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Tag: Star Wars

  • Disney+ Unveils New ‘STAR WARS VINTAGE’ Branding for Classic Series and Films

    Disney+ Unveils New ‘STAR WARS VINTAGE’ Branding for Classic Series and Films

    Some time ago, Disney+ announced that Disney+ would be adding the original Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series alongside several Ewok properties. The time has finally come as the streaming service has now gone live with the collection. The curious thing is that they added an entirely new branding to make these stand out from the other films and series. It has now been titled the Star Wars Vintage Collection. It looks like they are trying to distinguish between canon and non-canon features easier within the service while still offering both to viewers. They even added some unique visuals to make these series stand out in the service:

     

     

    We can now access several long-out-of-print or previously unavailable movies and series such as Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, Story of the Faithful Wookiee, Ewoks, and Clone Wars 2D Micro-Series (both volumes). The Star Wars: Droids animated series, although absent from the service at the moment, is set to become available later this year.

     

     

    Disney continues to add this sort of legacy content to their streaming service as their previously signed contracts reach their end. They are getting one step closer to unifying the content under their streaming service, which offers a wide variety of properties that seemed long-forgotten. It will be interesting to see if they also start trying to add content that got scattered due to various deals. Here’s hoping we could see The Incredible Hulk or the Spider-Man series and films find their way home one day.

  • ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Cast Includes Joel Edgerton, Kumail Nanjiani, Sung Kang, And Many More

    ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Cast Includes Joel Edgerton, Kumail Nanjiani, Sung Kang, And Many More

    Disney+ has been slowly expanding. 2021 is going to be a major year for the streaming service, which will see a long-list of Marvel Studios’ shows premiere throughout the year. Of course, Star Wars also has quite a few shows planned with May’s Star Wars: The Bad Batch and The Book of Boba Fett at the end of the year. Of course, we learned of a slew of new productions starting this year that will continue to expand on the galaxy. On the official Twitter page, Star Wars unveiled the cast for their sequel to Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, which will explore Obi-Wan Kenobi’s time after the Jedi Council has fallen. The casting list includes the already confirmed actors and some new and familiar faces.

    There are some stand-out castings here. Joel Edgerton returns as a young Owen Lars. He played the character in Star Wars. Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Bonnie Piesse is also returning as Beru, his girlfriend, and future wife. Eternals star Kumail Nanijani has also joined the cast in an unspecified role. They’ve also nabbed Sung Kang of The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift fame. It is quite a cast and it’ll be interesting to see how the show tells this bridge story before he makes his return in A New Hope. They could even answer the question of how Ewan McGregor ages into Alec Guinness in a few years.

    Source: Twitter

  • REPORT: ‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Adds Production Designer Todd Cherniawsky

    REPORT: ‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Adds Production Designer Todd Cherniawsky

    Disney+ is only starting its expansion into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a galaxy far, far away. While the MCU is dominating the streaming service right now, there is quite a bit more of Star Wars just around the corner. In May, we will get the Star Wars: The Clone Wars spin-off, The Bat Batch. The Book of Boba Fett is also in production before they jump on the third season of the series that started Disney+, The Mandalorian. Of course, many other series are in some form of development. We are anxiously awaiting the return of Ewan McGregor in an upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series. It will tell the story of what happened after the events of Revenge of the Sith. There hasn’t been a lot of updates on the series, but that is changing now.

    Discussing Film has exclusively learned that production designer Todd Cherniawsky has joined the series. He has worked with Lucasfilm before. He was the supervising art director for The Last Jedi. He even got nominated at the Art Director’s Guild for his work. He has also worked in another galaxy, as he is also involved with various Star Trek: Discovery and Picard.

    He is joining cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung, who just finished up Sony’s live-action adaptation of Uncharted. Some might recognize his work on the Korean films Oldboy and The Handmaiden. Their filmography is a promising showcase of what we can expect from the series. Cherniawsky‘s work on Star Trek could also tease some beautiful alien planets that Obi-Wan will explore in his upcoming quest. It’ll be interesting to see what stories await the Jedi.

    Source: DiscussingFilm

  • Disney+ Adding Genndy Tartakovsky’s ‘Star Wars: Clone Wars’ in April

    Disney+ Adding Genndy Tartakovsky’s ‘Star Wars: Clone Wars’ in April

    It looks like Disney+ is about to add some Star Wars history in April. All our eyes are on the release of Falcon and the Winter Soldier that will continue into the next month, but some other big additions are heading our way. There has been a bit of a draught in Star Wars content. We’ve been waiting for more since the release of last year’s The Mandalorian. Well, it looks like Disney has plans to make up for the wait until Star Wars: The Bad Batch releases in May. They are finally releasing the original Star Wars: Clone Wars from 2003 on the service alongside the Ewok series and films.

     

    Star Wars needs to acknowledge Genndy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars

     

    April 2nd will be a big day for Star Wars historians, as they will add the original two seasons of the animated series, Star Wars: Ewoks. It also includes the film 1984’s Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and its sequel, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. It is crazy to think that Disney is adding these pieces of George Lucas’s legacy, which many may have forgotten over time. They are even releasing The Story of the Faithful Wookiee, which is an animated short that was part of the original Holiday Special. Mando’s iconic gun was inspired by a brief sequence featuring Boba Fett in this special.

