Originally published November 13, 2016. Updated November 30, 2022.
Your weekend edition of The Week in Star Wars features more new footage from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, as well as a review for the 3D Blu-Ray release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Eddie Redmayne’s bad audition and more…
With Rogue One: A Star Wars Story just over a month away (it’s so close now!), Disney and Lucasfilm have the hype train in full effect. This week saw the release of a TV spot entitled ‘Together’ [which you can watch here], new international posters and behind-the-scenes images [see those here] and new banner posters and alien artwork [see those here]. While the TV spot offered up nothing new, the latest international trailer features new footage including more of Darth Vader [watch it here], while we also got an alternative version featuring even more new footage [watch it here]…
…Our own Oliver Davis got to chat with Mads Mikkelsen during the press tour for Doctor Strange, and the actor spoke about the third trailer released a few weeks ago. “I’ve seen the trailer, I’ve seen as much as you guys,” Mikkelsen revealed about the film. “I think it’s done, it’s over, it’s ready. And I think they’re just waiting to make a screening for all of us once we start hitting the press junkets for that as well.” You can read the full interview here…
…Sticking with spin-off movies for a moment and Han Solo’s cinematographer Bradford Young has again been speaking about the anticipated anthology movie. “It’s funny, here’s the thing about Phil Lord and Chris Miller,” he said. “Don’t let their track record fool you. Don’t put those guys in a box because they have a vision, they know exactly what they want. They have no hidden agenda, but they do have an agenda; they have a way of seeing that’s very special, and their collaboration is genuinely unique. So I have to say I had to get converted into that. I respect their work, I respect them as filmmakers, but I wasn’t quite sure if there would be a good marriage between what I’m trying to pursue and the work that I’m doing and what they’re doing, but they helped make that real clear to me early on by expressing some real interesting story [and] photographic ideas that really resonated with me. So once they started really pulling me into that world, I realized how much these cats have come from the same pedagogy of filmmaking—in the visual sense for sure, and definitely from an approach in terms of how we want to make movies, they come from the same school. These cats are subversive, don’t let it fool you. They are prepared, they are prepared to say exactly what they want to say and it’s complex and it’s layered, it’s smart, it’s visual, it’s dramatic, it’s funny, it’s uneasy, it’s unexpected. I’m honored to have them in the list of directors that I’ve worked with, that’s for sure…”
…Han Solo himself Alden Ehrenreich has also briefly been talking about the movie, stating that: “I’m allowed to say that I’m really excited about Donald Glover’s casting [as Lando Calrissian]. I think he’s going to be great in the role because he’s such a talented and interesting guy. And I can say that Chewbacca’s in the film, although I know that’s not a huge spoiler. He’s as much younger as I am in the film, so, I think he’s like 190 — or something — years old. I don’t think there’s a huge growth spurt for him from 190 to 210, so he’s probably about the same height…”
…Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them star Eddie Redmayne has revealed that he could have appeared in another major franchise last year, were it not for his “catastrophically bad” audition for Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “They gave me like a Star Trek scene — or like something from Pride and Prejudice,” said Redmayne. “It was one of those films. With films that top secret, they don’t give you the actual lines. So they give you a scene from Pride and Prejudice, but then they tell you you’re auditioning for the baddie. If you’re me, you then put some ridiculous voice on. That was a really hilarious moment, because it was Nina Gold, who I have to thank a lot because she’s cast me in several films. And she was just sitting there and I was trying again and again with different versions of my kind of ‘koohh paaaah’ [Darth Vader breathing sound] voice. And after like 10 shots she’s like, ‘You got anything else?’ I was like, ‘No.'” When he talks about ‘some ridiculous voice’, do you think he means like the one he did for Jupiter Ascending?..
…Speaking of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the film got its 3D Blu-ray release recently, and you can read our review of it here…
…In a brief piece of Star Wars: Episode IX news, it has been revealed this week that Colin Trevorrow plans to shoot the final chapter of the Sequel Trilogy on 65mm film, as opposed to the 35mm used by J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson on Episodes VII and VIII…
…2016 marks the fourth year that Disney have owned Star Wars, and our own Thomas Roach has looked back at what we’ve seen so far…
…Over to Star Wars Rebels now, and you can watch the Rebels Recon for Episode 6 ‘Imperial Super Commandos’ here along with Chris Cooper’s review here, and watch a clip from Episode 7 ‘Iron Squadron’ here…
…Sideshow and Herocross have released promotional images for the upcoming Star Wars Sandtrooper Sergeant and Sandtrooper collectible figures from the Hybrid Metal Figuration series, which are available to pre-order now, priced at $80.00 each; check them out here…
…And finally, here’s your first-look preview at Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #1: Following her time in the clutches of Darth Vader, Doctor Aphra has barely escaped with her life. If he ever learns of her survival, he’ll hunt her to the ends of the galaxy. But for now, it’s time for a return to what she does best. With the droids 0-0-0 and BT-1 in tow, she’s off in search of rare artifacts from the galactic center to the Outer Rim and everywhere in between. Aphra’s got debts to pay after all. Just as long as she can stay one step ahead of the Empire, some Bounty Hunters and just about everyone else in the galaxy! This December, the Star Wars galaxy expands into thrilling new directions as Doctor Aphra makes her explosive solo debut. It’s high adventure in deep space when STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA #1 comes to comic shops and digital devices everywhere on December 7th!
That’s all for this week – may the Force be with you.
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the co-host of The Flickering Myth Podcast and Scooperhero News. You can follow him on Twitter @ThisisLukeOwen and read his weekly feature The Week in Star Wars.
