The Week in Star Wars returns with news on a new trilogy of movies, The Last Jedi footage, Mark Hamill talking Luke Skywalker and the Dark Side and more…
Let’s kick things off with the big news from the week: Rian Johnson’s new trilogy. The news came from Lucasfilm who announced that Johnson will be directing the first of this trilogy with long term collaborator Ram Bergman fulfilling producer duties. What’s interesting is that press release reveals that this will be a trilogy outside of the Skywalker saga, which presumably ends with J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode IX. “Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored,” the statement reads. This ties into Kathleen Kennedy’s comments from earlier this week that Lucasfilm were planning the next 10 years of films. With the company having a lot of issues with directors as of late, it’s nice to see at least someone can work alongside them…
…That wasn’t the only big news from Lucasfilm, however, as Disney’s Bob Iger announced a new live-action Star Wars series which will air on their upcoming streaming service…
…On to Star Wars: The Last Jedi now, and Disney released a new TV spot which features new footage and dialogue from the movie, and some new motion posters featuring Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver)…
…There were a lot of questions coming out of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but Kennedy told The Star Wars Show that we shouldn’t expect The Last Jedi to answer all of them. “I think [Rian’s] done an exceptional job of taking these new characters and some of the legacy characters and moving us to this next place,” said Kennedy. “He doesn’t answer all the questions, I will say that up front. But there are certain questions he does answer in a really wonderfully provocative way, and I think there’ll be some surprises that people aren’t expecting.” Read more here…
…Mark Hamill has also been talking about the hotly-anticipated sci-fi movie, specifically about Luke Skywalker’s backstory since Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. “I had to glean decades of backstory from the script,” he said in a recent interview. “And some of it I had to make up for myself. I had to know what he went through during that time. It’s not important to the storyline for this film, but I did discuss some of my thoughts with [writer/director] Rian Johnson to make sure I wasn’t coming up with anything in my personal backstory that would affect Luke’s portrayal in this film…”
…But the hottest topic of conversation is the rumours of the Jedi Master turning to The Dark Side, with Hamill himself even saying on Twitter that the former farmboy has always been a bad guy. Although he has since changed his tune telling Disney Insider, “In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Luke has lost confidence in his ability to make good choices,” he said. “It haunts him to the core. But he hasn’t gone to the dark side. This isn’t an evil version of him. But it’s still an incarnation of the character I never expected. It has pulled me out of my comfort zone. It’s a real challenge…”
…There has also been some hullabaloo over demands Disney have made to cinemas showing The Last Jedi next month, demanding chains show it on the biggest screens they have with 65% of takings going back to the House of Mouse. Neil Calloway defends these requests here…
…There was a rumour midweek that Disney were looking to acquire 21st Century Fox, which would include their film division 20th Century Fox – and therefore the distribution rights to the first six Star Wars movies as the studio own them in perpetuity. However it looks like negotiations have broken down…
…Over to Star Wars Rebels now, and you can watch the Rebels Recon for episode seven here, clips and images for the episode Rebel Assault here, and Chris Cooper’s review of episodes five, six and seven here, here and here…
…And finally we’ve got one comic book preview for the week in Star Wars #38: The Rebel Alliance turns its attention to the shattered planet of Jedha! Once the site of great significance to the Jedi, Jedha was left in ruins when the Death Star annihilated the Holy City there. Now, new series writer Kieron Gillen joins artist Salvador Larroca to bring Luke, Leia, Han, and the rest to the remains of the tragic victim of the Empire’s fury!
That’s all for this week – may the Force be with you.
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth, a presenter for WrestleTalk, and the author of Lights, Camera, GAME OVER!: How Video Game Movies Get Made. You can follow him on Twitter @ThisisLukeOwen.
