Fun The STAR WARS Franchise

[Doctor Omega]

Fans have known for a while that Peter Mayhew hasn’t been in the best of health, but he still managed to put on the suit as Chewbacca one more time in The Force Awakens. He did so with the help of body double Joonas Suotamo, a former power forward for Penn State and generally interesting guy. Suotamo posted the whole letter on Twitter for fans: I'm ecstatic. And here is my statement to this terrific piece of news https://t.co/a1DPsNDb2P pic.twitter.com/r4EUZ2r17V — Joonas Suotamo (@JoonasSuotamo) February 21, 2017 It is, of course, more than a little bittersweet for all involved. http://uproxx.com/movies/joonus-suota... http://www.wochit.com This video was produced by YT Wochit Entertainment using http://wochit.com

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[McQualude]

I was never a big Star Wars fan but the family and I have been rewatching in number order before seeing #8. I've seen them all several times but my kids were little last they saw many of the films. It has given me a much greater appreciation for the prequels (1-3) and diminished my appreciation for the originals (4-6). To be honest, I like the Prequels better, they are better acted, better written, have fuller storylines, and are more exciting. The rise of Palpatine and Darth Vader also make more interesting storylines than Luke who seemingly goes from mushroom farmer to Jedi Knight in a matter of months(?). The Machiavellian machinations of Palpatine are beautiful to watch. Although the movies never give him credit for the tax increase that set things it motion, it only makes sense he was behind it. He creates two factions and plays them against one another, using one crisis after another to increase his influence and rank within the Republic. Time and again he uses everyone's weakness against them, including the Republic and builds an Empire right under the nose of the Jedi. A New Hope is exciting but the story lacks substance and Luke advances too quickly. Obi Wan's motivations never quite make sense and he chooses to die telling Vader that he will become more powerful -- but doesn't. After that is a voice or ghost. The Empire Strikes Back is often described as more action packed but I wouldn't agree with that. There are many scenes of exposition among characters who are standing or sitting and doing nothing. The acting is better, the story is better, but overall it's less well edited and less exciting than New Hope. Return of the Jedi is exciting but more family oriented, almost a children's movie. My overall favorite would be Rogue One, love that movie.

 

[Doctor Omega]

It's actually refreshing to hear a "certain point of view" contrary to the popular one - and I feel that the prequels will be better appreciated in years to come; especially if Disney go back to the well too many times and people tire of their endless new trilogies and "Star Wars Stories".

In Disney's favour, ROGUE ONE certainly does seem to have it's fans, even if TFA and TLJ have caused some division amongst the fanbase.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Star Wars actor Alfie Curtis dies aged 87


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42492807





Alfie Curtis, who played Dr Evazan in Star Wars: A New Hope, has died at the age of 87.

The London-born actor had also appeared in the 1980 film The Elephant Man and the 80s UK TV series Cribb.

His Star Wars character famously threatened Luke Skywalker at Mos Eisley Cantina in the first of the original trilogy in 1977, telling him: "I have the death sentence on 12 systems".

Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, tweeted his tribute to Alfie Curtis.

He called him a "funny, kind" man who helped provide "one of the most memorable [scenes] I've ever been a part of".

"Alfie Curtis made the #Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina scene (one of the most memorable I've ever been a part of) even MORE memorable. As horrific as he was on-camera, off-camera he was funny, kind & a real gentleman," he wrote.

"Thanks Alf- you'll be missed. #RIP."

 

[johnnybear]

I remember his friend, the spider faced monster, who seemed to be wearing Commander Koenig's orange jacket from various Space 1999 episodes! I did think they were a creepy pair though! RIP
JB

 

[johnnybear]

I remember when Star Wars was called Star Wars and didn't have the subtitle of A New Hope, which sort of sounds like it's being put into it's place rather than the initial blockbuster and best in the series, for me anyway! The series has gone down in my estimates film by film, although Phantom Menace isn't as good as Revenge of The Sith and Rogue One gave us Darth Vader again, which for me is the essential part of a Star Wars film!
JB

 

[Doctor Omega]

“Star Wars” Franchise Has Now Paid For Itself





Five years ago, Walt Disney Pictures handed out $4.06 billion to buy Lucasfilm. Now, with “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” crossing the $934.2 million worldwide mark today, it has been revealed the deal has effectively paid for itself.

