“Star Wars” fans will never stop debating what director Rian Johnson did to ‘The Last Jedi,’ it’ll just be part of the norm for them, up there with did “Han shoot first?” and why Chewie was snubbed of a medal.
Read moreJ.J. Abrams Defends Rian Johnson; Says ‘The Last Jedi' Didn't Derail the Trilogy
Rian Johnson’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” upended and infuriated so many fans of George Lucas’ prized franchise that expectations for the upcoming J.J. Abrams-directed “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” comes with bittersweet expectations for some.
Read moreStar Wars 9 Had to Be Edited On Set Due to Tight Schedule
J.J. Abrams is indeed back behind the camera for "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," but details on the final installment of the Skywalker saga have been kept scarce. There was a teaser trailer and an Vanity Fair cover story with never-beore-seen photos. Otherwise, we will likely have to wait a few more weeks, maybe months, before we see a proper full-length trailer being released.
Read moreRon Howard Blames ‘Internet Trolls' For ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Box-Office Failures
When Ron Howard took over directorial duties for "Solo: A Star Wars Story," replacing original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, he knew the task at hand was enormous. After all, the "Star Wars" brand is as important, if not more so, for Disney than their cherished Marvel brand. He was seen as the ‘savior’ as trouble was brewing between Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy and Lord/Miller during production of the film. Howard had to steer the ship back in the right direction and have fans that were turned off by Rian Johnson's Episode 8 come back onboard this more by-the-numbers movie. Suffice to say, the underwhelming box-office clearly showed that not to be the case and "Solo," a film that no doubt had major flaws on-screen, was not saved by Howard.
Read moreGeorge Lucas on ‘The Phantom Menace' 20 Years Later: “I love Episode I very much"
The official Star Wars site has a nice little “looking-back “ anecdote on the 20th anniversary of “Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace.”
Read moreMark Hamill Tweets Fake Picture About Disney's “Missed Opportunity" at Reuniting Han, Lando, Leia and Luke
Mark Hamill is an automatic go-to for World of Reel. Whenever the guy opens his mouth we tend to cover the outrageously honest things he says. Hamill just tweeted away a “what if” scenario on Twitter with the hashtag #MissedOpportunies. A reunion, of-sorts, between Han, Lando, Leia and Luke. Oh, what could have been.
Read moreMark Hamill on Disney's “Star Wars" Trilogy: They Are Doing A Good Job of Killing the Past
Ah yes, Mr. Mark Hamill is at it yet again. He’s currently promoting his latest project “Knightfall,” but was asked , again, about the bewilderment that was “The Last Jedi,” even 14 months since its release.
Read moreTopher Grace Edited All 10 Star Wars Movies Into A Super-Trailer Called “Star Wars: Always”
Apparently Topher Grace has had enough time in his hands to edit all ten Star Wars films into an epic new “trailer.” For Grace, according to his tweet, it was all part of a fun weekend he spent with a friend, while the wives were gone somewhere. His inner fanboy came out, were all guilty of that every so often, this is very well-done, but I wouldn’t call it a “trailer” probably more like a brief summary of 25 hours worth of movies.
Read moreDisney film chief thinks Solo: A Star Wars Story reception was unfair
By all accounts, Disney and Lucasfilm’s second Anthology film “Solo: A Star Wars Story” was a box-office disappointment. There was already a troubled production where Ron Howard had to be hired to reshoot practically the whole film, after the firing of original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
The mixed reviews that Solo garnered confirmed for many the doubt that was already very much at the forefront of this film’s pre-release buzz. This all resulted in a $392 million worldwide box-office intake, a very average result in terms of “Star Wars.”
Speaking to THR, Disney’s film chief Alan Horn expressed frustration over the reception “Solo” got:
“It’s always a challenge because — and I say this with love and respect for media — the thing about these big movies is they get a lot of attention, whether positive or negative. So when they don’t work, like Solo, the media says it’s a failure. I think it was a pretty good movie. It didn’t resonate as much as we’d hoped it would, but the press writes it up in a more negative way than I would. These are very high-profile movies. If Aladdin, which I happen to think is a terrific film, doesn’t work somehow, that’s big news and much bigger news than if a movie somewhere else, like The Kid Who Would Be King [at Fox,] doesn’t work.”
J.J. Abrams Wraps ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ Filming, Posts Emotional Cast Photo
J.J. Abrams has announced, via Twitter, that “Star Wars: Episode IX” has wrapped up its principal photography. He also went on to post an emotional cast photo with members Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac hugging on set.
