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Tag: Star Wars

  • SWCE: Lucasfilm CEO Offers Update on Rian Johnson and Taika Waititi’s ‘Star Wars’ Films

    SWCE: Lucasfilm CEO Offers Update on Rian Johnson and Taika Waititi’s ‘Star Wars’ Films

    Star Wars Celebration came with an announcement of an entire trilogy of new Star Wars films. Yet, it once again leaves us with quite a few questions surrounding the ones that have been announced. Recent reports hinted that quite a few planned films were scrapped and even the latest announced film just lost its writer. So, there’s a lack of hope that they’d truly move forward with their projects.

    Luckily, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy was able to offer some insight into where they stand with those films. It seems that the Rian Johnson trilogy that was announced a while back is pretty much on hold for eternity, as Johnson is busy with the Glass Onion sequel and seemingly has no interest to return anytime soon.

    Rian and I talk all the time. He is unbelievably busy. So we’re not actively involved in anything at the moment because he’s doing another one of the ‘Glass Onion’ movies and then God knows what else. But he really wants to step back into the space. It’s a big commitment of time, so that’s really on him.

    Kathleen Kennedy

    In regard to Taika Waititi’s mysterious film, she only stated that he is actively working don’t he’s script all on his own. After Thor: Love and Thunder’s reception, there might be some concern he might take the franchise into a goofier direction given his “very, very unique voice” but it seems they won’t be getting involved until he is ready to direct it.

    Taika is still working away. He’s writing the script himself. He doesn’t really want to bring others into that process and I don’t blame him. He has a very, very unique voice. So we want to protect that and that’s what he’s doing. But we’re going to make that one day.

    Kathleen Kennedy

    It’s definitely interesting to know that at least Waititi’s project is seemingly moving forward, but it is strange that they won’t just outright state that they have no more plans for Johnson’s trilogy. By the time they actually get films out, his project might even be superfluous given whatever his initial goals were with the project. Of course, perhaps them actually pushing out films might inspire him to once again give it his full attention. For now, we can only continue to wait and see if the franchise actually returns to theaters.

    Source: Variety

  • SWCE: ‘Tales of the Jedi’ Will Return for Season 2

    SWCE: ‘Tales of the Jedi’ Will Return for Season 2

    Star Wars Celebration is the event that keeps on giving, as another piece of news has arrived that Tales of the Jedi is set to receive a second season. The announcement came from its creator Dave Filoni, who has slowly taken over a larger and larger role in supervising the future of the franchise. Not only is he set to direct a film that’ll culminate all the series that spun out of The Mandalorian, but generally continues his work on the animated entries of the franchise.

    He jokingly only stated that the animated anthology series “was so fun the first time, I decided to do some more” during the panel on the 15th anniversary of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. There are no details on what the next season will focus on, as the first one consisted of six episodes that split the story between Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku’s early days.

    There’s a chance we might get to spend some more time with familiar Jedi from the franchise’s past, but it does seem his focus remains with those from The Clone Wars era. It would be great if they use this anthology series to potentially add some depth to our favorites from the sequel era, especially now that Daisy Ridley is set to return in the near future with a new sequel to the sequel trilogy.

    Source: Twitter, Star Wars

  • Tales of the Empire

    Tales of the Empire

    Premiere: May 4, 2024

    In April 2023, a second season of the animated streaming series, Tales of the Jedi, was revealed as part of Star Wars Celebration. According to Dave Filoni, the series “was so fun the first time, I decided to do some more.“

    The first season of the canonical animated series was set during the Fall of the Jedi era and was focused on the personal histories of Count Dooku and Ahsoka Tano.

    As revealed in the first trailer for the series, the second season of “Tales” will be called Tales of the Empire. The new season will tell all-new stories about Morgan Elsbeth and Barriss Offee.

    Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is a six-episode journey into the fearsome Galactic Empire through the eyes of two warriors on divergent paths, set during different eras. After losing everything, young Morgan Elsbeth navigates the expanding Imperial world toward a path of vengeance, while former Jedi Barriss Offee does what she must to survive a rapidly changing galaxy. The choices they make will define their destinies.

    Official Synopsis for Tales of the Empire

    Cast

    • Diana Lee Inosanto as Morgan Elsbeth
    • Meredith Salenger as Barriss Offee
    • Rya Kihlstedt as Lyn, aka Fourth Sister
    • Wing T. Chao as Wing
    • Lars Mikkelsen as Thrawn
    • Jason Isaacs as Grand Inquisitor
    • Matthew Wood as General Grievous
  • SWCE: ‘Clone Wars’ and ‘Rebels’ Composer Kevin Kiner to Score ‘Ahsoka’

    SWCE: ‘Clone Wars’ and ‘Rebels’ Composer Kevin Kiner to Score ‘Ahsoka’

    Since 2008, composer Kevin Kiner has created the musical scores for nearly all of Star Wars animated projects. A veteran of The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Bad Batch and Tales of the Jedi, Kiner’s original works have accompanied many of the franchise’s most beloved characters as they have made their way through the galaxy far, far away. It’s only fitting, then, that Kiner make the jump from animation to live-action with the crew of the Ghost in the upcoming streaming series Ahsoka.

    As part of the Ahsoka panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023, it was announced that Kiner did indeed create the musical score for Ahsoka, which streams this August. An argument could be made that outside of creator Dave Filoni, Kiner may know Ahsoka Tano the best, having created her theme and scoring over 200 episodes of shows in which she was often one of the main characters, including the recent Tales of the Jedi which told the origins of the character.

