Tag: Star Wars

Posted on in Television News

‘Star Wars’: Alan Tudyk Downplays Involvement As K-2SO In Season 1 of ‘Andor’

Despite being announced alongside Rogue One: A Star Wars Story co-star Diego Luna for the prequel Disney+ series Andor, a new quote from K-2S0 actor Alan Tudyk suggests he might not be as involved with the series as previously thought or originally promoted by Lucasfilm.

Alan was speaking with Collider and revealed that while Andor is filming at the moment he hasn’t shoot any scenes giving the impression he might not be showing up in future seasons. The actor revealing he’s not in Season 1, but that seems odd for a multitude of reasons.

TUDYK: “They’re shooting it right now, I’m not in it. But, if it stays on the air, stories keep getting told, I’ll end up in there.”

“I’m going to be in the show. It’s just that the story that Tony [Gilroy] is telling doesn’t involve K-2SO until later on… I can’t be too specific, but I can definitely say that I’m not going to be in the first season.”

It’s a little perplexing since Alan was on stage with Luna for the series announcement giving us the impression his role was likely minimized during the show’s rewrites. The show takes place five years before the events of Rogue One and maybe they wanted to explore Cassian Andor’s origins before pairing him with the surly droid.

Alan’s name was missing in a recent press release announcing new cast members on the official website, a possible first clue that he wasn’t going to be showing up after a potential retooling.

Star Diego Luna will be joined by Genevieve O’Reilly, who will reprise her role as Mon Mothma (Rogue One, Tin Can), as well as newly-announced co-stars Stellan Skarsgard (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Good Will Hunting), Denise Gough (Collett, Angels in America) and Kyle Soller (Anna Karenina, The Titan).

Tony Gilroy, who co-wrote Rogue One, will write, direct and serve as showrunner for the series, which takes place five years before the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Additional writers on the series include Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler), Beau Willimon (House of Cards), and Stephen Schiff (The Americans).

Filming is underway and is expected to drop sometime in 2022 on Disney+.

SOURCE: COLLDIER

Posted on in Television News

‘Star Wars’: Jason Isaacs Open To Playing Live-Action Version of The Grand Inquisitor With Some Conditions

After Katee Sackhoff reprised the role of Bo-Katan in The Mandalorian, there has been some speculation that other voice actors from the animation side of Star Wars might make the jump to playing live-action incarnations of their characters.

Collider recently spoke with fellow Star Wars: Rebels voice actor Jason Isaacs about the possibility of him playing The Grand Inquisitor in undisclosed live-actions projects for Lucasfilm and he sounds open to idea. It sounds like the quality of the script and the limited amount of prosthetics would be conditions for Jason to do it.

ISAACS: “I think it was because of his lightsaber. I’d like to use that spinning red lightsaber. I have the coolest wand in the Harry Potter world and I have the cool lightsaber in the Star Wars world.”

“I’m open to anything. It’s always about the script. I don’t want to just turn up so that I can take some photographs and go to conventions. I’d like to play parts. The Inquisitor was a great part when I played it and if the Inquisitor was a great part again, I’d be up for it. I’m not sure I’ve got the patience of Doug Jones who plays Saru in Discovery, who was the creature in The Shape of Water and stuff. I don’t now how many hours I’d like to spend in prosthetics. But yeah, Katee had a very good time. I know Katee and I’ll say, I’ve loved being part of the Star Wars world. They’ve invited me in although I’ve only ever been an animated character before.”

“It’s always the script and what you get to do. I know that for other people they go, ‘I’d love to see you in this,’ or, ‘I’d love to see you in that.’ Mostly it’s people would like to see me do something they’ve seen me do before. They go, ‘There’s a character just like that in this. Wouldn’t you like to be in Outlander playing so and so?’ And I go, ‘Well, not really because you’re just saying I should bring that character over from The Patriot,’ or whatever.”

However, given his character’s death in Star Wars: Rebels, he’d likely have to appear in things that take place before those events such as the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series starring Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen. Considering Darth Vader is confirmed for the Disney+ show, having a version of The Inquisitors appearing is a strong possibility given that they’d still be hunting down Jedi at this point in the timeline.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Television News

Liam Neeson Open To Appearing As Qui-Gon Jinn In Flashback For ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Series – “I’d Be Up For That”

In Star Wars, death is not the end.

We’ve seen that anything can happen with Star Wars projects concerning the resurrection of characters and having actors reprising their roles. Collider recently spoke with The Phantom Menace actor Liam Neeson while promoting his new film The Marksman where they asked him if he’d be open to returning to the franchise potentially doing a flashback scene for Lucasfilm’s Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor as the former Jedi, now in hiding on Tatooine as he protects a young Luke Skywalker from being discovered by his father Darth Vader.

