Star Wars

Star Wars

Ron Howard to Direct Han Solo Movie

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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.

The Han Solo Film Loses Its Directors

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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.

Post Visual Development in Rogue One

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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.

Bob Iger Talks Some ‘Star Wars’

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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’ Renewed for Fourth Season

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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.”

New Star Wars-Themed Lands for Disney Parks Announced

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Disney:

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.

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Drop Dead Releases ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ Collaboration

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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.

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Donald Glover Cast as Young Lando Calrissian

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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.

Chewbacca Talking Masks Selling Out Everywhere

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Brad Esposito, writing for Buzzfeed, on how the famous Chewbacca talking masks are now selling out all over the place. I want one.

The mask is now out of stock at Target, Walmart, Toys R Us, and Kohl’s, meaning you’ll have to turn to eBay if you’re desperate, where prices continue to rocket well beyond the original $20 to $30. In less than two days, more than 100 million people have watched a video of Texas mom Candace Payne trying on a Chewbacca mask in her car and laughing hysterically.

James Bond Inspired ‘Empire Strikes Back’ Title Sequence

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Kurt Rauffer imagined what the opening of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back would look like in the style of James Bond’s famous title sequences. This is relevant to my interests.

Growing up in the 90s where Star Wars was released on VHS, the franchise really sparked my imagination as a child. It not only let me exercise my imagination but also supplied me with some of the happiest memories as I watched it with my family. After re-watching “The Empire Strikes Back,” I decided to use this as a chance to create a homage in the form of a title sequence. This would also serve as my senior “thesis” at SVA and took me the whole semester to complete. The style and tone of the animation was inspired by the James Bond title sequences. The music was a rejected song from the newest Bond film, Spectre, sung by Radiohead.

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