There’s a lot of pressure on J.J. Abrams to not only finish the final chapter of this new Star Wars trilogy but bring an end to the entire Skywalker saga that began all the way back in 1977. It’s a Herculean task for a fanbase that has proven to be rather divisive in recent years, especially since the franchise started to appeal to people other than grown men desperate to hang on to the nostalgia of their childhood. But rather than take The Rise of Skywalker back to the safe place where The Force Awakens began by not veering too far from the structure and style of the original trilogy, J.J. Abrams said he felt “freer” and more “daring” on the new film, and that’s thanks to The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson. Read More »
After Star Wars creator George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, he stayed on as a “creative consultant” for the new movie trilogy but ended up being upset when the company chose not to use his ideas in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He’s spoken about how his vision for the sequels differed from what was ultimately produced and how, along with having Luke Skywalker train a new Jedi in Episode VII, he wanted to shift the focus to the “microbiotic world” and explore creatures called the Whills before having Luke train Leia in Episode IX. But Disney clearly had a different plan in mind.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has published a new book about his time leading the company, and in it, he discusses how, even though Disney bought some of Lucas’s early ideas for the new trilogy, the creator of Star Wars was ultimately edged out of The Force Awakens.
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In early January of 2013, a few months after The Walt Disney Company had purchased Lucasfilm, a meeting was called to establish concept art for the film that would become Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This was long before a script was in place, and even a few weeks before J.J. Abrams was officially announced as the film’s director. One of the people present was Doug Chiang, a talented concept artist who now serves as Lucasfilm’s vice president and executive creative director, and you may have seen some of the concept art that was produced in the days after that early meeting.
Today, Chiang has shared a piece of concept art we’ve never seen before – one that involves a Death Star rising out of the sands of Jakku. Check it out below. Read More »
We may never learn what Bill Murray whispered in Scarlett Johansson’s ear in Lost in Translation, but we at least will know what Carrie Fisher whispered in Daisy Ridley‘s ear during their emotional hug scene in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. And considering the fact that this scene was filmed during the production of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, thus making it one of Fisher’s last scenes to be put to film, you might expect something profound or deep. Not at all, according to Ridley. But it was something pure Carrie.
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There are times when you look at visual effects in a movie and you just know that they don’t look good. However, it can be hard to specifically explain why certain visual effects don’t look good when you don’t know the many tools, terms and work that goes into creating them. That’s where Corridor Crew‘s recent series of videos comes into play.
In a series of videos, a group of VFX artists react to various shots with visual effects of varying quality. In their latest video, they laugh at the poorly created presidential plane from the ending of Air Force One, stare in awe of an incredibly composed mirror shot in Contact, laugh at a missing frame of visual effects in X-Men: Apocalypse, break down a Star Wars: The Force Awakens sequence, and explain plenty of details about all of these scenes and more. Check it out below. Read More »
In this edition of Star Wars Bits:
- How many times have buttons been pushed in the Millennium Falcon?
- See some early Kylo Ren concept art from Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- A specific connection between Solo: A Star Wars Story and this year’s The Rise of Skywalker
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson has visited Galaxy’s Edge
- New photos detail the customization options for lightsabers that will be sold at Galaxy’s Edge
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Star Wars Resistance returns from its winter break in just a few days, and now Disney Channel has debuted a new trailer showing some highlights of what fans can expect when the animated series makes its big comeback. One of those highlights is a crossover with a key moment in Star Wars: The Force Awakens that involves one of that film’s major villains.
Plus, the show has officially been renewed for a second season. Check out the new trailer and learn more below. Read More »
As the Skywalker Saga is gearing up for the supposed final installment, the last couple prints in Eric Tan‘s epic franchise-spanning Star Wars series have been unveiled. Hit the jump to get the exclusive first look at the Eric Tan Star Wars sequel trilogy prints.
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Not to open up a can of worms, but one of the major complaints regarding Star Wars: The Last Jedi was the way the film handled Luke Skywalker’s story arc. Several fans were outraged that Luke would be hiding out on an island, ignoring his friends. The blame fell squarely on Rian Johnson, with many accusing him of not understanding Luke as a character. But here’s a twist: newly surfaced concept art created before both The Last Jedi and The Force Awakens proves that this was the direction Luke’s story was heading all along. In fact, it might have even had a darker twist. Read More »
Cool Posts From Around the Web:
Luke Skywalker remained out of sight, but never out of mind, through much of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Then he appeared as a bearded Mark Hamill in the final few seconds of the film. But we almost saw a glimpse of Luke earlier in the film, through the tumultuous vision that Rey receives when she picks up Luke’s long lost lightsaber. The twist: he wouldn’t have been played by Hamill but by actor Robert Boulter, in a re-enactment of the famous The Empire Strikes Back duel.
And now, we know what he would’ve looked like.
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