Tag: Star Wars

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‘Star Wars’: Are The Knives Out For Rian Johnson’s Trilogy & Patty Jenkin’s ‘Star Wars: Rogue Squadron’?

Lucasfilm and the Disney era of Star Wars have had a contentious relationship in the development and execution of their feature films. We’ve seen plenty of examples of this with Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi movies between retooled as Disney+ shows as they ditched the A Star Wars Story wave of movies entirely after Solo: A Star Wars Story didn’t do stellar business at the box office.

There is a new rumor/report coming from Matthew Belloni (former The Hollywood Reporter editor) at Puck stating that both Patty Jenkins’ Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (only announced last December) and Rian Johnson’s original trilogy have been shelved at Lucasfilm.

The reason for Rogue Squadron seems to be down to Jenkins and Lucasfilm brass being unable to agree upon a script. Filming had been expected to begin next year at Pinewood Studios UK and this would mean that the studio might have to select a replacement project to appease Disney or forego their December 2023 release spot for the next Star Wars movie.

I talked to a few insiders this week that said the real culprit was the dreaded “creative differences”; specifically, Jenkins couldn’t agree on the script with Lucasfilm executives, including senior V.P. Michelle Rejwan. That’s not unusual, of course, but it’s a laughably recurring problem at Lucasfilm under president Kathleen Kennedy, say agents: Top filmmakers are dying to make a Star Wars movie—until they sign on and experience the micromanagement and plot-point-by-committee process. It happened to the Game of Thrones guys, David Benioff and Dan Weiss, who were hired to create a new trilogy but bailed. It also happened to Rian Johnson, writer and director of 2017’s The Last Jedi, whose own planned trilogy was shelved.

It’s been rumored for ages that Johnson’s trilogy has been scrapped only for the filmmaker to debunk reports online and unclear if this rumbling is real or not. Time will tell.

Could it be a case of Disney and Lucasfilm caving to the Fandom Menace? The vocal minority within the Star Wars fandom had been quite vocal of their distaste for Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi and the idea of a female director handling a Star Wars film or anything female-centric.

To be fair, the outlet doesn’t have the most favorable opinion of Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy if their headline is any indication, which skews a bit hyperbolic. They’re actively pushing the idea of removing her from the Star Wars franchise, despite the report also mentioning a contract extension adding another three years to her tenure at Lucasfilm, so her removal won’t be happening.

SOURCE: PUCK

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‘Star Wars: Rogue Squadron’ Production Reportedly Being Delayed By Lucasfilm

Last December, Lucasfilm announced at the Disney Investors Day presentation that Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins would be helming a new Star Wars movie that was expected to begin shooting next year as pre-production had been moving along and they, later on, hired screenwriter Matthew Robinson to pen the script.

The next Star Wars feature film will be Rogue Squadron — directed by Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman franchise). The story will introduce a new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill-ride, and move the saga into the future era of the galaxy.

The filmmaker had stated to IGN that the project wouldn’t be a direct adaptation of the books or video games, but based on an original idea.

JENKINS: “[In the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron movie] we’re doing something original with great influence from the games and the books. There’s a lot of things being acknowledged and understood about the greatness of all of those things, but yes, it’s an original story and I’m so psyched to do it.”

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Lucasfilm is delaying Rogue Squadron and possibly won’t even start shooting until 2023, Jenkins seemingly hasn’t exited the movie.

While “scheduling issues” are being blamed for the delays, the report doesn’t indicate what project is actually causing problems. Patty Jenkins is attached to direct Gal Gadot in Cleopatra and Wonder Woman 3.

The only problem with that, Gadot is expected to shoot Disney’s Snow White next after landing the Evil Queen part, which suggests that the scheduling issues could be a cover for something else probably that the script not being ready to go into production.

Rogue Squadron had been given a release date of December 22, 2023, and they suggest that date could still be used. Another Star Wars project could swoop in, however, what that could be hasn’t been announced by major trades or Lucasfilm there are multiple things in various stages of development.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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‘Andor’ Getting A Season 3 & ‘The Acolyte’ Lands Working Title ‘Paradox’

Disney+ Day is coming next week and there is plenty of online speculation regarding what is going to be shown or announced by Lucasfilm for their upcoming string of live-action Star Wars shows for the streaming service that is expected to get a big promotional bump at the event.

Rodrigo Perez of The Playlist mentioned in a recent tweet that Deigo Luna’s prequel series Andor will be getting a third season with showrunner “Tony Gilroy staying on.” We already knew that Andor was going to have 12 episodes shot and expected to be split into two seasons, this would be the second Star Wars show to get a third season alongside The Mandalorian.