Liam sounded open to the idea of doing something for the Disney+ series.

NEESON: “Sure, I’d be up for that, yeah.”

Last month, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy revealed during the Disney Investor Day presentation that Hayden Christensen would be returning to the franchise and will play Darth Vader. How much we’ll see of Hayden is unknown at this time.

Australian actor Joel Edgerton just might be back as Uncle Owen alongside a new actor playing a young Luke.

There is an expectation as with Andor, we could be hearing more casting announcements in the very near future ahead of it’s production start in a couple of months. We’ll keep our fingers-crossed that some Legends characters that has yet to join canon or live-action could be reworked for upcoming Star Wars shows such as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Deborah Chow, who directed action-heavy episodes of The Mandalorian in Season 1 will be helming Obi-Wan Kenobi with filming set to begin this March in the United Kingdom as announced by Kennedy and it’s release date expected to be sometime in 2022.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Film News

Kevin Feige’s ‘Star Wars’ Movie Reportedly Adds ‘Loki’ & ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Screenwriter Michael Waldron

Another big update concerning the Star Wars franchise as Deadline reports that the Kevin Feige-produced project has hired screenwriter Michael Waldron (Rick & Morty) to pen a script. Waldron recently working with Feige at Marvel Studios on both Loki and Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness

Feige is the head of Marvel Studios and Marvel’s chief creative officer, which would make this his first non-MCU project as producer since leading the studio. Lucasfilm hasn’t revealed any details about the new film or even what era within the timeline it will take place.

I’m sure people are curious if this means that Kevin will attempt to produce more films within the Star Wars Universe alongside the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It had been previously announced that the next feature film will be Patty Jenkins’ Star Wars: Rogue Squadron coming out on December 22nd, 2023. Taika Waititi is also developing another film which could go into production once he finishes Thor: Love & Thunder for Marvel and Rian Johnson had been announced to be working on an original trilogy for the studio.

There is a wave of Disney+ shows on the way with Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Season 3 of The Mandalorian, Rangers of The New Republic, Ahsoka, Lando, and The High Republic era series The Acolyte.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Patty Jenkins Would Hypothetically Want To Tackle Marvel’s ‘Spider-Man’ & ‘Black Widow’ If Given The Chance

If Patty Jenkins ever decided to tackle other superheroes beyond Wonder Woman, we now have a pretty good idea of who she’d want to use. As a fan on Twitter has asked Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins that very question and her answer consisted of Superman, Spider-Man, and even Black Widow. 

JENKINS: “Thank you for the question. Probably Superman, Spiderman, or Black Widow! So much potential with all of them, always.”

You might remember that Patty Jenkins is currently assigned to direct Star Wars: Rogue Squadron for Lucasfilm making her part of that family of studios under the Disney umbrella. It’s expected to begin production sometime before the end of 2022 as the release date is set for December 22, 2023. 

There are a handful of examples of crossovers between Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios with Thor franchise’s Taika Waititi tackling both The Mandalorian and an untitled live-action feature film. Also, Ant-Man trilogy director Peyton Reed ended up directing two episodes in Season 2 even the emotional season finale. We can’t forget that Jon Favreau, who help usher-in the Marvel Cinematic Universe via Iron Man and Iron Man 2, spearheaded The Mandalorian series with Dave Filoni, producing three spinoffs that include The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Rangers of The New Republic. Jon also continues to play the role of Happy Hogun, most recently appearing in the post-Avengers: Endgame film Spider-Man: Far From Home back in 2019. 

Despite rumors, there hasn’t been any official word of how Warner Bros. would like to pursue another Superman film beyond having the character potentially have cameos in other projects. There had been development on a Supergirl film but that seemingly has stalled.

Concerning Spider-Man, we don’t know if Sony/Marvel will extend their production deal despite some signals that could be happening behind closed doors as Olivia Wilde‘s Spider-Woman movie could be Sony/Marvel co-production. With Spider-Man 3 director Jon Watts announced for Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot there is now an expectation he could be moving on to make a trilogy there making it less likely he’d return to make Spider-Man 4 and beyond leaving room for a new director to make a second trilogy, that’s if Sony/Marvel can play nice for another batch of movies. 

Having Patty get involved with Black Widow is an interesting proposition as it seems like Florence Pugh may end up taking that mantle as Yelena Belova in future MCU projects. Such as her reported involvement in the upcoming Hawkeye series that will be airing on Disney+ in late 2021. Yelena could lead a Black Widow franchise of films moving forward because of the death of Natasha during the events of Avengers: Endgame. 

