male in his seventies, a male in his forties and a male in his thirties.  Will these characters be mentors or obstacles for our heroes to overcome?

4) Romance and too many Skywalkers:

While it's not clear if JJ Abrams actually said Episode VII would feature a central love story (see Club Jade), if there is a love story that features prominently in the film(s) then it could affect the characters and screen time of the characters.  It is possible that we could see offspring of both Luke and a mystery partner and also of Han and Leia.  However to expect Skywalker and Solo children to be the new big three would for obvious and icky reasons limit the screen time that could be either devoted to a love story or two the Big Three's next generation.

5) Unknown Actors and Actresses:

Personal preference but I hope we see relatively unknown or completely unknown actors and actresses in the leading roles in Episode VII.

6) Love Triangle:

It strikes me that teen female #1 will be the central character and pursued by the two twenty-something males. It could be a set up a bit like Harry Potter, with the two boys potentially both competing for Hermoine Granger, but perhaps teen female #2 is there to be Ginny Weasley for one of those guys.

Breaking Down the Character Profiles:

(1) Late-teen female, independent, good sense of humour, fit.

Young, independent, sense of humor and fit. Sounds like the female lead to me.

A Tenel Ka type

(2) Young twenty-something male, witty and smart, fit but not traditionally good looking.

The character that all the nerds can identify with.  Not the most likely guy to (help) save the day and get the girl but I expect we see something along those lines. Is it too much to ask for this to be Wedge Antilles Jr.?

(3) A late twentysomething male, fit, handsome and confident.

Right out of central casting, the "Senior Quarterback" type.  This is the guy you expect the lead to pick.  This is also the character who's "perfect" exterior hides a deep flaw that makes for an intersting or conflicted character.

A Zekk type?

(4) Seventy-something male, with strong opinions and tough demeanour. Also doesn’ t need to be particularly fit.

Now this is interesting.  The most obvious thing to think is that this is a Galactic Civil War veteran.  What is his current occupation.  I lay the odds at 70% Rogue (Smuggler), 20% Military Leader (General), 5% Jedi Master and 5% Politician.

A Booster Terrik type

(5) A second young female, also late teens, tough, smart and fit.

Not much to go on with this description. Though it does seem to be clearly subordinate to the description of the first female.  One interesting possibility is that this could be a villain.  We haven't really seen a young antagonist in the Star Wars films (not counting Anakin in Episode III of course).

(6) Forty something male, fit, military type.

Most likely scenario is that this is the lead Imperial Naval Officer and nominal villain in the film.  Could be a New Republic military officer but I'd wager this is a villain.

Admiral Piett

(7) Thirtysomething male, intellectual. Apparently doesn’t need to be fit.

To me this says Daniel Jackson type. Could be a slicer (Star Wars equivalent of a computer hacker) or some type of scientist or teacher.

Plausible Plots:

Now this is really throwing darts at the board based on the scant information that we have.  But lets work off of a couple assumptions.  1) Assume that Han, Luke and Leia will be in the new trilogy but will be in a supporting or mentoring role.  2) Assume that in Lucas/Arndt's vision of the post-Return of the Jedi era, that the Jedi Order did not propagate as quickly as it's Expanded Universe version of events.

I think that sets up three main scenarios that the story could spring from and where we will meet our new big three or four.

1) Jedi Academy:

Probably the least likely in my mind, but based on the Expanded Universe and the success of this type of story in the past we could see something like this. The youngsters in school story has been seen with different age groups and different settings but two good examples are the Harry Potter series and the recent X-Men: First Class.

Luke sets himself up as a Jedi Master on some remote location, perhaps even with Han hanging around to help teach more practical skills to the Jedi students.  What this scenario has going for it is the visual coolness of lightsabers and how hard it could be to resist inserting a bunch of Jedi into the story for that cool factor.

2) Military Unit:

While the Emperor is dead the last vestiges of his Empire still cling to power in different regions of space.  We meet either a Starfighter squadron or perhaps a small elite strike team starring our teens and twenties characters.  A little more of a Battlestar Galactica feel meets the X-Wing series of novels feel.