Forest Whitaker will reprise the role of Saw Gerrera, which was confirmed earlier in the year via Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard (Thor, Dune, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo). Whitaker also reprises the role in the video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

I’m sure fans are curious if we’ll see characters from Star Wars: Rebels or the video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, as someone like Cal Kestis (played by Cameron Monaghan) could be a good fit depending on Lucasfilm’s live-action plans for him.

The rest of the Andor cast includes Adria Arjona (Morbius), Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma, Robert Emms (Chernobyl), Fiona Shaw, and Kyle Soller. 

Toby Haynes (Sherlock, Doctor Who, Utopia, Black Mirror) will be directing with a writing team that includes Tony Gilroy (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler), Beau Willimon (House of Cards), and Stephen Schiff (The Americans).

Andor’s 12-episode run will debut on Disney+ sometime in 2022.

There is also a tiny production update on The High Republic series, The Acolyte, as the show is said to have the working title of Paradox, as mentioned by The Illuminerdi. The show’s working title is also backed up by Production Weekly.

Adding that a key role is a female character named Aura (possible codename) and production could begin sometime this summer, despite director/directors not being announced.

Lucasfilm has an opportunity to give fans an original story and characters given that this takes place 200 years before the Skywalker Saga, allowing the studio to finally make something new that isn’t beholden to previous films and shows. As stuff like The Mandalorian quickly shrugged off their original angle to bring in existing characters like Boba Fett, Luke Skywalker, Bo-Katan, and Ahsoka Tano becoming more focused on fan service than doing its own thing.

We suspect Lucasfilm will be announcing directors for The Acolyte next week and likely won’t be ready to air on Disney+ until 2023 alongside Ahsoka. There is also an assumption that we’ll get some casting updates on Patty Jenkin’s Star Wars: Rogue Squadron as well.

SOURCE: THE PLAYLIST & THE ILLUMINERDI

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‘The Book Of Boba Fett’: Jennifer Beals From ‘Flashdance’ Confirmed As A Twi’lek Character

Yesterday, Disney and Lucasfilm released the first look trailer for the next live-action Star Wars show, The Book of Boba Fett.  The former bounty hunter has hung up his spurs for a more ambitious adventure, taking over Jabba’s criminal syndicate. A rather large feat given all the criminal scum of the Star Wars underworld looking to bump him off and take his position.

Temuera Morrison (Boba Fett) and Ming-Na Wen (Fennec Shand) have been the only two cast members identified officially for The Book of Boba Fett, until now as a new actress has been spotted in the footage.

One of the more striking shots was one with two Twi’lek women and it’s been confirmed that actress Jennifer Beals (Flashdance, The Book of Eli) is playing one of them.

https://twitter.com/jenniferbeals/status/1455243614913634306

I’m curious how many other 80s icons are part of the series, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Its directing team is expected to include Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Robert Rodriguez, Bryce Dallas-Howard, and Sam Hargrave.

The new series will debut on December 29 on Disney+ and will continue into 2022.

Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and season three of The Mandalorian are other Star Wars shows that are expected to be released next year, giving fans a heap of content ahead of the next film, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron being released in 20223.

“The Book of Boba Fett,” a thrilling Star Wars adventure teased in a surprise end-credit sequence following the Season 2 finale of “The Mandalorian,” finds legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett and mercenary Fennec Shand navigating the galaxy’s underworld when they return to the sands of Tatooine to stake their claim on the territory once ruled by Jabba the Hutt and his crime syndicate. “The Book of Boba Fett” stars Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen. Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Robert Rodriguez, Kathleen Kennedy, and Colin Wilson are the executive producers. Karen Gilchrist and Carrie Beck serve as co-executive producers, with John Bartnicki producing and John Hampian as co-producer.

Posted on in News, Television News

TRAILER: Fett Becomes A Powerful Crime Syndicate Leader Of The Underworld In ‘The Book Of Boba Fett’

Disney has released the first look trailer for The Book of Boba Fett, which sees the former bounty hunter hang up his spurs for a more ambitious adventure, taking over Jabba’s criminal syndicate. A rather large feat given all the criminal scum of the Star Wars underworld looking to bump him off and take his position.

While Solo: A Star Wars Story waded in the waters of the underworld, it looks like The Book of Boba Fett will explore the real criminal side of things giving us more insight into that side of the mythology. This sort of confirms that Fett is no longer a bounty hunter and might open things up to see what the other syndicates look like beyond Tatooine.

Its directing team is expected to include Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Robert Rodriguez, Bryce Dallas-Howard, and Sam Hargrave.

The new series will debut on December 29 on Disney+ and will continue into 2022.

Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and season three of The Mandalorian are other Star Wars shows that expected to be released next year, giving fans a heap of content ahead of the next film, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron being released in 20223.