I think it’ll be a long time before we know for sure if Patty will make Wonder Woman 3 or any other superhero films given the next couple of years will be dedicated to Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

Posted on in Film News

‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ Concept Art Reveals Plans To Honor Sith From The Old Republic

Some Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker artwork revealed officially by Industrial Light & Magic’s website reveals plans to further make Legends sith from The Old Republic era canon. At one point, it was revealed that the Sith Trooper legions on Exegol were named after Legendary sith and those plans seemed to have once extended to the Sith Citadel on the planet as well.

The engraving artwork below seemingly includes homages to sith such as Darth Revan, Darth Nihilus, Darth Malak, and Darth Malgus. It’s certainly disappointing

Lucasfilm is expected to explore The Old Republic at some point in the future. Kathleen Kennedy has confirmed Lucasfilm has talked about making projects within The Old Republic but wasn’t sure when they’d happen and there was a report from BuzzFeed that Laeta Kalogridis (Altered Carbon, Shutter Island) was developing a trilogy of films set in The Old Republic era.

I’m sure eventually they’ll consider making canon video games like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order set in The Old Republic.

That point in the Star Wars timeline would allow Lucasfilm to finally make original content that wasn’t beholden to previous trilogies and could ignore the video games to create brand new canon while possibly creating new characters and retrofitting established Legends characters as well. Because most of it is Legends they can redo things for live-action incarnations.

It was announced that Leslye Headland’s Star Wars series The Acolyte would be taking place at the end of The High Republic and the female-centric project is expected to focus on Sith characters. We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed that this could where Lucasfilm finally uses Legends character Darth Talon, who almost appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as a villain. I think it would be amazing to see Lucasfilm finally explore the Sith Empire from The Old Republic as that would give hardcore Star Wars all the lightsaber battles they’ll ever need.

SOURCE: ILM

Posted on in Television News

Jon Favreau Announces ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Shoots Before ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 – Robert Rodriguez To Produce

The Mandalorian creator and producer Jon Favreau appeared on Good Morning America to make a special announcement.

At the end of the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian, Lucasfilm announced that The Book of Boba Fett expected to star Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen with it to begin airing on Disney+ in December 2021. We saw the pair arrive at Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine to assassinate an older Bib Fortuna with Boba Fett taking over the kingpin’s throne (a nod to Conan The Barbarian) suggesting that the series may explore the criminal syndicates of the Star Wars universe’s underworld, not just bounty hunting.

Jon revealing that The Book of Boba Fett will shoot first and then they’ll move into Season 3 of The Mandalorian. Also, Disney confirming Robert Rodriguez is involved on the producing team joining Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni.

Favreau also alluded to Pedro Pascal will return for Season 3 of The Mandalorian.

Deadline first reported that filming on the project has started weeks ago.

We’ve heard for over a week that Robert was being courted to lead his own Star Wars series and will be heavily involved with the show.

Only a matter of time before Danny Trejo is announced for a Star Wars role.

Other Disney+ projects set in the Star Wars universe on the horizon include Diego Luna’s Andor (currently filming in London), Deborah Chow’s Obi-Wan Kenobi starring Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen (set to begin shooting in March), Rangers of The New Republic, Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka series, Leslye Headland’s High Republic show The Acolyte, and another show featuring the iconic character Lando.

Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins is also directing the next Star Wars film Star Wars: Rogue Squadron coming to theaters on December 22, 2023.

Here is the press release for the project from Lucasfilm.

Boba Fett is back. And his story is just beginning.

As teased in a surprise end-credit sequence following the season finale of The Mandalorian, the legendary bounty hunter’s journey will continue in The Book of Boba Fett. Jon Favreau, executive producer of The Mandalorian, confirmed today on Good Morning America that the new series is currently in production and will arrive December 2021, only on Disney+.

The Book of Boba Fett will be set within the timeline of The Mandalorian and star Temuera Morrison as the titular bounty hunter, along with Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand. Robert Rodriguez — who directed Chapter 14 of The Mandalorian, a thrilling installment that reintroduced Boba Fett to the Star Wars galaxy — joins Favreau and Dave Filoni as executive producer.

Boba Fett made his big-screen debut in 1980’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, becoming an instant fan favorite thanks to his visually arresting armor and cool demeanor. Jeremy Bulloch, the original actor inside the armor, passed away last week — but his legacy, including all he brought to Boba Fett, goes on. The Book of Boba Fett will carry that legacy forward.

Season 3 of The Mandalorian will go into production next year.

SOURCE: GOOD MORNING AMERICA

Posted on in Television News

SPOILERS: ‘The Mandalorian’ Chapter 16 Recap – Where Does The Show Go Now?

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE SEASON 2 FINALE OF THE MANDALORIAN

The Season 2 finale titled The Rescue was directed by Peyton Reed (Ant-Man) and seemingly gives some closure to The Mandalorian‘s Season 1 narrative.

