Star Wars Bits: Rogue One, Elizabeth Banks, Alan Tudyk, Rebels, George Lucas Museum, Brie Larson And More
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In today's edition of Star Wars Bits, we take a look at the following stories:
All that and more, in today's edition of Star Wars Bits. Hit the jump to hyperspace.
Elizabeth Banks Wants to Direct a Star Wars Movie
Star Wars has tended to be more of a boys club, from the casting and characters seen on screen, to the creatives involved behind the camera (filmmakers and screenwriters). But Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has been trying to make a difference (50% percent of the executive team are women and six out of eight on the Story Group are women) and has promised they will hire a woman to direct a Star Wars film. It's just about finding "somebody who's passionate and really, really wants to do a Star Wars movie."
Me too. https://t.co/thNyBoa5pq
— Elizabeth Banks ❄️ (@ElizabethBanks) October 16, 2015
Well, Pitch Perfect 2 director Elizabeth Banks has put her hat in the ring with the Twitter reply above. I love love LOVE Banks as an actress, but have yet to been sold on her as a director. Pitch Perfect is a film that I didn't expect to love but somehow grew strongly attached to, and Pitch Perfect 2, while maybe funnier, was not a great follow-up.
And while I'm sure she's more versatile than her previous credits, we can only look at her previous work at this point. So far it appears Banks' tastes and talents have screwed largely towards comedy, and I'm not sure I'm ready for a comedic Star Wars anthology film just yet. I hate to keep throwing out the same name over and over, but I'd love to see Michelle MacLaren (Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones) tackle a Star Wars story.
Alan Tudyk Talks Filming Star Wars: Rogue One
We don't know much about Alan Tudyk's role in Star Wars: Rogue One. We know he plays a performance capture character, so likely some kind of alien or android. He has also revealed that he almost had to turn down the role due to prior commitments. Recently the actor talked to The Hollywood Reporter about what it was like to work on the practical sets of the film:
You are amazed at what you can look at, because it is a physical world. If there are creatures, then there are creatures; if there are spaceships, then there are spaceships. It's not huge swaths of green hung from the rafters. You have it all there, and if you don't have it there then you go fly some place that does.
And we've seen the practical approach in the marketing for J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens and also the early set photos coming out of the Rogue One shoot.
Luke's Lost Hand Action Figure for Sale
CodecZombie is selling a very limited edition non-official Star Wars action figure: Luke's Lost Hand, the first edition from a series called "SABER CUTS".
7cm (2.8inches) long toy casted in pure resin, airbrush/brush manually painted and packed in thermoformed blistered cardboard. Entirely handmade in Italy. Here are 25/50 pieces numbered and signed individually.
Very cool, but at €80.00 it's also very costly.
Imperial March Remix
Pablo Fernández Eyre has created a remix of John Williams' iconic "The Imperial March" theme song using actual sounds from the Star Wars films.
George Lucas Museum Gets City Approval in Chicago
The Park District of Chicago has approved a lease of 99 years with renewal options to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, a proposed museum celebrating film making through the lens of George Lucas in Chicago, Illinois. Lucas now must defeat a lawsuit from "Friends of the Parks," who seek to block the museum as it would take away parkland next to Chicago's already bustling museum campus.
"The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will be an iconic addition to the Museum Campus and will transform the current site from a barren asphalt parking lot into a usable green space for everyone to enjoy. Indeed, Chicago residents will gain nearly 200,000 square feet of new parkland thanks to this project," Jeff Philips, a Lucas Museum spokesman, said in a statement to DNAInfo. "We continue to work in partnership with the Chicago Park District and the City of Chicago to ensure the development is a success, and the Park District Board meeting is another important step in the public process."
The privately financed museum completely funded by Lucas would open in 2019 or 2020, and feature 300,000 square feet of museum space.
Watch the Star Wars Rebels Season 2 Press Conference from NYCC
We've previously reported on the Star Wars Rebels presentation at New York Comic Con 2015, but now a video of the whole press conference is online for everyone to enjoy. Watch the Star Wars Rebels presentation, which focuses mainly on season 2 of the series, above.
Star Wars Played a Role in the Brie Larson Drama Room
Brie Larson credits Star Wars for her onscreen chemistry with her 9-year-old Room co-star Jacob Tremblay:
"We went to a pizza parlor and he had these little 'Star Wars' Lego figurines, and I asked him some questions about 'Star Wars,'" Larson told Yahoo Movies. "And once he knew that I could talk shop regarding 'Star Wars,' then it was easy."
In the critically acclaimed movie, Larson plays a woman who is being held captive in a small room with her 5-year-old son.
Watch Darth Vader toss his lightsaber like a boomerang to take out a Snow Speeder. YouTuber Muselk recorded this from a game of Star Wars: Battlefront beta. Skip to the 6:40 mark.
Amazon has listed a bunch of plot synopses for upcoming Star Wars: Journey to the Force Awakens short stories by Landry Quinn:
The stories will be released on November 24th, 2015, with a hardback collection of the stories coming in April of next year.