    Now, I am very excited to see the return of the original Clone Wars series. It got developed by Genndy Tartakovsky, who many might know for his work on Samurai Jack and Primal. It ran for three seasons with 25 episodes and originally aired on Cartoon Network. It seems that they are using the structure used fr the DVDs, where the third season, as part of “Volume 2”. It wasn’t deemed canon when Walt Disney took over the franchise. However, there have been references to some moments. It is still great to see them expand the library and embrace the history of the franchise.

    Source: Decider

  • ‘STAR WARS’: Roles Thought to be Bound for a New Series are Instead Set for ‘The Mandalorian’

    ‘STAR WARS’: Roles Thought to be Bound for a New Series are Instead Set for ‘The Mandalorian’

    Late last year, before there was any sort of official confirmation regarding The Mandalorian spin-offs, reports came out announcing a couple of roles that were supposed to be destined for one of those shows. The roles, labeled “Drash” and “Skad”, were both for British-sounding supporting characters, one male and one female, both in their late teens/early twenties, both members of a street crew.

    In what can only be assumed as either as a small mistake made in the initial reports or as a natural evolution of the writing process of these shows, we can now confirm that these two characters will instead be appearing alongside Pedro Pascal‘s Din Djarin in the third season of The Mandalorian, in what seem to be the first additions to the cast after the record-setting season 2. With Grogu having left the show (or did he?) to be trained by Luke Skywalker, both “Drash” and “Skad” might turn out to be two characters that will try to fill that gap, as Din Djarin will need someone close to interact with.

    After a cameo-filled second season that paved the way to several spin-off announcements by introducing to live-action Star Wars characters like Bo-Katan, Cobb Vanth, Ahsoka Tano and bringing back Boba Fett, The Mandalorian’s third season might be returning to the template used on season one, by focusing mostly on new characters, created specifically for the show.

    The Mandalorian season 3 will begin filming shortly and is set for a 2022 release. 2021 should still bring us its first spin-off, as the Boba Fett and Fennec Shand centered The Book of Boba Fett, staring Tamuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen, is set for release this December, only on Disney+.

  • Disney+ Passes 100 Million Subscribers Worldwide

    Disney+ Passes 100 Million Subscribers Worldwide

    Disney has always been a powerhouse in the entertainment market. It seemed like they were unstoppable. So, many were curious how well they would perform once they enter the streaming market with Disney+. With a nice boost through the release of Soul, they already reached a subscription number of 94.9 million by January. That was before WandaVision was even released on the streaming platform. Now, it seems that within the last month they finally managed to surpass the 100 million thresholds. In the latest shareholder meeting, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announce the milestone with the following words:

    The enormous success of Disney Plus has inspired us to be even more ambitious, and to significantly increase our investment in the development of high-quality content. In fact, we set a target of 100-plus new titles per year, and this includes Disney Animation, Disney Live Action, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. Our direct-to-consumer business is the Company’s top priority, and our robust pipeline of content will continue to fuel its growth.

    Even in these uncertain times, the rapid growth of their streaming service has been able to keep their stock price soaring. The recent launch of India’s STAR platform has also added a lot of content that would draw in a new audience. Disney+’s biggest restriction was focusing purely on family-content, so this new direction will help it grow in Canada, European, and Asian markets. In the United States, Hulu remains bundled with the streaming service.

    Speaking of, it will be embedded with ESPN Plus, so you can access different services through one app. There is a good chance the same might happen for Disney+ as well with Hulu as the main hub. It is an amazing landmark for the young streaming service, and it will be interesting to see how it will further develop in the coming years.

    Source: Variety

  • Report: Obi Wan Kenobi will appear in “Star Wars: Andor”

    Report: Obi Wan Kenobi will appear in “Star Wars: Andor”

    Coming off the heels of an incredible season finale of The Mandalorian in December, many Star Wars fans are excited to see where the next story set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away may take them. Some are excited to continue with the aftermath of Order 66 in The Bad Batch, while others may be waiting to see what the dealings in The Book of Boba Fett have in store for the famed bounty hunter. But amongst the lists of series and films that are coming soon to a galaxy near you is the upcoming Disney+ series, Star Wars: Andor.

    Kathleen Kennedy, the President of Lucasfilm, described the series as “a tense nail-biting spy thriller in the Star Wars universe.” Created by Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Identity), Diego Luna will reprise his role as Cassian Andor from the spinoff film, Rogue One. He will also be joined by the cast of Stellan Skarsgard, Adria Arjona, Fiona Shaw, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, and Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma. And it seems that a certain negotiator may have joined their ranks as well.

    Our friends at the Illuminerdi are reporting that Ewan McGregor is set to reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi for the upcoming Andor series. What’s interesting is that it reportedly will not be a “one and done” cameo like Luke Skywalker at the end of Season 2 for The Mandalorian, but that he’ll rather have a recurring role in the series. Now, this would certainly serve quite some backstory for the character of Obi-Wan, given that he’s been isolated in Tatooine since the events of Revenge of the Sith all the way until A New Hope. Let’s not forget that we’re also going to be getting an Obi-Wan Kenobi series for Disney+ as well after this, which is set 10 years after the events of Episode III, so it would be interesting to see how the two series will connect with one another.

