Phantom Menace Returns To Theaters, Acolyte Release and Mandalorian Movie Sets Production Start

Just some quick news on the Star Wars front.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menance will return to theaters for May the 4th weekend for its 25th Anniversary. The length of time in theaters is "limited" so probably based on ticket sales. No other details were provided.

The Acolyte series will hit Disney+ sometime this summer. The series is set 50 years before the Phantom Menace and will focus on a Padawan and her Master as they investigate crimes.

The Mandalorian and Grogu movie will begin production in June 2024. The film is written and directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man) who, along with Dave Filoni, is a driving force between the various Star Wars TV series for the last 5 years. Season 4 of The Mandalorian remains a possiblility as its not been cancelled but future plans remain murky.

The Mandalorian Season 2 Premieres in October

As part of their earnings call, Disney revealed when the seasons of the new shows on Disney+ will premiere. The main highlights is The Mandalorian season 2 will premiere in October. The other debuts will be The Falcon and Winter Soldier in August and WandaVision in December. No other Star Wars news was revealed. On Marvel front, there remains unscheduled the premieres of Loki, What If... cartoon, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, and Ms. Marvel.

The Star Wars Saga Fan Supertrailer

Below is an epic five minute long trailer that uses footage from every Star Wars related movie to date to create a rather epic trailer for the franchise. Co-edited by Topher Grace (yep That 70s Show actor) and Jeff Yorkes, it is actually very good considering talking about 10 movies. At the very least it might be a useful way to introduce a newbie (good luck finding one of those) to the franchise.

Boba Fett Film Officially Dead

While this may seem obvious after reports of a Star Wars "slowdown" and work on The Mandalorian TV series, it has now been made official. The Boba Fett movie that had been in an on and off status for the last 3 plus years is now "100% dead". The movie was actually supposed to be released after Rogue One but director problems delayed it, moving the Solo film up to the slot. However that film didn't make the expected $1 billion box office causing Disney to over correct by essentially cancelling all movies that were not part of the core trilogy. Once the TV show was announced it was pretty clear that whatever pre-production work done on Boba Fett was re-used for the show (which I wouldn't be surprised includes Fett) making a movie redundant. As of now the known current plans for Star Wars is the Resistence cartoon series currently airing on Disney XD, next Chrismas' release of Episode IX, and The Mandalorian TV show for late 2019 on Disney's future streaming service. Nothing else official has really been revealed beyond rumors and possibilities.

Disney Finally Confirms Star Wars "Slowdown"

Back in June after the commercial failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the rumor started that Disney was putting the spin-off films on hold and re-evaluating its yearly Star Wars release schedule. For some inexplicable reason, the company tried to spin the rumors using Episode IX as cover. Any case, Disney CEO Bob Iger finally more or less admitted the hold to The Hollywood Reporter.

“I made the timing decision, and as I look back, I think the mistake that I made — I take the blame — was a little too much, too fast. You can expect some slowdown, but that doesn’t mean we’re not gonna make films. J.J. [Abrams] is busy making [Episode] IX. We have creative entities, including [Game of Thrones creators David] Benioff and [D.B.] Weiss, who are developing sagas of their own, which we haven’t been specific about. And we are just at the point where we’re gonna start making decisions about what comes next after J.J.’s. But I think we’re gonna be a little bit more careful about volume and timing. And the buck stops here on that.”

The end result is the rumored Obi-Wan Kenobi and Boba Fett films are officially dead and probably Star Wars will move to an every other year schedule. Now personally I think its an over reaction on Disney's fault. One strike and your out for such a huge franchise is short-sighted and reeks of executive cowardice. They took a risk moving the film to an early Summer release schedule which was already thick with competition including their own Avengers: Infinity War film. They also "should" have known that not all the "Star Wars Story" films would be mega hits and been ok with anything at break even or above along as long as it didn't become a habit. Especially when considering the usually reliable Chinese box office has minimal interest in Star Wars. At the very least, another at bat was more then earned by Star Wars and an Episode number doesn't count towards that.

The yearly release IS sustainable, as long as its in the Christmas holiday release period. If anything I would argue that what Lucasfilm needs is its own equivalent of Marvel's Kevin Feige. Someone who is a huge fan of the source material, knows the source material inside and out, enjoys learning more about the source material and can collaborate with others to design a strong story and business reason for each movie while being flexible enough to let the stars and directors do what they need to do to tell a story.

