Movies

Star Wars Bits: Adam Driver's Rumored Role, Rebels, Michael Giacchino And Oscar Isaac Geeks Out

Oscar Isaac
By Germain Lussier

It's George Lucas' 70th birthday, so what better way to celebrate than a new Star Wars Bits? There's lots of Episode VII stuff below, including rumors, accidents, excitement and more. But that's not all. Read about the following in this edition of Star Wars Bits:

  • Adam Driver might be playing the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia in Star Wars Episode VII.
  • As a kid, Oscar Isaac dressed as a Gonk droid for a Return of the Jedi party.
  • A helicopter accident in Iceland might have been Star Wars-related.
  • Michael Giacchino isn't helping John Williams on Episode VII.
  • Simon Kinberg talks tone, but not Kanan, in Star Wars Rebels.
  • Andy Serkis talks about script security and excitement.
  • See the Episode VII cast photo in color.
  • Watch the world's largest Darth Vader built from Legos.
  • Augmented Reality is coming to Star Wars Weekends.
  • Jon Favreau still wants to direct a Star Wars movie.

    • Since the beginning of Star Wars Episode VII casting, everyone believed Adam Driver would be playing the series' main villain. Now that story might be changing...or just coming into focus. JediNews reports a rumor that Driver could be playing the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia. That makes it seem like he's a good guy, but if Abrams is drawing from the Expanded Universe, perhaps Driver's character falls to the Dark Side and becomes the main villain of the series. A very interesting rumor either way.

    The Sunday Times (via Yahoo) recently spoke to Inside Llewyn Davis star-turned-Star Wars actor Oscar Isaac, which so happened to be his first public interview since being announced as part of the cast. He of course talked about his excitement, the need for secrecy, but also a bit of his Star Wars fandom:

    I could not be more excited to be a part of the 'Star Wars' saga. It still seems hard to believe. 'Star Wars' is a huge part of my family. Collecting toys, throwing themed parties. We had a big one for 'Return of the Jedi'. I came as a gonk droid.

    Here's a piece of fan art submitted by /Film reader Roberto López. Speaks for itself:

    Ancient Fear logo

    A rumor started on Twitter, then made it to a few Icelandic newspapers about this:

    Seems they are still shooting landscape shots for the film on the island. Read more that that above link.

    An article on Michael Giacchino scoring Jurassic World over on Ain't It Cool News contained an aside suggesting he was going to help John Williams on Star Wars Episode VII. A curious development, so Making Star Wars asked the man himself about the idea. It's not true:

    ScreenCrush talked to Simon Kinberg about Star Wars Rebels, and came up with some interesting tidbits. The writer/producer wouldn't answer the question of how Jedi Kanan plays into the larger mythology, but did talk about balancing the fans of the original and the prequels:

    I have a sort of dual mind about 'Rebels,' which is, I approach it as someone who grew up and was transformed by the original movies — those original movies are the reason I wanted to work in movies. And I have a four- and eight-year-old son — two sons — who love the prequels. So, I really approach 'Rebels' with a respect for the prequels, but a personal affinity for the originals. And, you know, I don't know how to define the tone. I think 'Rebels' will have its own tone as well. I can tell you — and you've seen the imagery — a lot of the art is inspired by and based on Ralph McQuarrie's original art for the original films. So, we take a lot of our lead from the tone of the original films.

    JediNews has a few other quotes from Oscar Isaac and Andy Serkis in regards to the film. A few interesting things, nothing crazy but Serkis says the following about being part of the film:

    It's a wonderful, wonderful cast, really beautiful director, great atmosphere... Star Wars was my childhood, so it's fantastic.

    I'm not sure if this is official or not, but the Daisy Ridley News Twitter (which you'd imagine is pretty new) posted this, via JediNews.

    Here's a video from Lego of the largest Darth Vader in the world ever built with Lego.

    Star Wars Weekends are coming to Walt Disney World in the coming weeks and The Disney Blog has some info on a must download app for anyone going that'll allow for some unique, augmented reality experiences.

    Finally, in Jon Favreau's recent AMA, he said the following when asked if he wanted to direct a Star Wars movie.

    Star Wars? I love Star Wars! Who wouldn't want to direct a Star Wars movie? What, are you kidding me!?

    For right now, I'm excited to see what JJ's come up with, I think he's the perfect choice and he seems to be making all the right decisions. I will be first in line to see Episode 7.

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