    Source: The Iluminerdi, Disney’s Investor Day

  • RUMOR: ‘Rangers of the New Republic’ to Replace Cara Dune with ‘Rebels’ Hera Syndulla

    RUMOR: ‘Rangers of the New Republic’ to Replace Cara Dune with ‘Rebels’ Hera Syndulla

    Star Wars is getting ready to expand in the upcoming years. The Mandalorian kicked-off a variety of spin-offs that got announced during Disney’s Investor Day. Among them, there was the mysterious series titled Rangers of the New Republic. It seemed that at one point, Gina Carano‘s Cara Dune was the front runner to lead the spin-off series. There were even rumors that she would lead alongside Katee Sackhoff‘s Bo-Katan. As many know by now, Lucasfilm has parted ways with the actress. Many wondered what it may imply for the series, especially now that they weren’t recasting. Well, it looks like they may have found their replacement in Star Wars Rebels’ Hera Snydulla.

    The story comes from a site called LRM Online, which ran the story earlier today. Shortly after, the Kessel Run Transmissions also highlighted this new direction for the show adding some validity. We still have to take this as a rumor, but the character of Snydulla would be a perfect choice. She is already well-established from the Star Wars Rebels series, and it isn’t the first time they are adapting an animated character into live-action.

    The Mandalorian saw a lot of success in carrying over characters from Clone Wars and Rebels. She also has close ties to the early rebellion and was a central figure in the formation of the Alliance that wanted to restore the Republic. She has a close connection to Grand Admiral Thrawn, who might have a role in the upcoming Ahsoka series, so she would also connect to the overarching storyline that is getting set-up.

    Source: LRM Online, YouTube (KRT)

  • Indira Varma Joins Star Wars’ ‘OBI-WAN KENOBI’ Series

    Indira Varma Joins Star Wars’ ‘OBI-WAN KENOBI’ Series

    Lucasfilm’s highly-anticipated prequel spin-off, Obi-Wan Kenobi, has added its first new cast member. According to Deadline, Indira Varma has joined the series in an undisclosed role. The actress is perhaps best known for her work on HBO’s smash hit Game of Thrones, where she portrayed the cunning Ellaria Sand for four years. Details surrounding the Disney+ limited outing have been kept tightly under wraps since its official announcement at 2019’s D23 Expo but it will shed some light on the titular Jedi’s time in exile between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.

    Before today, the only known cast members were fan-favorite Ewan McGregor, who was reprising his acclaimed role as Kenobi, and Hayden Christensen, making a surprise return to the franchise. He will return to portray the villainous Darth Vader. While we don’t know who Varma will be playing just yet, her striking facial features and British origins seem to line up nicely with The Clone Wars‘ Duchess Satine. Many fans have speculated that Obi-Wan’s love interest might appear via flashback in his upcoming solo project. Only time will tell if this theory pans out.

    Kenobi will begin filming last year, but various script rewrites and a global pandemic have delayed the process on more than one occasion. The series will enter production in the spring, with director Deborah Chow on board to run it. Chow proved her directing chops, and her handle on the Star Wars universe to fans with some stellar work on the first season of The Mandalorian. The time she spent there will surely come in use when Kenobi utilizes the same innovative StageCraft technology to stay safe in these turbulent times and bring the sands of Tatooine to life.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Star Wars: Republic Commando’ Remaster Revealed

    ‘Star Wars: Republic Commando’ Remaster Revealed

    Another fan-favorite Star Wars video game is getting a remaster. It was revealed today that Star Wars: Republic Commando is coming to the PlayStation 4 on April 6, courtesy of Aspyr Media. The game, considered a classic among the Star Wars community, allows the player to take control of Delta Squad leader Boss and his trusty group of commandos. The game’s controls have been updated to fit modern controllers, and include directing your squad through complicated maneuvers and blasting the dastardly battle droids of the Separatist Army to bits. The re-release also adds new trophies for the player to strive towards, and will reportedly feature backward-compatibility with the PlayStation 5.

    The Republic Commandos avoided de-canonization in 2013 by appearing briefly in an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The crew was voiced in that cameo by Dee Bradley Baker, who voiced every clone in the series. Fans have eagerly awaited their return to the spotlight ever since. A version of the Republic Commandos will star in the upcoming animated series The Bad Batch, which was just revealed to be arriving on Disney+ on May 4th, a holiday for the fandom. Gamers have been treated to a variety of old-school Star Wars content in the past couple of years.

    Star Wars: Bounty Hunter and Star Wars Racer Revenge are both available on the PlayStation Store at the time of this article’s publishing, along with NES original Super Star Wars. So far, no other projects related to Delta Squad have been announced, but the timing of the remaster is certainly suspicious. Especially considering Lucasfilm is about to take another high-profile deep dive into the world of Clone Troopers.

    Source: Twitter