“The Book of Boba Fett,” a thrilling Star Wars adventure teased in a surprise end-credit sequence following the Season 2 finale of “The Mandalorian,” finds legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett and mercenary Fennec Shand navigating the galaxy’s underworld when they return to the sands of Tatooine to stake their claim on the territory once ruled by Jabba the Hutt and his crime syndicate.

“The Book of Boba Fett” stars Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen. Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Robert Rodriguez, Kathleen Kennedy, and Colin Wilson are the executive producers. Karen Gilchrist and Carrie Beck serve as co-executive producers, with John Bartnicki producing and John Hampian as co-producer.

Disney also revealed a new poster for the show which you can see below.

SOURCE: DISNEY

Posted on in News, Television News

‘Ahsoka’ May Feature Anakin Skywalker Force Ghost As Hayden Christensen Joins ‘Star Wars’ Series

It was huge news when Canadian actor Hayden Christensen was announced as reprising the Darth Vader role for the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series, that he’d star alongside fellow prequel actor Ewan McGregor. Well, it looks like Lucasfilm is keen on Christensen returning once more.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Hayden Christensen will be back for the upcoming Ahsoka series that will center around Rosario Dawson’s former Jedi. The assumption here is that he’ll potentially play the force ghost incarnation of Anakin Skywalker as Ahsoka Tano’s appearance in The Mandalorian took place many years after the death of Darth Vader/Skywalker.

Ahsoka and Anakin have a long-established relationship in the animation side of Star Wars canon as she was the apprentice of Skywalker in Star Wars: The Clone Wars before Tano exited the Jedi Order. In Star Wars: Rebels, they were reunited as they came to blows as Skywalker had been transformed into the Sith Lord, Darth Vader.

The beloved Star Wars character was on a mission to find Grand Adrimal Thrawn in her episode of The Mandalorian, which suggests that we’ll be getting live-action incarnations of both Thrawn and Ezra Bridger. Although, actors have yet to be announced by Lucasfilm despite rumblings of certain actors being selected.

It’ll be curious if Anakin Skywalker will help Ahsoka find Thrawn or simply be a force ghost mentor giving her advice. We could also see flashbacks to the Clone War era, which is also assumed for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

Disney+ is going to an overwhelming amount of Star Wars shows on the streaming platform over the next couple of years. They have wrapped on shows such as The Book of Boba Fett (to debut in late December), Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Andor. Season 3 of The Mandalorian has started shooting in California and there is an expectation that Ahsoka won’t begin filming until Dawson completes her shoot on Disney’s Haunted Mansion remake.

We’re still waiting on official confirmation when The Acolyte, Rangers of The New Republic, and Lando will begin production as more shows are expected to be announced next month at the Disney+ Day event.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Eternals’ Director Chloe Zhao Coyly Muses On Prospect Of Making A ‘Star Wars’ Movie

After winning the Oscar for Best Director, Chloe Zhao will be releasing her big MCU film Eternals next month and during the promotion for the new superhero flick seemingly revealed a desire to explore Star Wars.

While chatting with Empire Magazine’s Al Horner, the filmmaker was aspect about potentially making a Star Wars film after mentioning Star Wars multiple times in the interview.

“Hmmm. I have to tread very carefully with what I say here. [laughs],” the filmmaker said carefully. “Yes. Let’s just say, it’s a world I have so much reverence for because it was such an important part of my life. [laughs].”

Interestingly enough, her wording at the top of the response would suggest previous interactions with Lucasfilm. Could she have already shot something Disney+-related or taken meetings with the studio?

It wouldn’t but like she would be the first Marvel Studios alumni to tackle the Star Wars universe after folks like Jon Favreau, Peyton Reed, and Taika Waititi working on the Disney+ shows. Waititi is attached to make his own movie after Patty Jenkins’ Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Kevin Feige is producing another pic with screenwriter Michael Waldron (Loki, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness).

I’d personally love to see Zhao jump into the world of Star Wars, but when and where seems to be a question. There could easily be sequels to Eternals and she’s attached to make a sci-fi western Dracula film for Universal Pictures.

Zhao’s Eternals will be released next month on November 5.

ETERNALS – The immortal heroes, the Eternals, came here 7,000 years ago, since the dawn of man, to “protect humans from the Deviants.” Sersi reveals that she hasn’t seen some of the other Eternal teammates for centuries. With the monstrous creatures, the Deviants, long thought lost to history, mysteriously return, Ikaris decides that it’s time for them to “find the others” and defend humanity once again. As the epic story unfolds, Sersi and Ikaris reunite with Kingo (played by Kumail Nanjiani), Sprite (played by Lia McHugh), Gilgamesh (played by Don Lee), Thena (played by Angelina Jolie), Makkari (played by Lauren Ridloff), Phastos (played by Brian Tyree Henry), and Druig (played by Barry Keoghan).

