Friday, February 19, 2016
JJ Abrams Kicks Off Star Wars Fan Film Awards 2016 Entry Phase
JJ Abrams kicks off the Star Wars Fan Films Awards 2016 in the below message. Star Wars fans have until April 24, 2016 to submit entries in various categories. More details can be found at StarWarsFanFilmAwards.com including access to "a sound asset pack of official Star Wars sounds to use in your film."
Monday, February 15, 2016
Disney Verifies Star Wars VIII Production Start, New Cast Members
In a short video (below), Disney verifies that Star Wars 8 is in production now. Ironically they do it by using behind the scenes footage shot while filming the final moment of The Force Awakens. Rian Johnson is directing with the main cast of Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis all returning.
In addition three new cast members were announced - Laura Dern, Kelly Marie Tran, and Benicio del Toro. Laura Dern should be familiar to Jurassic Park fans, and Benicio from The Collector in Guardians of the Galaxy. This will be Kelly Marie Tran's first movie and looking at her career list and pics it seems her main role on YouTube and TV guest appearances was to be adorkable. Not a negative, just observing a pattern that could be either very informative of her character or completely useless information. Per usual, no clues on what their characters are, how much screen time, or other details. Rumors are the del Toro's character will be the films big bad but that remains unconfirmed.
In addition three new cast members were announced - Laura Dern, Kelly Marie Tran, and Benicio del Toro. Laura Dern should be familiar to Jurassic Park fans, and Benicio from The Collector in Guardians of the Galaxy. This will be Kelly Marie Tran's first movie and looking at her career list and pics it seems her main role on YouTube and TV guest appearances was to be adorkable. Not a negative, just observing a pattern that could be either very informative of her character or completely useless information. Per usual, no clues on what their characters are, how much screen time, or other details. Rumors are the del Toro's character will be the films big bad but that remains unconfirmed.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Star Wars 8 Filming Has Begun
According to Entertainment Weekly, the Star Wars 8 has begun filming. The info comes from Disney CEO Bob Iger during a Disney quarterly earnings call where he revealed Star Wars: The Force Awakens "earned more than $3 billion globally in consumer products" on top of the $2 billion in box office returns. Considering all of Lucasfilm was sold for "only" $4 billion, by the time Awakens adds home video sales and TV rights to the mix, Disney basically recouped its purchase cost on the first film alone.
“There is no better way to propel this franchise into the future than producing quality products,” [Iger] said. “Filming of Star Wars: Episode VIII, the next chapter of the legendary saga, has just commenced and it will be in theaters December 2017. And production of Episode IX, a 2019 release, has also begun. ...Filming of Rogue One is virtually completed and we absolutely love what we’ve seen so far."
In regards to Episode IX, he probably means pre-production as in script writing, working on set designs, costumes, casting, CGI models and so forth that will probably take a minimum of six months to complete. Production (as in principle photography) will likely not start on that film until late 2017 to early 2018.
“There is no better way to propel this franchise into the future than producing quality products,” [Iger] said. “Filming of Star Wars: Episode VIII, the next chapter of the legendary saga, has just commenced and it will be in theaters December 2017. And production of Episode IX, a 2019 release, has also begun. ...Filming of Rogue One is virtually completed and we absolutely love what we’ve seen so far."
In regards to Episode IX, he probably means pre-production as in script writing, working on set designs, costumes, casting, CGI models and so forth that will probably take a minimum of six months to complete. Production (as in principle photography) will likely not start on that film until late 2017 to early 2018.
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
100+ Vintage Star Wars Toy Commercials Online
If you want to continue to tap your nostalgia button after Star Wars: The Force Awakens (or just want to see how old toy commercials were done) head over to the YouTube Channel 12BACK. There are over 100 old Star Wars toy commercials from the 70s and 80s to enjoy. Sadly I actually owned a decent size Star Wars collection (a mix from all three films) but idiotically gave them all away many years ago (in favor of keeping my Transformers, but had option to keep both). Only consolation is had none of the packaging so the value isn't that high but still annoying. (via StarWars.com)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Crosses $2 Billion Box Office
As Star Wars: The Force Awakens theatrical run around the world winds down, it managed to land two more major records at the box office over the last weeks. The top movie of all time in the US has now become the first to cross the $900 million point in the US. Considering the previous record holder, Avatar was at $750M, it looks like a record that will hold for a while (or at least until the Episode 8). The film also crossed $2 billion in worldwide box office totals. That keeps it at the #3 slot behind Titanic ($2.12B) and Avatar ($2.77B). As of today its total stands at $2.00B, only about $200M behind Avatar. It only took in around $6M this last weekend so the #2 slot remains out of release. At least until Disney decides to re-release the film at some point in the future and then those totals will likely bump it past Titanic. As of now the rumored release date for the home movie release of the movie is sometime in April.
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens Video Game Announced
Disney has officially announced the release of Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens with a teaser (below) that mimics the movie's teaser but inserted Lego humor into it. The game will be released on PC, X-Box One, XBox 360, PS Vita, PS4, PS3, WiiU, and 3DS on June 28 2016. The game is available to pre-order now.
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