Combined ticket sales of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” have now surpassed the $4.06 billion mark covering the cost of the acquisition.

Of course that figure doesn’t take into account exhibitor cuts and the hundreds of millions spent to produce and market the film, but it also doesn’t include lucrative ancillary revenue streams, merchandising sales or theme park attractions.

Those figures however are much harder to come by, which makes this an interesting benchmark only. ‘The Force Awakens’ ended up with $2.068 billion globally, ‘Rogue One’ with $1.056 billion, and ‘Last Jedi’ is now on course to end up somewhere between the two.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Chewie Caused A “Star Wars” Canon Reset





In the wake of Lucasfilm’s sale to Disney in 2012, a decision was made about the creative future of the “Star Wars” universe. Namely, it was all the previous ‘Expanded Universe’ material like books, comics, games, etc. being rendered void.

It also meant that everything subsequently coming out after that point would be canon and managed by the Lucasfilm Story Group. During a recent interview with Syfy, said story group member Leland Chee offered a more in-depth explanation for the scrapping of the Star Wars expanded universe and how it ties back to Chewbacca:

“For me it came down to simply that we had killed Chewbacca in the Legends — a big moon had fallen on him. Part of that [original decision] was Chewbacca, because he can’t speak and just speaks in growls, he was a challenging character to write for in novels. Publishing had decided they needed to kill somebody, and it was Chewbacca.

But if you have the opportunity to bring back Chewbacca into a live action film, you’re not gonna deprive fans that. There’s no way that I’d want to do an Episode VII that didn’t have Chewbacca in it and have to explain that Chewbacca had a moon fall on his head. And if we were going to overturn a monumental decision like that, everything else was really just minor in comparison.”

So it was the entire EU was dumped, even as some elements of it have worked their way back into the official canon of the universe – notably the inclusion of General Thrawn as a character on “Star Wars Rebels”.

 

[chainsaw_metal1]

Has anyone delved into the new "men's rights" cut of The Last Jedi? Apparently, someone cut most of the women and their roles out of the film and made a 46 minute version that, as I understand it, is terrible, but "empowering" to men who are afraid of the "feminist SJW agenda" (read: they can't get laid and blame women for it). People don't like the new films, fine. But quit acting like it's so terrible to allow for strong female characters just because you will never get one of them to touch your dinkle.

 

[Doctor Omega]

“Thrones” Duo Set for New “Star Wars” Films





“Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are set to write and produce a new series of “Star Wars” films at Disney Pictures.

The new series will be separate from the main episodic Skywalker saga and the Rian Johnson-helmed series that was announced last year. There’s also no timeline for when these new Benioff and Weiss-penned films will hit theaters.

Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, says in a statement: “David and Dan are some of the best storytellers working today. Their command of complex characters, depth of story and richness of mythology will break new ground and boldly push Star Wars in ways I find incredibly exciting.”

“Game of Thrones,” adapted from George R.R. Martin’s book series, will end its run on HBO in 2019. Benioff and Weiss previously announced that they were developing the series “Confederate” for HBO but that show generated controversy over its plotline and HBO declined to comment on the future of that series.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Winter is coming.....?

 

[chainsaw_metal1]

Winter is coming.....?

We're going back to Hoth! ....Yay?

 

[Doctor Omega]

Multiple “Star Wars” TV Series In The Works





Hot on the heels of the announcement earlier today that the “Game of Thrones” creators are developing a new series of “Star Wars” films, Disney CEO Bob Iger has revealed that multiple “Star Wars” TV shows are currently in development for Disney’s upcoming streaming service.

Iger revealed back in November that one live-action Star Wars series was currently in the works, but his statement today confirms several more are in the works:

“We are developing not just one, but a few Star Wars series specifically for the Disney direct to consumer app. We’ve mentioned that and we are close to being able to reveal at least one of the interties that is developing that for us. Because the deal isn’t completely closed, we can’t be specific about that…I think you’ll find the level of talent…on the television front will be rather significant as well.”

It’s not clear how many of these will be live-action. Disney is also developing TV adaptations of “Monsters Inc.,” “High School Musical” and an original series from Marvel for the service which is expected to launch in 2019.