The story of Kennedy is the definition of very very safe bets who takes as few chances as she can. She also has always come across as a CEO whose a fan of the business but not of the product it produces. Creative bets requires a mix of creativity AND business acumen. She has the business skill but never really demonstrated the other. I think people forget her entire career was working with various directors at the height of their power so her role wasn't to mold, say no to them, guide them, etc. but simply to take the necessary business steps and clear the necessary obstacles so they could execute their visions. They were the creatives, she was the business. With the promotion to Lucasfilm her role really for the first time became both and so she fell back on what she knew - safe bets every time. Shoot the few times she didn't take the safe bet on directors, she ended up firing them and going back to the safe bets whose depth of experience allowed her to return to the role she was most comfortable in - the business side. In my opinion, it would be in the best interest to replace Kathleen Kennedy, let her keep the business role she excels in and find someone else to handle the more creative side of the Star Wars universe that she doesn't seem to get or have an interest in.

Disney Spins Star War Films Hold

A recent report indicated that the box office failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story was leading Disney to decide to put a hold on future spin-off films (with possible exception of the Boba Fett film). In source was an unnamed insider which has now been countered by other unnamed insiders saying this isn't true but really the comments seem to actually back up Collider's reporting rather then deny it.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

"They haven’t slowed down development," says a source with knowledge of Lucasfilm’s thinking, "but they are licking their wounds."

"It doesn’t mean those spinoffs don't happen," says another insider of Solo's underperformance globally. "It just means they’re trying to figure out how to make, and market, them differently."

But there's a catch with Boba Fett. Sources say that after the underperformance of Solo, the project could now be reconfigured. The thinking is that if Han Solo, one of the most iconic characters in the Star Wars universe, couldn’t sustain a big-budget origin feature, then any Fett movie would have to be scaled down, since though the character is popular, he’s certainly less well-known to most moviegoers than the Corellian smuggler.

The status of the Obi-Wan Kenobi spinoff is even less clear. Stephen Daldry had been in negotiations to direct, but both the studio and his agency, CAA, had no comment on the current state of the project.

From ABC News:

Lucasfilm sources on Thursday characterized as "inaccurate" a report that future "Star Wars" movies falling outside of the regular trilogy storyline (Episodes I to IX) have been put on hold in the wake of the box office under-performance of "Solo: A Star Wars Story."

Instead, Lucasfilm told ABC News there are still "multiple" Star Wars films currently in development that have not been officially announced. Those projects are moving forward separate from an already-announced "Star Wars" trilogy being overseen by "The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson and another series of movies from "Game of Thrones" producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

So basically Collider was accurate. One spin-off film (Boba Fett) may move forward and no movement on any other spin-offs. I suspect Disney's plan is to do a cheaper budgeted Boba Fett film, see how it does and then decide if they will do other spin-off films based on how it does combined with how far in development they are on the Rian Johnson's trilogy and the Benioff/Weiss film. A reasonable plan, not entirely sure why they just state that.

Disney Putting Star Wars Anthology Films on Hold?

It seems the relatively lackluster performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story might be making Disney gun shy about continuing to release a Star Wars film every year. Collider is reporting that unnamed sources within Disney owned Lucasfilm are " put plans for more A Star Wars Story spinoff movies on hold, instead opting to focus their attention on Star Wars: Episode IX and what the next trilogy of Star Wars films will be after that film." Disney has not confirmed this report.

If true, its a bit of a sudden turnaround considering they just hired James Mangold (Logan) to write and direct a Boba Fett film. Or alternatively that film is the last hurrah to maintain a "trilogy" feel for the spin off films. The possible decision is in light of Solo's weak $343.4M world wide box office result which means the film might break even at best. However, Disney is really comparing it to over $1 billion the previous 3 films have made.

If true, its seems like an over reaction. Solo didn't do well because it was an average film that came out during a highly competitive box office window against Disney's own Avengers: Infinity War, Rampage, A Quiet Place, Deadpool 2 and a host of others. Its a level of competition that the three previous films avoided with their holiday release dates that have the fraction of of tent pool releases and the rest are mostly Oscar bait releases that are not remotely competitive for box office dollars compared to Star Wars. In short, Disney can afford to verify if Solo was an outlier which is what the Boba Fett film, if moves forward, could do.

In the meantime, the Star Wars fun will definitely continue. Star Wars Episode IX is still on track for a December 2019 release. Rian Johnson remains in charge of the potential next trilogy of films that will follow for the 2020's and Jon Favreau is working on a live-action TV show. Later this year the next cartoon series Star Wars Resistence is expected to premiere.

