Star Wars: Red Cup Begins Production

A tweet from Director Chris Miller that says "Han First Shot" along with this picture (left) reveals that the young Han Solo movie has begun principle photography. The first take includes the movie "title" as Star Wars: Red Cup, a pun reference to the Solo cups. The official title probably will not be revealed until next year. The movie stars Alden Ehrenreich (Han Solo), Donald GloveR (Lando Calrissian), Woody Harrelson (Han's mentor), and Emilia Clarke (probably Han's nemesis/love interest). The movie is being directed by The Lego Movie team of Chris Miller and Phil Lord for release on May 25th 2018 but I would not be surprised if its bumped to Christmas considering how successful that window has been for Disney these last two years.

Harrelson Playing EU Character in Han Solo Movie?

In a video interview with Variety, Woody Harrelson seemed to confirm the role he is playing in the young Han Solo movie. When directly asked if he would be playing Garris Shrike, the actor answered with a simple "yes". The character was first created for the Expanded Universe (EU) back in 1997 in a series of books about the life of Han Solo. The EU was once canonical collection of books, video games, comic book stories about the larger Star Wars universe before Disney made the decision that is was no longer part of canon and no one is allowed to create new stories for this "Legends" take of Star Wars out of fear of confusing new Star Wars fans.

However, the EU is chock full of already vetted intellectual property so it makes sense to mine it for characters that they can introduce (while throwing the occasional bone to EU fans) as new all over again. In that alternate take, Shrike was the man that raised, abused, and trained Han Solo to become the smuggler we all know and love. In the movie we know he is Solo's mentor but to early to say if that extends to father figure. If you are interested in the characters full back story, head over to Wookieepedia. To help with the time line notes, remember that BYY means "Before the Battle of Yavin" as depicted in Star Wars: A New Hope. The destruction of the first Death Star acts as a marker of Year 0 on the Star Wars time line. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.

Star Wars 8 Gets Official Title - The Last Jedi

The official title of the next Star Wars film in the saga has been revealed. Episode VIII will be called "Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Here is the poster that accompanied the announcement. I assume the title refers to Luke Skywalker since the Star Wars universe changed almost not one iota in the 30 years that passed and what Force users were born seemed to have been killed by Kylo Ren. However, if the series follows the example of the previous film, I would not be surprised if Luke doesn't survive it. Since Rey's learning curve and knowledge base is super-human, her ending the 8th film as the last remaining Jedi would not surprise me in the least.

Rogue One Secrets Explained

In an interview with the Lucasfilm Story Group, the team reveals some of the secrets, details and Easter eggs that are in Rogue One.

The Force Awakens Chewbacca Ripping Arm Off Scene

Below is a deleted scene that shows Chewbacca ripping off Unkar Plutt's arm for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Fans probably would have loved the scene but Disney likely refused to allow the scene since they want Star Wars to remain "all ages". Ironic since the movies all depict a high level of death both on and off screen only with so little blood that the average paper cut produces more then wounds in these movies. One of those weird morality lines that companies and average adults consider a line in the sand. Death is ok...as long as bloodless. Cussing is ok, as long as do not use the F word. Sex and suggested nudity is great as long as no nipples. Never will get it.

Woody Harrelson Joins Han Solo Movie

The official twitter account of Star Wars has confirmed that Woody Harrelson (The Hunger Games) is joining the cast of the Han solo movie in an unspecified role. It seems he will plays a mentor of sorts to young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich). The other known members of the cast are Donald Glover (Atlanta, Community) as Lando Calrissian and Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) in an unknown role.

Harrelson recently started promoting War for the Planet of the Apes and when asked about the casting said:

“It’s mind-blowing. I can’t really…you know, I never would’ve imagined that I’d get this opportunity so I’m really pumped about it. I really like those directors [Phil Lord and Chris Miller], I think they’re really great. You know let’s face it, almost any movie if the director’s great then the movie has a shot, but if they’re not obviously you’ve got very little chance of a good movie. I just feel great to be a part of that. What a cool thing.”

“I don’t think the Force is allowing me to talk about [the role]. They want me to keep pretty mum so I better not say too much about it. They’re pretty top secret about the script and the story… It’ll be cool to be mentoring Han Solo, that will be cool.”

Creating CGI Leia and Grand Moff Tarkin

Below is a video from ABC News that provides a little behind the scenes footage of how Rogue One brought to "life" a young Princess Leia and Peter Cushing's Grand Moff Tarkin. They do somewhat discuss the ethics of creating a dead actor's performance but ultimately the legal issues are "does the family give permission" and unless current actors follow in Robin Williams' footsteps of specifically stipulating in their wills that their likeness cannot be used in such a manner, I suspect this will become more common. Personally I don't have a problem with it as long as done for purpose of story and not just theatrics or attention. In this case, showing how Tarkin took control of the Death Star was fine as was using Leia as connective tissue between the end of Rogue One to A New Hope.

Star Wars: Rebels Trailer Shows Return of Obi-Wan

Here is the mid-season 3 trailer for Star Wars: Rebels that will start up on Saturday, January 7 at 8:30pm ET on Disney XD. This second half seems to include the continued built to the more sizable Rebellion that we know and love and hints at a final confrontation between Darth Maul and Obi-Wan Kenobi.