SOURCE: EMPIRE & AL HORNER

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‘The Book Of Boba Fett’ Begins Airing December 29 On Disney+ & Tackles The Criminal Underworld

It’s been made official that The Book of Boba Fett will begin airing December 29 on Disney+ and the first solid synopsis for the Star Wars series has been released. Confirming that Boba Fett will indeed be focused on the criminal underworld, as teased with the Jabba’s Palace sequence in season two of The Mandalorian.

Fett will continue into 2022 with other Star Wars shows set to debut next year such as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and the third season of The Mandalorian.

Here is the official press release from Lucasfilm.

Disney+ announced today that The Book of Boba Fett — the new Lucasfilm series teased in a surprise end-credit sequence following the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian — will premiere on Wednesday, December 29, exclusively on the streaming service. Disney+ also debuted the key art for the series, which you can see for yourself below.

The Book of Boba Fett, a thrilling Star Wars adventure, finds legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett and mercenary Fennec Shand navigating the galaxy’s underworld when they return to the sands of Tatooine to stake their claim on the territory once ruled by Jabba the Hutt and his crime syndicate.

The Book of Boba Fett stars Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen. Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Robert Rodriguez, Kathleen Kennedy, and Colin Wilson are the executive producers. Karen Gilchrist and Carrie Beck serve as co-executive producers, with John Bartnicki producing and John Hampian as co-producer.

Posted on in Film News, News

Andy Serkis Was “Slightly Mortified” By Snoke’s Death In ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’

Actor/director Andy Serkis is making the press rounds to help promote his latest directorial effort, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and finally is talking about his experience on Star Wars.

While speaking with geek outlet iO9, the topic predictable turned to Star Wars and specifically the death of his big villain, Supreme Leader Snoke. It was expected that Snoke would become the new Emperor Palpatine and that was cut short, literally, with a death scene in the throne room.

Serkis reveals that he was shocked to find out while reading the Star Wars: The Last Jedi script that his new villain wouldn’t survive the second film, giving the impression he assume Snoke would become a franchise staple or at least stick around for the third film.

“I was devastated when I read that script because it was all going so well. I was like, ‘Man, this is a boss character. I’m going to love playing… what!? You’re kidding me, what?’ I was like ‘Okay, is a good idea? I supposed it is. I was slightly mortified, pardon the pun. It was all in the right, I think. I loved playing that character and I love the face-off scene between Kylo Ren and Rey, and so it was great.”

Serkis also says that he was kept in the dark about the origins of Snoke that were revealed in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which isn’t terribly surprising since there were multiple incarnations of Episode 9 and the Palpatine stuff seemed to be tagged-on once Colin Trevorrow exited.

“The journey towards discovering that he was a Palpatine clone was something that happened during the process because everything was so secret since Force Awakens.”

I personally wasn’t a fan of the return of Palpatine, as they could have made Snoke an immortal entity that has died thousands of time and simply brought him back in The Rise of Skywalker. Oh well.

Luckily, Serkis was doing motion capture work and allows him return to play future characters, if called upon for other film and television projects.

There is an assumption that Andy Serkis, while won’t play Caesar, will be involved in the fourth Planet of The Apes installment from director Wes Ball. The pair almost worked together on Mouse Guard, one of the large budget projects that got killed during the Disney/Fox merger.

SOURCE: iO9

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Lucy Lawless Suggests Cara Dune Recast Campaign Hurt Chances For Different ‘Star Wars’ Role

A while back, there was a call online from Star Wars fans to see the Cara Dune role to continue with New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless (Xena, Battlestar Galactica) taking the part in season three of The Mandalorian (currently filming in California).

However, Lawless alludes to Metro during a chat that the online campaign may have hurt her chances to land another Star Wars role that she had been in discussions for. Although, she won’t name the project other than it’s not The Mandalorian.

“Well to be honest with you, I was already in discussions about something on – it wasn’t The Mandalorian – something Star Wars-affiliated.”

“It might have hurt me in some way, because then they couldn’t hire me because it would seem to be pandering to… I’m just guessing here, I don’t know anything, but in some ways, it can be unhelpful, because if they pander to this fan group, then how are you going to pander to every other fan group, do you know what I mean?”

It doesn’t sound like Lucy Lawless is going to join the Star Wars universe anytime soon, revealing that she might have talks with Lucasfilm for something else would suggest that nothing came together. Normally, we don’t often hear from actors that didn’t land roles so it’s certainly interesting to hear her perspective of a well-meaning online campaign.

As expected since December, The Mandalorian will return to Disney+ in 2022.

SOURCE: METRO