Star Wars Episode VII News: Week 49

The Role of Luke Skywalker

     This week, most of the news concerned the The Force Awakens sequel, Episode VIII, but this news may have more weight than the others. In an interview with Movie Fone, he was asked about what if was like to be in an X-Wing, whether or not he watched Star Wars as a kid, you know, the usual stuff. After talking about J.J. Abrams, Isaac was asked, "And your next director isn't too shabby either. Are you excited to work with Rian (meaning Rian Johnson, the director of Episode VIII.)?" To which Isaac replied, "Yes. Very excited." When he was asked whether he talked to Rian Johnson or not, he said, "No, not yet." So this means two important things for Oscar Isaac's character. Number one, Poe Dameron survives the The Force Awakens. Number two, he want to be in the sequel. This slip up is grave. Some tension in the movie just flew out the window. However, he was later asked by Slashfilm about his quote, he said, "Ah, I couldn’t speak to that. I don’t even know. I think generally…watching the trailer was my only confirmation that I even was going to be in this one so I have no idea. I know that people thought I was saying I was going to be in the next one which is not true. I was asked if I was excited to work with Rian Johnson. I mean of course I would. I’d be excited to work with him. I have no confirmation whether I will or not or anything like that."So that confirms yet another thing; he has a very small role. If you don't know whether or not you're in a movie until you see the trailer, chances are, you're not a very important character. But why would he be casted as one of the big newcomers? Because to kill off a newcomer in the first movie is ludicrous. Except for during The Phantom Menace. But that's not a very good example.

     Another question floating around the plot of The Force Awakens involves the enrollment of Luke Skywalker in these films. There have been rumors of him killing Han Solo, or of him being evil, or of him dying, but according to Making Star Wars, he has a much smaller role.

     After the characters lose Han Solo, they get into the Millennium Falcon and fly off. Rey (played by Daisy Ridley) directs it to a new planet we haven't seen before. She walks up some stone steps, and hands someone his lightsaber. It's Luke Skywalker. Bam, roll credits. The end.

     If this ending were true, it would be incredibly frustrating. Luke Skywalker was cast in a movie, and has no lines, scenes, or anything but accepting a lightsaber from a new character? And Han Solo is sacrificed for that? I've heard of rumors that The Force Awakens would involve the protagonists finding Luke's lightsaber, but I didn't think that Luke himself would not appear in the actual film. If this rumor is true (and Making Star Wars' rumor track record doesn't look very good), then it will disappoint so many fans, that in Episode VIII, Disney will have to do some serious backpedalling. Killing off Han Solo was bad enough, but not featuring Luke Skywalker AT ALL during almost the entire movie? That's unforgivable.

Star Wars Episode VII News: Week 48

J.J. Abrams to Direct Episode IX?

     Spoiler rumors get old after a while, and after several weeks, there is no longer any shock value to be had. That's why I will ignore this weeks "ANOTHER major character dies!" rumors, because they are all circumstantial, regardless if they're true or not. But that doesn't mean nothing happened these past few weeks on the Star Wars front.

     First, Disney announced a 20 new books to be released this fall, directly before the release of The Force Awakens. These books go into detail about what happened after the Battle of Endor. The first book, titled Aftermath, will pick up after the fall of the Empire. No wonder all of the EU was scrapped. It would be interesting to see how it would differ from the EU, but also the similarities between the two. It's more money in the bank. Milk that $4.5 billion dollars for all it's worth! Merchandising! If Disney wants to appease EU fans, the books they release should rival the quality of the Thrawn trilogy and other Expanded Universe classics.  If the Disney books flop, it might have a negative impact on the enthusiasm for the film to devoted fans. But would it affect ticket sales? It would depend on how bad the books are. But who reads, right?

     We know that Rian Johnson is directing Episode VIII, and its release date is May 26, 2017, almost exactly 40 years after Star Wars was released, off by one day. The first spinoff, Rogue One, scheduled for December 2016, is directed by Gareth Edwards. But the sequel to The Force Awakens doesn't have a director named. granted, it's over four years away from release, but surely one must be chosen. There were rumors that Abrams would kick off the series, but then Rian Johnson would take the helm for the next two movies. However, Latino Review reported that there were some rumors that confirmed that the Disney team watched some footage from The Force Awakens, and that they were very pleased, and are considering Abrams for the role of the director in the ninth installment (not counting the spinoffs). Now this sounds very convincing, but remember that tensions remain between Abrams and Disney, who have numerous creative differences. Abrams himself said that his job was extremely stressful an that he was under a lot of pressure. Even if Disney did want Abrams to direct Episode IX, would he accept? Will J.J. Abrams rise to direct two Star Wars movies? It depends on the response to The Force Awakens And that remains to be seen.

Star Wars Episode VII News: Week 47

Harrison Ford Crashes Plane

     Yesterday, at about 4:30 P.M. Pacific Time, Harrison Ford radioed the Santa Monica airport traffic control tower, after taking off in a vintage, WWII era airplane. He requested immediate return and was given permission to land. Shortly after that, he lost altitude, clipped a tree, and crashed into the eighth tee of a golf course. He was pulled out of the plane, and early reports say he has deep gashes on his head, and may have broken an ankle. Later, it was confirmed that he had suffered "moderate injuries", but it was not specified what kind of injuries. His son said that he was "battered, but ok". Ford was praised by a witness of the crash, who noted that if the plane had gone down just thirty yards ahead, it would have plowed into the suburbs. It is unknown whether or not Ford chose to bring it down over the sparsely occupied golf course or if he just lost control. His injuries are not life threatening, and he should make a recovery.

     Why am I mentioning this? First of all, it's concerning. An actor was injured and could have possibly been killed. But I also mention it because this incident occurred just 9 months after Harrison Ford was injured on the set of The Force Awakens. This incident could change how the production team at Disney views the original cast, if they haven't done so already. Disregarding rumors that Han Solo dies for now, we could assume incidents like these have set off warning lights at Disney, as they realize that the actors can't be milked for a dozen sequels. Another event that could lead Disney to reconsider the role of the original actors in the trilogy is the death of Leonard Nimoy last week. He won't be in the third Star Trek. Disney, if it hasn't done so already, may either significantly lessen the roles of the original actors, or kill them off. Now, this assumes that that hasn't already happened, which I suspect it has. But if it doesn't occur in The Force Awakens, it It might occur in one of the sequels. Now, I am definitely not stating that one of the actors will die before filming of the trilogy ends. I'm just saying this incident may change the game as far as Disney is concerned. It might be too late in the game for Episode VIII, but by Episode IX you can bet that at least one main original trilogy actor will be getting the axe, and we all know who it will be.