    Ahsoka will begin streaming on Disney Plus in August.

  • SWCE: Lucasilm Reveals the Directing Team Behind ‘Ahsoka’

    SWCE: Lucasilm Reveals the Directing Team Behind ‘Ahsoka’

    After being part of the Lucasfilm Showcase Panel on the opening day of Star Wars Celebration 2023, the upcoming Star Wars streaming series Ahsoka had its own panel on day two. While the panel included a good deal of information about the talent in front of the camera in Ahsoka, creator Dave Filoni also took the opportunity to unveil the talented team of directors behind it.

    As has been the case with all of Lucasfilm’s live-action Star Wars series, Ahsoka was a team effort…and it was quite a team. To no one’s surprise, Filoni directed at least one episode of the series along with Rick Famuyiwa, who has become a key member of the Mando-verse creative team. Joining them were Jennifer Getzinger, Steph Green, Geeta Patel and Peter Ramsey.

    While Getzinger is new to Star Wars, her resume includes over a half dozen high-profile series. Having directed Mad Men (10 episodes), Agent Carter (2 episodes), Daredevil (1 episode), Outlander (4 episodes), Jessica Jones (3 episodes) and Westworld (2 episodes), Getzinger has a nice mix of drama and action in her background that should serve her well on Ahsoka.

    After helming one episode of The Book of Boba Fett, Oscar and Primetime Emmy Award nominee Steph Green is back for her second Star Wars project. Green has directed episodes of The Americans, Luke Cage and HBO’s Watchmen, for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special.

    Geeta Patel, who directed one episode of HBO’s House of the Dragon, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse director Peter Ramsey, who helmed Chapter 21 of The Mandalorian, The Pirate, round out the impressive team of directors on Ahsoka.

    Ahsoka will stream on Disney Plus this August!

  • Untitled Dawn of the Jedi Movie

    Untitled Dawn of the Jedi Movie

    Premiere: TBD

    Set to be directed by James Mangold, the untitled Dawn of the Jedi movie was one of three films announced to be in development at Star Wars Celebration 2023.

    Mangold’s film will be set some 25,000 years before the events of the original trilogy and will explore “the tale of the first Jedi to wield the Force and harness it as a liberating power in an era of chaos and oppression.” Mangold has referred to the film as a “biblical epic” and “a kind of Ben-Hur or The 10 Commandments about the birth of the Force” that allows him “a chance to tell the entire story of its own: the birth of the Force.”

    Cast

  • Untitled New Republic Movie

    Untitled New Republic Movie

    Premiere: TBD

    Rumored to be in development ahead of Star Wars Celebration 2023, a Dave Filoni-directed New Republic-era event film was announced on April 7, 2023 as one of three brand new Star Wars films.

    The untitled film will tell the story of “the escalating war between the Imperial Remnant and the fledgling New Republic” and “bring together many of the threads” of the New Republic era series such as The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew.

    Cast

  • The Bad Batch Season 3

    The Bad Batch Season 3

    Premiere: February 21, 2024

    During Star Wars Celebration Europe in April 2023, Lucasfilm revealed that The Bad Batch had been renewed for a third and final season. Though no specific release window was given, the animated series will stream on Disney Plus in 2024.

    In January 2024, it was revealed that the final season of The Bad Batch was set to debut with a 3-episode premiere on February 21st. The 15-episode season will wrap up on May 1, 2024.

    Cast

    • Dee Bradley Baker as Clone Force 99 / The Bad Batch
    • Michelle Ang as Omega
    • Keisha Castle-Hughes as Emerie Karr
    • Jimmi Simpson as Doctor Royce Hemlock
    • Nika Futterman as Asajj Ventress
    • Noshir Dalal as Vice Admiral Rampart
    • Wanda Sykes as Phee Genoa
  • SWCE: Daisy Ridley Returns as Rey in ‘The Rise of the Skywalker’ Sequel by Director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

    SWCE: Daisy Ridley Returns as Rey in ‘The Rise of the Skywalker’ Sequel by Director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

    Here’s the double-whammy, as it seems that not only do we finally know what exactly Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has been working on based on a script by Damon Lindelof, who sadly left the project recently, but also who is going to be the main star. It is none other than Daisy Ridley, who is set to return as the character of Rey from the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

    The story will seemingly pick up 15 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker as she tries to rebuild the Jedi Order. It is ironic that after every trilogy someone is trying to rebuild the order somewhere, but it’s going to be interesting to see how they connect this story to the past while setting up a new future.

    There’s no word if she’s actually the main star of the franchise or potentially just a side character. While the film has no official title just yet, they unveiled a timeline to help those put the pieces together when these projects take place across the wide Star Wars timeline, and it was given the simple name of “New Jedi Order “with a rather familiar logo.

  • SWCE: Dave Filoni to Direct a ‘Star Wars’ Film Wrapping Up the “Mandoverse”

    SWCE: Dave Filoni to Direct a ‘Star Wars’ Film Wrapping Up the “Mandoverse”

    It seems that they might be wrapping up the franchise that started with The Mandalorian, as during Star Wars Celebration it was announced that the one and only Dave Filoni is going to direct a Star Wars film. Now just that, but it’ll also seemingly wrap up everything that has been building up since the first season of The Mandalorian.

    His involvement with a film was hinted at for some time now with a rumor dropping right before the Celebration event even kicked off. The question does remain if this will be a Disney+ original film given how it connects to the other entries, or if this is perhaps a cinematic release that just uses story bits from the various characters and brings them all together. We#ll have to wait to find out.

    Source: Twitter