The Week in Star Wars returns with some updates on the Rogue One reshoots, all the news coming out of E3 (new games!) and Hayden Christensen begging to return yet again…
We’ll kick things off this week with an update on those Rogue One: A Star Wars Story reshoots. If you’re behind on the story, you can read the report collection from two weeks ago, but one of the film’s stars Mads Mikkelsen has further clarified that there is nothing to worry about. “Basically, all the big films I have done always have reshoots, it is part of their budget,” he said. “They’re either not super happy with a scene bit, the way we were acting, or maybe there’s something they want to add. It’s not a new thing, it happens with every film. Whether it’s bigger or less, I have no idea, I have nothing to compare with. It’s the same film, it’s just adding little bits here and there to do the final polishing. That’s my feeling.” Mikkelsen isn’t wrong and this is something I’ve said previously on the Flickering Myth Podcast. All big budget movies have reshoots and more often than not they’re nothing to worry about. By the sounds of things though – unless he’s playing the spin game – those rumours of 40% rewrites are seemingly untrue…
…Moving away from the reshoots and IGN caught up with Skywalker Sound’s Matthew Wood, who spoke about his work on Rogue One. “Star Wars just has such a great legacy of sound that we’ve kept really special over the years,” states Wood. “Ben Burtt, who’s the original sound designer from the first Star Wars in ’77, was my mentor, and we’ve worked together on many, many projects. He’s still active at Skywalker Sound, almost 40 years after the first Star Wars. We’ve kept those sounds very special, so they’re only used in Star Wars films. I mean, Skywalker Sound, we do a ton of other movies, but we keep those sounds special, because we want that. You hear a TIE fighter, you’re gonna know that’s a TIE fighter. It’s not going to be like, ‘Oh, I heard that in Transformers. I heard that in Pirates of the Caribbean.’ This is the TIE fighter, and it hasn’t been spread out amongst all the different movies.” You can read more of the interview here…
…Speaking of sound design, and it was confirmed this week that John Williams would be returning to the galaxy far, far away once again for Star Wars: Episode VIII. He’ll also be scoring Indiana Jones 5 and Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One…
…Star Wars: Episode VIII director Rian Johnson has taken to Tumblr to announce that they’re “in the home stretch” with production on next year’s hugely-anticipated sequel, and to celebrate he shared this behind-the-scenes image featuring what looks to be Luke Skywalker’s Jedi robe from the end of Star Wars: The Force Awakens…
…Sticking with Episode VIII and a persistent rumour for sometime has been that former Anakin Skywalker Hayden Christensen will be coming back to the franchise, possibly as a Force Ghost. Well whether he’s in the film or not, he’s certainly campaigning for it. “Absolutely. In a heartbeat, for sure,” he said about returning. “Being a part of that world was a huge deal for me, and was a good four/five years of my life. I have fond memories and good friendships from that whole time. But if they ever gave me the call, I would sign up in a heartbeat…”
…One of the many actors to test for the role of Han Solo prior to Alden Ehrenreich’s casting was Daredevil star Charlie Cox, who thinks portraying the blind lawyer Matt Murdock may have led to him blowing his audition: “I had gone to an audition — one of those things that are super secretive and they don’t tell you, but I’m pretty sure it was for the Han Solo reboot— and halfway through it, the casting director stopped me and said, ‘Why aren’t you looking at me?’,” states Cox. “I realized I had gotten into a habit of not making eye contact, because the only thing I had done for two years is play someone who is blind. I never got invited back, probably because they couldn’t figure out why I was acting like a complete idiot…”
…Before we dive into the video games news from E3, Funko have announced that it has partnered up with Underground Toys to offer fans attending Star Wars Celebration four exclusive Pop! Vinyl figures in Luke Skywalker (Bespin Encounter), Luke and Han Solo from the Yavin IV Ceremony, and bounter hunter 4-LOM…
…And Hot Toys has unveiled its Star Wars: The Force Awakens C-3PO (gold chrome version) and R2-D2 Cosbaby Bobble-Head collectible set and 1/6th scale gold chrome Stormtrooper collectible figure…
…Disney and Lucasfilm have announced that Star Wars Rebels: Complete Season Two will hit Blu-ray and DVD on August 30th in the States, and you can take a look at the cover art and special features for the box set here…
…Now, on to the video games. First up is non-E3 news with a Finn character trailer for LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens as well as details for gamers who pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition and will be lucky enough to receive early access to The Empire Strikes Back Character pack on the day of launch. On the E3 side of things, here’s a new trailer and the demo is also available to play now…
…During EA’s press conference at E3, a video was shown which gives a glimpse into the various Star Wars projects that EA and its many development teams are working on featuring the Bespin DLC for Star Wars Battlefront [check out a trailer for the Bespin DLC here], Star Wars Battlefront II, Respawn Entertainment’s third-person game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes…
…During Sony’s press conference, they officially revealed they are partnering with EA to create a PlayStation VR experience for Star Wars Battlefront titled X-Wing VR Mission. You can watch the trailer here, but there isn’t a lot of other information out there…
…And finally, here are you comic book previews. First up is Star Wars: The Force Awakens #1: It’s true—all of it! The biggest movie of the year jumps from the big screen to the comic book page! It’s been three decades since the Rebel Alliance destroyed the Death Star and toppled the Galactic Empire…but now, on the remote planet of Jakku…there is a stirring in the Force. A young scavenger named Rey…a deserting stormtrooper named Finn…an ace pilot name Poe…and a dark apprentice named Kylo Ren…Their lives are about to collide as the awakening begins. Written by Chuck Wendig (STAR WARS: AFTERMATH) and drawn by Luke Ross (HERCULES), take us on our first steps back into the Saga of a lifetime!
…Next up is Star Wars: Han Solo #2: Han Solo has entered the space race of his dreams – the DRAGON VOID! But he’s on an undercover mission – to find a traitor within the Rebellion. Teamed with Wookiee warrior Chewbacca, will they be able to find the mole before trouble finds them? And finally, Star Wars #20: Another dive into the journal of Obi-Wan Kenobi! Jabba has hired bounty hunter Black Krrsantan to find out who’s been thwarting his men! The old hermit of the dune wastes might know something about that.
That’s all for this week – may The Force be with you.
Order Star Wars: The Force Awakens via Amazon UK or Amazon US
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.
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