Lego Hoth Echo Base Diorama

In a diorama called "Winter Is Hoth", three Star Wars fans used 200,000 plus Lego to re-create the Hoth Echo Base as seen in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The result include the Millennium Falcon, AT-ATs, subterranean area, and a whole lot more. To see the full set of images header over the Flickr page or Brothers-Brick.

Happy 40th Birthday Star Wars

Today Star Wars turns 40 years old as May 25, 1977 was the day that Star Wars: A New Hope premiered. Happy Birthday to one of the largest, most important franchises in the world. Below is the current Hamilton cast singing Happy Birthday to Star Wars.

Mark Hamil Pranks Fans in Force for Change Video

In a new video to promote the Force for Change charity raffle, Mark Hamill pulls a prank on some fans. To enter a chance win a chance to meet Mark Hamill, go to the premiere of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and more click here.

Star Wars: Rebels Final Season Trailer

At Star Wars Celebration convention, it was revealed that the season four of Star Wars: Rebels will also be its final season. Below is trailer with the season debuting on Disney XD this fall. As for what will replace Rebels, I am guessing that will be revealed at next year's Celebration.

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.

Honest Trailer for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Here is an Honest Trailer for Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. Normally these vids make fun of the movies and some of their tropes but in this case the running joke is how to you make fun of perfection. They do manage to find a way.

Grand Admiral Thrawn Re-Introduced In Star Wars: Rebels Season 3 Trailer

Star Wars Celebration continues in London and with it comes a new trailer for Star Wars: Rebels season 3. It seems the time frame has skipped forward a bit and two characters will appear. One is Wedge Antilles. The other is Grand Admiral Thrawn who is a master tactician and a real threat to the rebels. From the Extended Universe, Thrawn was introduced in the 1991 novel Heir To The Empire that took place right after Return of the Jedi. Over the course of the three novels now called The Thrawn Trilogy, the character nearly destroyed the New Republic and re-energize the Empire. For all intents and purposes this trilogy created the Extended Universe for Star Wars and reintroduced the franchise to a new generation of fans.

When people (like me) complain about the loss of the EU and the refusal of Disney to allow new stories to be told in the "Legends" continuity (why? would love a real explanation), it is because of novels like the Thrawn trilogy. I remained a fan of Star Wars because of the EU and the 1990s to 2014ish novels. Not because of the movies. So while seeing Thrawn being re-introduced into canon is great, its also a constant reminder of Disney's bizarre policy of blocking off the EU and allowing no one to play in that sandbox again.

Below is the trailer and Bleeding Cool has the summary of the Rebels Panel.

Star Wars: Rogue One Behind the Scenes/Trailer, Poster and More

Yesterday Star Wars Celebration kicked off in London with Star Wars: Rogue One. As part of that there was a panel (few highlights below) with the cast and crew, a reveal of a new poster (right), and a kind of trailer/behind the scenes video of the movie. Below are links to gallery of images of exhibits, props, etc. at the convention.

Galleries: Trailer Stills | Exhibit | Rogue One Panel | Rogue One Props

Highlights
- When George Lucas visits: "I was told on Friday and spent the whole weekend crapping myself," [Rogue One Director Gareth] Edwards said. "I challenge anyone to have a more surreal experience than showing a Star Wars film to George Lucas. He'd criticize things, but then we'd realize he was joking. But we'd all be having heart attacks."

Announcement Trailer for 1983's Revenge of the Jedi

The Academy Film Archive (part of the group that does the Oscars) has posted this teaser trailer of sorts that apparently was shown in May 1982 before a double feature of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back in the UK. It is likely the first teaser for Return of the Jedi since it still used the Revenge of the Jedi title. No footage was shown so likely this was made even before principle photography had begun. Any case it makes for an interesting piece of Star Wars history.

The Origin of May the 4th, Star Wars Day

May the Fourth...Force Be with you on this Star Wars day. It turns out that while the day has only been celebrated by Star Wars fans recently (mostly due to Disney seeing the promotional value of it), its origin goes all the way back to 1979 with Margaret Thatcher using the pun to celebrate her first day as Prime Minister on the same date. For more details on how Star Wars Day started and how Disney pushed it to become an unofficial yet official day, click over to The Verge.

Star Wars: A Familiar Hope Honest Trailer

The Screen Junkies guys have released their latest Honest Trailer with the target being Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

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."

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)