 

[Doctor Omega]

I don't know....

At this rate of over-production(?), people may be wanting to get far, far away from this particular galaxy.

Part of what made STAR WARS special was that each film was an event.

Yes, you had bizarre and sputtering spin-offs that quickly fizzled, like the EWOK movies and the DROIDS cartoon.

But this...

This threatens to be something else - and not necessarily a good thing in the long run?

I just feel that Disney are already going back to the well too many times - and too hurriedly.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Following Disney’s announcement yesterday that “Game Of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will write and produce a new series of “Star Wars” films, an obvious question has been raised.

The pair aren’t going to get to work on “Star Wars” until after they wrap production on the final season of ‘Thrones’ early next year. With the project likely to take up all their time, what does that mean for their drama series “Confederate”?

The drama takes place in an alternate timeline where the Southern states have successfully seceded from the Union, giving rise to a nation in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution.

In the wake of the first revelation of the project, a backlash quickly built about its handling of modern day institutionalised slavery. HBO president Casey Bloys previously expressed regret publicly about the way the project was announced.

No further updates on the project have been given since that initial announcement.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Stolen from the Watercooler....

 

[Doctor Omega]

Rumor: “Star Wars” Games May Ditch EA





Four years ago, in 2013, Electronic Arts signed an exclusive multi-year licensing agreement with Disney and Lucasfilm to develop and publish several AAA Star Wars games for “all interactive platforms”. The results of that deal so far haven’t borne much fruit.

Disney planned on developing their own mobile/social titles at the time, but that idea was scrapped. EA has so far delivered two games – “Star Wars: Battlefront” in 2015 and “Star Wars: Battlefront II” in 2017. The first was a success – scoring good sales and OK critical reviews, acclaimed for its look but heavily criticised for its lack of single player, its repetitive nature, and its lack of levels with much of it hidden away behind costly DLC packs.

“Star Wars: Battlefront II” hoped to fix some of those criticisms, instead it became something of a poster child for everything wrong with the modern game industry’s practices in regards to microtransactions and loot boxes, so much so it was something of a PR embarrassment not just for EA but for the “Star Wars” brand as well.

Combined with the long delays and overhaul of “Uncharted” creator Amy Hennig and Visceral Games’ “Star Wars” game, and with no word on Respawn Entertainment’s action-adventure title based in the “Star Wars” universe, there are obvious questions about EA’s handling of the marquee franchise.

Now a new rumor is circulating suggesting that EA may be on the verge of losing their licensing agreement for “Star Wars” games. Cinelinx reports that Lucasfilm is unhappy with the current arrangement and are allegedly looking at other studios to potentially take over the licensing deal – with feelers out to both Activision and Ubisoft to possibly replace EA.

The report has NOT been confirmed. EA’s deal with Disney is widely believed to be an exclusive publishing agreement, not a developing agreement, and the report suggests there are stipulations of them pulling the license if certain standards/conditions are not being met.

In related news, the mess over ‘Battlefront II’ has now led to four legislative bills now making the rounds in Hawaii which aim to limit the implementation of electronic gambling systems within certain video games (namely loot boxes) and stop predatory payment practices. The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports that two of those bills propose to prohibit the sale of any game featuring a system such as this to anyone under the age of 21.

The other two require game publishers to prominently label games containing such randomized purchase systems, as well as disclose the probability rates of receiving each loot box reward. The bills aim to stem the exploitation of children with psychologically manipulative practices that encourage them to gamble real money on virtual goods.

 

[Gavin]

In related news, the mess over ‘Battlefront II’ has now led to four legislative bills now making the rounds in Hawaii which aim to limit the implementation of electronic gambling systems within certain video games (namely loot boxes) and stop predatory payment practices. The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports that two of those bills propose to prohibit the sale of any game featuring a system such as this to anyone under the age of 21.

The other two require game publishers to prominently label games containing such randomized purchase systems, as well as disclose the probability rates of receiving each loot box reward. The bills aim to stem the exploitation of children with psychologically manipulative practices that encourage them to gamble real money on virtual goods.

I'm quite happy that legislation such as this is under consideration. Gaming, especially that aimed at kids, should not be allowed to "teach" children to become gamblers.