As I assumed, Mando seeks out help from Bo-Katan and Koska Reeves they agree to help as long as they get a shot at Moff Gideon and returning the Darksaber back to Mandalorians.

Things go south once they get on Gideon’s ship and Dark Troopers are activated, luckily, Mando sends them into space via the airlock and then has a duel with Moff Gideon.

Mando survives and with the Darksaber brings Moff Gideon to the bridge where everyone else is. Gideon informs Din Djain that he’s won the Darksaber and he cannot just hand it over to Bo-Katan it has to be won in combat.

The Dark Troopers return to the ship and start taking apart the blast doors at the bridge only for a lone X-Wing to arrive. A cloaked Luke Skywalker takes care of the Dark Trooper droids in what is likely the most action the character has seen in the entire franchise.

Mark Hamill reprises the role with the help of some uncanny valley CGI which I’m shocked Lucasfilm is still attempting to use after Tarkin and Princess Leia in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was such a mess, the VFX is slightly improved but, in my opinion, they should have gone with an actor like Sebastian Stan instead.

Skywalker with R2-D2 at his side agrees to take Grogu and train him as Mando gives a tearful goodbye promises they’ll see each other again.

With Grogu in the hands of Luke Skywalker and The Jedi, Din Djarin may end up joining forces with Bo-Katan if she doesn’t kill him for the Darksaber to regain her power. Season 3 will likely see focus on the Mandalorians trying to restore things post-Empire.

The episode ends with a button scene teasing the upcoming Boba Fett and Fennec Shand project The Book of Boba Fett which is coming out in December 2021. We see the pair arrive on Tatooine and blast their way into Jabba’s Palace with Fett killing an older Bib Fortuna seemingly taking his spot as the head of the criminal syndicate. I have to assume the series will see Fett positioning himself to be a leader within the criminal underworld of Star Wars.

Rosario Dawson will be leading the spinoff Ahsoka.

However, we don’t know who will be leading the other spinoff series Rangers of The New Republic.

Posted on in Television News

Lucasfilm Announces ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Is Coming December 2021 To Disney+

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE SEASON 2 FINALE OF THE MANDALORIAN

I would advise watching the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian before reading any further.

A while ago it was reported by Deadline that a secret Boba Fett project for Disney+ had started production ahead of the Lucasfilm presentation where they revealed a heap of new films and series set in the Star Wars universe. Missing, however, was this Boba Fett project and know we know why.

Today, it was finally confirmed by Lucasfilm that the Boba Fett project is indeed happening and will be coming to Disney+ on December 2021 under the title of The Book of Boba Fett.

While the announcement itself isn’t considered a spoiler, how they did it might be.

The teaser footage was presented at the end of The Mandalorian Season 2 finale as a stinger with Fennec Shand and Boba Fett returning to Tatooine then taking over Jabba’s Palace by killing Bib Fortuna. Telegraphing that he’s now taking over that crime synicate which might tease what the upcoming project will be about, the gangs of Star Wars.

The assumption is that Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen will star.

It’s still unclear if this is a full-on series with 8-episodes or simply a 4-episode limited series like Obi-Wan Kenobi.

We still don’t know who will be writing and directing the project but announcements will likely coming soon. This makes the third spinoff announced by Lucasfilm alongside series such as Rangers of The New Republic and Ahsoka, all three are assumed to be taking place within the timeline of The Mandalorian. Allowing further crossovers in the future.

SOURCE: DISNEY+

Posted on in Television News

‘The Mandalorian’: Pedro Pascal Reveals That Peyton Reed Returns To Direct Season 2 Finale

Tomorrow will see the final episode of The Mandalorian Season 2 air on Disney+ and we know who will be directing that episode. During an interview with Extra, Pedro Pascal has now revealed that Peyton Reed will be back to direct the Season 2 finale.

Peyton Reed directed the fantastic second episode of this current season which featured the Frog Lady and the live-action version of the Krykna. The director is best known for Marvel’s Ant-Man, Ant-Man & The Wasp, and will shoot Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania next year.

We know that Grogu is in the hands of Moff Gideon and Mando will attempt to rescue him with a handful of his cohorts, how this all turns out remains to be seen and there have been speculation a Jedi may show up.

It’ll be a little while before we get more Star Wars as Andor just started shooting and Obi-Wan Kenobi won’t begin production until March. However, it’s very likely that Season 3 of The Mandalorian will begin filming soon if it hasn’t already. We’re getting a whole bunch of new shows on the horizon with Ahsoka, Rangers of The New Republic, and The High Republic era show The Acolyte.

We’re hearing there are more shows to be announced as well.

SOURCE: EXTRA