3) Smugglers Crew: 

I think this would be an interesting way to kick things off.  Let's say the young female lead is either a Solo or Skywalker. Feeling the pressure of living up to her parents reputations, her independent streak causes her to strike out on her own and she falls into the crew of smugglers.  Perhaps with a Talon Karrde type or Booster Terrik type as the smuggler chief. This female lead doesn't look to put herself into the center of the galaxies problems but events and the Force have a way of bringing her into the center of things and she must embrace her family history and become a hero/leader etc.

I hope you enjoyed my initial thoughts and speculations.  I will have more as we learn more details about Episode VII as production unfolds. Stay tuned.

SOURCES: Bleeding Cool, TFN, and Big Shiny Robot

Episode VII Breaking News: American Actors Halt British Accent Practice En masse

Did you ever notice that foreign actors can usually pull off an American accent much better than American actors can pull off any of the myriad of British accents?  Well I guess it's one lest thing we have to worry about in Star Wars Episode VII.  Those Coruscanti and Imperial accents should be in full effect in the Sequel Trilogy with today's not surprising news about production beginning in London likely in early (January) 2014.

Star Wars: Episode VII director J.J. Abrams made some comments at the Producers Guild of America's Produced by Conference 2013.

THR:

J.J. Abrams says he will be moving to London at the end of the year for production on Star Wars: Episode VII, likely to begin early 2014.

"We are, most likely, if all goes as planned, going to be moving to London at the end of the year for the Star Wars movie," Abrams said Saturday at the Produced By Conference.

HitFix:

Abrams noted that he would have preferred to shoot "Episode VII" closer to home in LA., but Disney had planned a U.K. shoot even before he signed on to direct. 

I guess this means me crashing the shooting locations of Episode VII is out.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter and Hitfix

Episode VII Rumor: Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Negotiations to star in Star Wars: Episode VII

Latino Review's Kellvin Chavez and El Mayimbe are reporting that Tudor's star Jonathan Rhys Meyers is in negotiations for an as yet unknown starring role in Episode VII.

It appears that Latino Review's report is based of of a single source so take it with a grain of salt.

Meyers is most famous for his 2007-2010 run as King Henry VIII on The Tudors.

This fall viewers will be able to see Meyers starring in NBC's new limited series Dracula, which will have Danieel Knauf as head writer and showrunner.

Meyers also has two films currently in post-production, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones and Panda Eyes.

After that IMDB doesn't have any cinematic commitments listed for him, so depending on whether Dracula is renewed for a season two or three and the filming schedule it certainly seems possible that he may be able to take part in filming for Episode VII.

The Irish born actor is 35 years old. For reference sake, Mark Hamill was 26 when Star Wars was released in 1977, Carrie Fisher was 20, and Harrison Ford was 35.  The target release date for Episode VII is 2015, when Hamill will be 64, Fisher 59, and Ford 73.

If Meyers is to be the starring character of Episode VII he would be much older than either Hamill or Hayden Christensen when they took the spotlight.  It is entirely possible that Meyers could be playing Luke Skywalker's son.  Both Meyers and Hamill are of similar heights (5'9'') with light eyes and while Meyers hair is darker, there is enough resemblance their to make it believable on screen that the two could be father and son.

This is really the first big casting rumor we have gotten outside of the predictable will they or won't they rumors about the big three actors returning to reprise their roles.

It is also possible that Meyers could be tapped to play a starring role as a villain in the film, I can certainly see him as a young and cunning Imperial Navy officer who could make life difficult for the reformed Republic.

SOURCE: Latino Review

J.J. Abrams The Daily Show Interview Clips

J.J. Abrams sits down with Jon Stewart promoting Star Trek: Into Darkness and well the topic of Star Wars came up.

CLIP #1: Talking Trek and contrasting Trek and Star Wars

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

CLIP #2: Jon Stewart lobbies to be a Jedi in Episode VII

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

SOURCE: The Daily Show

Star Wars: Episode VII Production To Take Place In The United Kingdom

Kathleen Kennedy hasn't revealed what Episode VII will be about, but at least now we know where part of the film will be produced.  Star Wars is coming back to the United Kingdom.

