J.J. Abrams has signed on to return and write and direct Star Wars: Episode IX. The movie will be out on December 20th, 2019.
J.J. Abrams, who launched a new era of Star Wars with The Force Awakens in 2015, is returning to complete the sequel trilogy as writer and director of Star Wars: Episode IX. Abrams will co-write the film with Chris Terrio. Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan, Abrams, Bad Robot, and Lucasfilm.
Colin Trevorrow will no longer be directing Star Wars: Episode IX. A statement has been released from Lucasfilm:
Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways on Star Wars: Episode IX. Colin has been a wonderful collaborator throughout the development process but we have all come to the conclusion that our visions for the project differ. We wish Colin the best and will be sharing more information about the film soon.
My first vote is to let Rian Johnson direct another. If that’s a no, I’d love to see Ava Duvernay behind the lens.
The trailer for the fourth, and final, season of Star Wars Rebels has been released.
Star Wars fans know today as “Force Friday.” There’s a whole bunch of new toys out, and Star Wars News has the full list:
Hasbro has been kind enough to set us up with some details and images on all of the toys, games, and retailer specific releases hitting shelves today to aid in your search for everything that is offered. We’ve of course got the new The Last Jedi figures, but also everything else you’d expect from a major Force Friday release. We’ve got Black Series releases, ForceFX sabers, board games, nerf guns, and of course…Porgs!
Lots of fans are talking about their haul in our forums. I’m definitely eying that Rey Funko POP.
Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the upcoming release of the Rise of the Empire expansion for Star Wars: Rebellion!
Inspired largely by the characters and events of Rogue One, Rise of the Empire introduces a plethora of new heroes, villains, starships, troopers, and vehicles from that film, alongside other characters, ships, and events from Star Wars: Rebels and the classic trilogy, plus new missions that add more drama and intrigue to your games.
Hannah and I have been playing the original board game, Star Wars: Rebellion, over the past few nights and it’s one of the best board games I’ve played in a long time. Can’t wait to check out this expansion set.
A new behind-the-scenes video from the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi debuted yesterday during the Live Action panel at D23 in Anaheim. Also, these new posters are fantastic.
My anticipation is through the roof.
Ron Howard has officially signed on to direct the new Han Solo film:
The move comes two days after directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were let go from the movie they had spent over four-and-a-half months directing. Creative differences over style and tone came to a head between the duo and Lawrence Kasdan, with the studio backing the veteran screenwriter.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have left as directors for the Han Solo movie:
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the style and vision of Lord and Miller clashed with that of Lawrence Kasdan, the legendary screenwriter behind the classics Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, who also wrote, with his son, Jon Kasdan, the script for the Han Solo stand-alone set (for now) to be released in 2018.
This sucks.
A trailer has been released for season four of Star Wars: Rebels. It has also been revealed that this will be the final season of the show.
At the Star Wars Celebration this year they played a video tribute to Carrie Fisher.
The new trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi has been released.
Sure hope the world exists until at least December now.
Alexander Gustaveson, writing on ILM, about the digital work done on Rogue One:
Much of the work in Post Visual Development is pure design. We design digital environments and sets, we alter designs from pre-production, we create ships, weapons, and creatures.
Designing digital environments after plate photography allows flexibility in storytelling. For example: the Citadel sequence. The modular design and concentric circles allowed Gareth visual cheats: a character can jump huge distances geographically as needed for the plot, but the audience is not lost visually because the symmetry of the design.
Fascinating read.
Disney CEO, Bob Iger, revealed some Star Wars news today. Along with some information about the new Han Solo Movie he mentioned that the late Carrie Fisher will appear in the next movie and they will not be going with a digital version in the future. The Hollywood Reporter has the run down:
“When we bought Lucasfilm, we were going to make three films — Episodes VII, VIII and IX,” said Iger. “We had to deal with tragedy at the end of 2016. Carrie appears throughout VIII. We are not changing VIII to deal with her passing. Her performance remains as it is in VIII. In Rogue One, we had some digital character. We are not doing that with Carrie.”
Star Wars Rebels has been renewed for a fourth season:
Star Wars Rebels is set to return for a fourth season, Lucasfilm announced today, premiering later this year on Disney XD. Production is already underway. Marc Buhaj, senior vice president, programming and general manager, Disney XD said, “The team behind Star Wars Rebels delivers epic storytelling that has captivated fans of all ages across the globe. We’re excited to continue sharing the journey of these fan-favorite rebels with our audience in the fall.”
During the “Wonderful World of Disney: Disneyland 60” special that aired last night on ABC-TV, we shared some exciting details about the Star Wars-themed lands planned for Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts. Walt Disney Imagineering has joined forces with the imagination of Lucasfilm to bring this galaxy to life, and the illustrations shared during the TV special show the epic scale of these new lands.
I’m so in. They will open in 2019.
Star Wars: Episode VIII will be titled The Last Jedi.
Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes’s clothing company, Drop Dead, has teamed up to produce two one-of-a-kind jackets for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. From Hypebeast:
The collection features two one-of-a-kind jackets: a denim jacket channeling the “underdog spirit of the Rebel Alliance,” featuring sewn-on patches, distressed effects, silk screen-printed graphics and hand-painted designs. The second piece is a white mesh bomber jacket featuring large Star Wars patches and a large reflective graphic printed on that back that salutes the might of the Empire.
Advance tickets are now on sale for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Donald Glover has been cast as a young Lando Calrissian in the upcoming Han Solo movie.
Lucasfilm announced today that Donald Glover, an acclaimed actor, award-winning writer, and Grammy-nominated artist, will be playing the part of Lando Calrissian in the still-untitled Han Solo Star Wars film, helmed by directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Glover will join Alden Ehrenreich — previously cast as Han Solo — in bringing two iconic Star Wars characters back to the big screen, but at a time in their lives previously unexplored.
The new trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has been released. I’m just excited to have something to look forward to after this election takes all joy from us.