Star Wars Bits: Rumors, Posters, Comics, And A Request From A Guardian Of The Galaxy
There's a big spoiler news report floating around for The Force Awakens. We won't tell you the details specifically, because we don't want to spoil the film for anyone, but we'll let you in on the basics of the talk for those who are very curious. Along with that info, we've got the following in this edition of Star Wars bits:
OK, first up, spoilers. I'm not going to tell you what this story is, or even the broad outlines. It's the sort of stuff that you'll regret reading if you want to experience the film first-hand. Making Star Wars has details, and even they don't seem to have all the details. Click there, but you have been warned.
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Here's a Drew Struzan-esque poster by artist Paul Shipper for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which is now just 20 Fridays away.
Not too far, far away now... Only 20 more Fridays until @starwars #theforceawakens pic.twitter.com/ar0neXEiaC
— Paul Shipper 🎨 (@PaulShipper) July 26, 2015
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Midwest US retailer Meijer apparently leaked info on upcoming Star Wars toy sets and packages.
Jedi Temple has the details; click through to that link to find more listings. This is just a sampling of what they report. Meijer claimed to have these available beginning today, July 27, weeks before the planned September 4 "Force Friday" launch, but that was also likely a mistake. Note that some of the other details at the link above could be considered spoilerish.
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You'd think that just about anyone who could work their way onto a Star Wars set might want to be in one of the new films, and Dave Bautista is no exception. During a recent online Q&A he said his next goal is to be in Star Wars.
.@IMDb Be in a freakin Star Wars film!!! Im 0-2 as of right now...
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) July 23, 2015
Given that Bautista is already in Guardians of the Galaxy and a James Bond movie, he's probably a lot closer to this goal than most other people. He sees a potential downside here, but personally, even this outcome would be great:
.@IMDb Eventually they'll stick me in a Stormtrooper suit just to stop me from bugging them! @007 #AskBautistaSPECTRE
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) July 23, 2015
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Fans who pre-order Star Wars Battlefront from GameStop can score the poster below.
Star Wars Battlefront will be available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on November 17. Fans who pre-order Star Wars Battlefront will be among the first players to experience the Battle of Jakku, the pivotal moment when the New Republic confronted key Imperial holdouts on a remote desert planet on the Outer Rim. Taking place in the aftermath of the Rebel victory in the Battle of Endor, players will experience the events that created the massive, battle-scarred landscape of Jakku shown in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Players who pre-order Star Wars Battlefront can fight the battle one-week early starting on December 1, 2015. All other players will get access to this free content on December 8, 2015.
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Finally, we knew that Star Wars would be a big moneymaker for Marvel, and the company obviously expects the first trade collection of recent Star Wars issues to do huge numbers. ComicBook.com has a fluff piece with data saying Marvel expects first printing orders of between 225,000 and 250,000 for the collection of Star Wars issues by Jason Aaron and John Cassaday. Most Marvel trades sell, on the high end, about 50,000 copies.
The series' first issue sold over one million copies, making it the best selling single issue in decades, and this trade is likely to cross over to buyers who didn't purchase individual issues.
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Meanwhile, here are the covers to the first two issues of the upcoming "Vader Down" crossover storyline announced at Comic Con. When the news first hit we had an early version of the art on the lower left. This is the final. You can also head over here for a big preview of the delayed Star Wars issue #8 by Jason Aaron and Stuart Immonen.
