Movies

Star Wars Bits: Modern Recut Of 'A New Hope's Lightsaber Fight, Peyton Reed's Star Wars Script, And More

Star Wars Bits lightsaber fight
By Ben Pearson/

In this edition of Star Wars Bits:

  • A high-octane recut of the Obi-Wan/Darth Vader lightsaber battle from A New Hope
  • Ant-Man director Peyton Reed wrote an Empire Strikes Back sequel screenplay when he was a kid
  • Is a Kylo Ren origin novel on the way?
  • A look at Carrie Fisher's deleted scenes in The Force Awakens which could be repurposed for The Rise of Skywalker
  • And more!

    • We begin with this fan-made recut of the lightsaber battle from the original Star Wars. I realize this is supposed to be super epic (and yes, there's some cool choreography and interesting ideas in it), but to me, there are a lot more unintentionally funny moments in here than ones that are legitimately cool. Your mileage may vary.

    StarWars.com has officially announced its Journey to The Rise of Skywalker publishing schedule for its tie-in properties, and Lucasfilm Story Group creative executive Matt Martin explains how they will "tell a complete story of a portion of a year with the GFFA," which stands for Galactic Federation of Free Alliances.

    Carrie Fisher Returning for Star Wars Episode 9

    Jason over at MakingStarWars has an extensive breakdown of what he believes to be Carrie Fisher's shooting schedule from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and goes through it piece by piece to try to suss out what potentially deleted footage may end up being repurposed in The Rise of Skywalker. It's a fun post, and worth combing through for possible hints at what's to come.

    Rogue One - Diego Luna as Cassian Andor in Disguise

    Speaking of MakingStarWars, they also have a report suggesting that filming on the upcoming Cassian Andor prequel TV series for Disney+ will take place in Dagenham in the UK. If true, it'll be the second SW TV show to not film at England's famous Pinewood Studios, because The Mandalorian is shooting in California. David Benioff and Dan Weiss (Game of Thrones)'s upcoming Star Wars film trilogy is also rumored to be shot at Dagenham, making it the first Star Wars movie to be made outside of Pinewood.

    In what could be a simple mistake or what could be a little game of "mess with the fandom," someone apparently uploaded the wrong synopsis of an upcoming book and accidentally published this synopsis that reveals that a Kylo Ren origin novel is on the way. Again, there's no word on whether this is actually true, and actually, Matt Martin (the Lucasfilm Story Group guy we mentioned earlier) told a fan not to expect a Kylo Ren/Ben Solo story until after the Skywalker saga comes to an end. But even if this is a fake, it only seems like a matter of time until a Kylo-centric Star Wars novel is announced.

    Anovos Red LeaderAnovos has opened pre-orders for its Red Leader Rebel Pilot Helmet Accessory, which will cost you a cool $449. Pop quiz: can you name the Red Leader's character name from A New Hope? I sure as hell can't! (It's Garven Dreis, for those who care.)

    This Star Wars costume accessory was created using a 3D scan of the original Red Leader helmet, measurements of the hand painted details and stickers, photography of the helmet in its current condition, as well as stills and behind the scenes photography from the film to recreate its original condition.

    The helmet is assembled, finished, and ready to wear.

    The outer shell is made of precision-cast ABS plastic and painted to duplicate the look of the original helmet including weathering and Red Leader markings.

    Helmet details include comlink boom, chin strap, and earcup cushions.

    Please note that most ANOVOS helmets fit up to a size 8 US hat size.

    Items are subject to change in availability and features. This is not a toy. Not suitable for children. Does not offer protection.

    Peyton Reed photo

    And finally, on this year's Star Wars Day a few days ago, Ant-Man director Peyton Reed shared the old pages of a script he wrote in the wake of The Empire Strikes Back which continued that story, long before he would learn what happened in Return of the Jedi.

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