"We've devoted serious time and attention to revisiting the origins of Star Wars as inspiration for our process on the new movie, and I'm thrilled that returning to the UK for production and utilizing the incredible talent there can be a part of that," said Kathleen Kennedy, President of Lucasfilm. "Speaking from my own longstanding connection to the UK with films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Empire of the Sun and recently War Horse, it's very exciting to be heading back."

Does this mean we will be getting a healthy dose of Imperial (British) accents in the Sequel Trilogy?


SOURCES: BBC and StarWars.com

Kathleen Kennedy Embracing Episode VII Spoilers?

ScreenSlam had an interesting red carpet interview with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy.

The topic turns to filming Episode VII and the inevitable spoilers especially for outside location shoots.

"Its almost impossible not to have things end up on the Internet, so my feeling is you need to embrace that, especially with the fans around something like Star Wars. You need to recognize they are important to the process. Acknowledge that there are going to be things you are going to want to make sure they get to know. I think that's something we are going to monitor and pay attention to."

SOURCE: Ain't it cool news

J.J. Abrams Interview With Playboy Magazine

In a wide ranging interview for Playboy Magazine, Star Wars Episode VII Director J.J. Abrams reveals his thoughts on the two "Star" franchises and why Star Wars fans should all send his wife flowers.

Excerpt:

PLAYBOY: Star Wars and Star Trek are church and state in Hollywood. Can you really be loyal to both? Star Trek fans cried out on Twitter that you were cheating on them. 

ABRAMS: I mean, I get it. The worlds are vastly different. Honestly, that was why I passed on Star Wars to begin with. I couldn’t imagine doing both. But when I said that my loyalty was to Star Trek I was literally working on finishing this cut. I couldn’t even entertain another thought. It was like being on the most beautiful beach in the world and someone saying, “There’s this amazing mountain over here. Come take a look.” I couldn’t balance the two, so I passed on Star Wars. 

PLAYBOY: What happened between saying no and saying yes?

ABRAMS: It was a wild time. I was near the light at the end of the tunnel with my work on Star Trek. I felt I needed a bit of a breather, actually. But then Kathleen Kennedy [the new Lucasfilm head who oversees Star Wars] called again. I’ve known her for years. We had a great conversation, and the idea of working with her on this suddenly went from being theoretical and easy to deny to being a real, tangible, thrilling possibility. In the end it was my wife, Katie, who said if it was something that really interested me, I had to consider it.

Editor's Note: Kids please don't follow the link, let your parents print out the interview for you. 

SOURCE: Playboy.com (NSFW)

Funny or Die's "Writing Star Wars w/Michael Arndt

Perhaps the pressure of writing Star Wars: Episode VII is starting to make screenwriter Michael Arndt crack up.

Writing Star Wars w/ Michael Arndt - watch more funny videos

SOURCE: Funny or Die

The Desolation of Disney: Can the Star Wars Universe Survive Episode VII?

I have been and always will be a Star Wars fan.  I also am rather fond of the Empire of the Mouse, otherwise known as Disney.  With that preamble, I am worried that the cancellation of the animated television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the indefinite delay of Star Wars: Detours presage a difficult period for Star Wars fans.

The tea leaves and rumors seem to indicate that the Prequel era is going to be mothballed for a while, the cancellation of Episode II and III 3D conversion while at least partially a ownership/distribution issue also serves to clear the theatrical decks for Star Wars Episode VII.  Will all Star Wars storytelling come to a grinding halt to make way for the Episode VII marketing machine, where every consumer channel will be flooded with related content?

How will this impact the two other main Star Wars entertainment vehicles the novel and comic lines?

