Star Wars Bits: Michael Cimino's Pitch, Ted As An Ewok Hunter, Props Up For Auction, Indiana Jones Lawsuit And More

With the weekend fast approaching, it seems like all is quiet on the Star Wars front. Unless, of course, you're an Oscar-winning director newly on Twitter, or are in search of a screen-used X-Wing Fighter. After the jump, read about the following:

  • Oscar-winning director Michael Cimino revealed he pitched a Western sequel to Star Wars in the late seventies.
  • Ted, the foul-mouthed star of this year's film of the same name, dreamed he was in Star Wars.
  • Profiles in History is having a Star Wars themed auction highlighted by a screen used X-Wing Fighter from A New Hope.
  • Colin Trevorrow explains how his Star Wars Episode VII mix-up occurred and was solved.
  • LucasFilm is being sued for allegedly stealing a prop for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
  • A man making a life-size Millennium Falcon is interviewed.
  • Jar Jar Binks meets Gollum. Kind of.
  • I'm taking full credit on this one. Over a week ago, I put up a tweet that inspired a joke about Michael Cimino directing Star Wars Episode VII. It was a throwaway line. Fast forward nine days and the Oscar-winning director of The Deer Hunter himself not only joins Twitter, but finds that tweet and answers it.

    How unexpectedly awesome was that? The team at Bleeding Cool followed up and Cimino actually responded.

    It actually sounds pretty cool, but we did eventually get The Empire Strikes Back so it's not all bad. Go ahead and follow this legendary filmmaker @Cimino1939.

    Another big Hollywood figure talking about Star Wars recently is somewhat more new to the scene: Ted, the teddy bear voiced by Seth McFarlane in the hit film, which just came out on Blu-ray. The character's still-active Facebook posted the photo at the top of this article, with the following caption. Thanks to CBM:

    Last night I had a dream that I was cast in the new Star Wars movie as an Ewok bounty hunter with a checkered past. I got to kill Jar Jar and then blame it on that whiny little bitch, Wicket. I got to kill him too. It was awesome.

    One of my favorite shows on TV is Hollywood Treasure, which follows Joe Maddalena of the auction house Profiles in History as he travels around looking for props from major Hollywood films to sell. At their upcoming auction on December 15-16, they've just announced they'll have several screen used props from all three Star Wars films. For more information, and how to bid, go to www.profilesinhistory.com but here's what they've got:

  • An original screen-used X-Wing Fighter filming miniature from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Expected to sell for $80,000 – $120,000.
  • An Imperial Royal Guard production-made helmet from Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi. Price range $40,000 – $60,000.
  • Luke Skywalker's stunt lightsaber from Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi. Cost estimate $30,000 – $50,000.
  • A production made, Rebel Alliance pilot helmet from Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back. $20,000 – $30,000.
  • A screen used Scout Trooper Blaster with production made holster from Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi. $10,000 – $15,000
  • A rejected Yoda head made for production by Industrial Light & Magic. $4,000 – $6,000.
  • Colin Trevorrow found himself in the midst of Star Wars gossip last month when it was rumored he was up to direct the film. Turns out, he was up to direct an important film at Disney, but it was Flight of the Navigator and in an interview with Den of Geek, he explained how things got mixed up:

    The reason why I had to come out and say something about it was because it had entered this phase where I'd said something that applied to Flight Of The Navigator, which began to be applied to Star Wars. The headline was something like, 'Colin Trevorrow will make Star Wars not suck.' That's such a loaded statement, and not something that I said. And I certainly didn't want that kind of misinformation to be attributed to me. I feel like, on a more macro scale, there's started to be a relationship between filmmakers and people who watch their films – you know, on Twitter and on the Internet. That relationship's based on honesty, so the minute I knew that I was definitely not in the game, I made sure that I made that clear. Because I don't want people to think I'm out there pulling strings on this thing. I don't have a PR rep. I live in Vermont. It's just me on my computer, seeing these things catch fire.

    Back to Star Wars in a second, but, this is LucasFilm related and you'll find it humorous. The Hollywood Reporter wrote about a new lawsuit aimed at LucasFilm, Disney and Paramount over what one archaeologist is calling likeness issues between a missing, real life Crystal Skull and the one dramatized in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It's a pretty interesting little story that's sure to go nowhere. Read it at that link.

    Back to Star Wars, props to Josh at MTV for the embarassing video below where he does a frighteningly good Jar Jar Binks impression to Andy Serkis's Gollum.

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    Finally, I think it was in Page 2 or somewhere before but Star Wars fan Chris Lee is currently in the midst of a lifelong project: to build a life-size Millennium Falcon. He's already completed some parts of it and now Film.com has an in-depth interview with the super-fan. Head there to read more or visit FullScaleFalcon.com for the latest updates.