Read moreRian Johnson's Star Wars Trilogy Reportedly No Longer Happening, According to Multiple Sources
Jar Jar Binks Actor Says “Racism-Fueled” Backlash Led to Him contemplating Suicide
Jar Jar Binks is considered to be the most hated character in "Star Wars" history. Not even those damn Ewoks can dethrone the Gungan from "The Phantom Menace". In fact, the hatred directed at the character had such a negative effect on its portrayer, actor Ahmed Best, that he contemplated suicide, “I faced a media backlash that really made me feel like my life was over” the actor says in a recently released video interview, adding, “There was just so much hate and anger and venom directed at me, and I took it personally…I put a lot of me into that work, and if you talk to any artist who really cares about their work, you’re talking about them,” Best says.
Read moreCarrie Fisher’s brother: Leia’s role in Star Wars: Episode IX feels “like it was shot yesterday”
We know that the late Carrie Fisher will posthumously appear, for the final time, as Leia Organa in next year's J.J. Abrams-directed Star Wars: Episode IX.
Her role is said to consist of mostly unused footage from Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi and according to Fisher’s brother, Todd Fisher, Lucasfilm has a lot of leftover material to work with:
Read moreStar Wars: Episode 9 Takes Place One Year After ‘The Last Jedi’
An interview in the upcoming issue of Empire Magazine, has “Star Wars” actor John Boyega confirming that ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ will take place one year after the conclusion of ‘The Last Jedi.’ There had been speculation amongst fans of a possible and significant time-jump between ‘The Last Jedi’ and the untitled ‘Episode IX.’ This would allow the little boy at the very end of the film to play a major adult role in the films — just a hunch on my part...
Read more‘Solo’ Score Ineligible for Oscar Consideration Because Someone Forgot to Submit It
Variety is reporting that the music for: Solo: A Star Wars Story, with a score from John Powell and themes by John Williams, is ineligible for Oscar consideration because someone, somewhere, missed the deadline to submit it. Yes, the November 15 deadline was not met when it comes to Solo's soundtrack, which was probably the best part of the movie, come to think of it. How and/or why did this happen? We're not really sure, but this just proves how forgettable the movie was, even to Disney bigwigs.
Oscar Isaac Says ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ Handles Carrie Fisher’s Death “In A Really Beautiful Way”
In a new interview with the Daily Beast Episode IX actor Oscar Isaac said the final chapter of the Star Wars saga “deals with [Fisher’s death] quite a bit. It’s a strange thing to be on the set and to be speaking of Leia and having Carrie not be around. There’s definitely some pain in that,”adding, “[‘Episode IX’] deals with the amazing character that Carrie created in a really beautiful way.”
Read moreDisney streaming service to launch in 2019; will be called Disney+
In news that had rocked the industry to its core, Disney announced late last year that it would, eventually, be pulling its movies from Netflix and starting a new streaming service solely composed of the Disney content — past, present, and future — which actually is pretty gigantic and could easily fill any streaming service. The goal was, maybe still is, to launch the branded streaming service in 2019, which will be home for all their feature films and TV shows. It’s a huge move, but one that was inevitable.
Read moreRian Johnson: Depiction of Luke Skywalker in 'The Last Jedi' Is “100% Consistent” With Original Trilogy
Rian Johnson just tweeted, “Hot take: Luke is in fact 100% consistent with his character (not the way he’s described in marketing blurbs, but his actual, based-on-his-words-and-actions character) from the [Original Trilogy]. I’ll be at the bar if you need me.”
He's obviously trolling all the haters. No other reason to bring this up a year after the film was released.
Star Wars 9 Seen As A 'Course Correction' By Lucasfilm
Listen, director Rian Johnson could have easily taken over the director's chair for Episode IX, but Disney decided otherwise. They opted for JJ Abrams, who was the brainchild behind this trilogy and probably saw Johnson starting to interfere too much with his original vision of the way things should be going in the story. Johnson's risk-taking was a breath of fresh air, but I never doubted that we'd be going back to business as usual with Abrams hopping on-board Episode IX. It had to go back to normality, especially after the backlash from longtime fans due to what Johnson concocted in"The Last Jedi." It made $300M less than Abrams' "The Force Awakens," which is probably due to hardcores not going to see it a second or third time in theaters, like they normally would with any other Star Wars movie, because, well, they were not happy with what they say the first time around.
Read moreThe Force Killed Luke Skywalker, Confirms Mark Hamill
Mark Hamill gave an interesting take on Twitter regarding Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”
Hamill shared a panel from “The Last Jedi” comic adaptation of Rian Johnson’s film on Twitter and compared what happened to Luke not unlike what happens to an addict who has relapsed.
“THE FORCE KILLED LUKE. You have to acknowledge the irony in his fate,” Hamill tweeted. “Almost like an addict that kicked his habit cold turkey, remained clean for decades, only to re-use just once & then, tragically, overdoses.”
Hamill previously teased that perhaps Luke isn’t actually dead.