As of now this is where we stand with future announced published materials:

Novels:

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void (May 2013)
Crucible (July 2013)
Star Wars: Kenobi (August 2013)
Untitled Princess Leia 'Rebels' novel (October 2013)
Star Wars: Maul: Lockdown (January 2014)
Sword of the Jedi trilogy (2014)
Untitled Luke Skywalker 'Rebels' novel (Unknown)
Untitled Han Solo 'Rebels' novel (Unknown)

We also have the previously announced but what is feeling like it may end up getting cancelled Paul S. Kemp duology.

Comics:

Star Wars: Dark Times (2006–)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars graphic novellas (2008–)
Star Wars Adventures (2009–)
Star Wars: Agent of the Empire (2011–)
Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi (2012–)
Star Wars (2013)
Star Wars: Legacy (sequel) (2013)
Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin (2013)

I am hardly an expert on the comics, but Dark Horse has in recent years shifted to a story arc structure that makes most of their Star Wars series either stand alone mini-series or mini-series within a larger story.  There aren't any comic issues or series that have been announced after 2013.  

There are two key decisions to be made that will determine how drastic the changes will be for fans of Star Wars storytelling. The first question is whether the Expanded Universe will be transferred to an Alternate Universe or if it will simply be ignored and replaced going forward? The second question is whether all publishing channels will be devoted to the Sequel Trilogy era or setting up the Sequel Trilogy era by creating new stories after Return of the Jedi that replace the Expanded Universe? 

The beauty of having the current Expanded Universe and a television property like The Clone Wars is that while they are all "Star Wars," there are different flavors of Star Wars.  This allows fans who may be turned off by one product to find another product they can enjoy and spend money on.  A portion of fans may be turned off by the story of Episode VII and the Sequel era, the majority won't be, but you don't kill off properties and piss off fans that help keep the Star Wars franchise relevant in the long period of time between theatrical films.  If Expanded Universe books were not making the New York Times Best Seller list, then I could see justification for obliterating that storytelling universe, but as it stands now preserving the Expanded Universe in the form of an Alternate Universe seems like not only smart fan service by Disney but also the smart decision financially.  It strikes me that the best approach is balanced where the majority of resources and publishing slots  are focused on the Sequel era makes sense, but would allow for keeping a smaller say 25% of these slots and resources reserved for the EU/AU to keep the flame of those stories lit and keep those fans engaged.  

Was The Clone Wars sacrificed needlessly?  If you check out the plethora of Marvel animated shows and other Disney animated properties, there is a wide range of production quality. It would be hard to argue that any of these shows are more well done than The Clone Wars was. In many ways Lucas treated his company a bit like NASA.  By being on the cutting edge of technology and new production techniques Lucas spend more money but also created things that can be used by other film makers and members of the entertainment industry, much like some of the derivative technology that has reached the general population out of the space program.

On the flip side it may be that George Lucas was willing to pour much more money into his pet project to get it built to that level than Disney is willing to spend on one animated series out of many.  Without having a complete picture of production costs, revenue from the show (TV, syndication and home video) it is hard to perform the sort of cost-benefit analysis that they no doubt did within the halls of Disney.

The other aspect of the cancellation of The Clone Wars which makes very little sense to me is that in effect TCW was a giant feeder system for the next generation of Star Wars fans.  Many kids have grown up with The Clone Wars, it is "their" Star Wars and is central to their fandom experience.  How many of these children will be so turned off or upset by the cancellation of the series that they will not come back? How many will simply be apathetic after the loss of the series?  How many will come back but only for the films and how much money will Disney be losing in the intervening years from now until the tentative 2015 release of Episode VII?

How many of these decisions are being made at the Lucas Licensing level, the Lucasfilm level (Kennedy), and how many are being made at the larger Disney corporate level?

I think fans and particularly Expanded Universe fans who have devoted much time and money following these amazing stories deserve to know more about the future direction of "our" Star Wars" universe.  I say our because unlike almost any other property the sense of ownership and community that grew up around Star Wars is unmatched.  There is no Lucasfilm as we know it or Star Wars Episode VII without the legions of fans like myself.

Will the characters and stories that have filled the Star Wars Universe simply wind down like The Clone Wars or will they survive if only in another form?  What say you Lucasfilm?

SOURCE: Wookieepdia for Publishing Information