'Star Wars' Details Possibly Revealed by Sony Leak

Sick and tired of all this Sony hacking stuff? Me too, and frankly I hope it all dries up and goes away real soon. The problem is that the stuff getting leaked would be news under any other circumstance, so distasteful thought it may be we're going to post about some of it, especially when the future of Star Wars gets drawn into it. Here come the spoilers, tiny though they may be.

Columbia Pictures' Mike De Luca, who already spilled some info on Warner Bros.' Aquaman movie, has probably drawn the ire of Lucasfilm by possibly revealing what's up with Star Wars. Here's what we think we know already: Rian Johnson is writing and directing Star Wars: Episode VIII and writing Episode IX, while Gareth Edwards and Josh Trank are working on the spinoffs. How much do we know about any of them? Precious little, but here's what De Luca has to say about them in an email with Sony's Amy Pascal...

De Luca: "Star Wars: Any studio would have lost Josh Trank and Rian Johnson to this, it's freaking ‘Star Wars.’ Your ‘After Earth’ writer Gary Whitta is writing Gareth Edwards stand alone Star Wars film. Simon Kinberg is writing Josh Tranks. No one knows what they're about but Boba Fett is rumored to be the subject of one. Rian Johnson as you know is doing the main ones, episodes 8 and 9 of the Luke and Leia story lines, after J.J. [Abrams.] Not sure anything is gained by looking at what Lucasfilm is doing except we are stalking all these people too, except Whitta whom I think blows.”

Points for the dig at Whitta because he is pretty terrible.

So wait, are Episode 8 and 9 about Luke and Leia? Probably not given the ages of Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. Besides, Hamill himself recently stated these movies are about the youngsters, not the original crew. When asked by Yahoo! why he wasn't in the teaser trailer, Hamill said this...

Hamill: “This is about the new generation of characters; I think that’s the most important thing. It’s the opening act of a whole new approach to the storytelling. “I rightly assumed that it wouldn’t be our story. Because we had a beginning, a middle, and an end. This must be our offspring and the current generation, with us there lending the kind of support that Peter Cushing and Alec Guinness did in the original.”

Keep in mind all of this is coming from a guy who doesn't have anything to do with Lucasfilm or Star Wars, so his info could be out of date or just plain wrong. Either way, this probably will get De Luca's name taken off Kathleen Kennedy's Christmas card list.  [TheDailyBeast]

Read More

Major Villain Rumored to Return for 'Star Wars: Episode VII'

The most recent Star Wars: Episode VII rumors have centered on the dark side of the Force and the villains who will be tightening their grip on the galaxy. The current thought is that the Inquisitors, ancient Sith warriors who will also appear in Star Wars Rebels, are expected to be the major threat throughout the new trilogy. That hasn't been confirmed and probably never will be, but now a "new" rumors has surfaced that says the Inquisitors won't be alone; they'll be joined by a very familiar bad guy from the prior trilogies. Potential spoilers beyond this point!

Latino Review says two sources have "100%" confirmed Emperor Palpatine will be returning for Star Wars VII and VIII. If this rumor sounds familiar it's because a year ago the same story was making the rounds, only then it was with the expectation Ian McDiarmid would be in the role once again. That wouldn't be the case this time, though, but it's not clear if that's because Palpatine would be taking on a new form. He was, after all, killed at the end of Return of the Jedi. Or at least it was assumed he died but without a body and his considerable Force powers anything is possible. He wouldn't be the first Jedi to survive a tumble in the Death Star.

It should go without saying but everything in regards to Star Wars: Episode VII should be taken with a grain of salt until confirmed by J.J. Abrams or Lucasfilm, and they aren't really in the habit of doing such things.

Read More

Rian Johnson to Direct 'Star Wars: Episode VIII' and Write Episode IX

If one were to do a fan poll asking which director they would most want to see directing a Star Wars film, at the top of that list would likely be Rian Johnson. Or at the least he'd be very close to it. While he's only directed three movies in his career, they all grew to be critical successes geared to different audiences. His debut, Brick, was a teen film noir that sparked Joseph Gordon-Levitt's career; his follow-up The Brothers Bloom (my favorite) was a fantasy/heist film; and last year he gave us one of the smartest sci-fi movies in years in Looper. And it's Looper that probably helped convince Lucasfilm and Disney they'd found their guy to direct Star Wars: Episode VIII.

In awesome news that's going to be pretty darn hard to top, Johnson has agreed to direct Star Wars: Episode VII, taking over from J.J. Abrams who will apparently only stick around for one movie. Johnson is also penning a treatment for Episode IX despite some earlier reports he would be directing that, as well.

The key thing about Johnson is that he's comfortable in any genre, an ability that should serve him well in Star Wars which is expected to have big action, intergalactic family squabbles, and certainly some comedy. He fits in perfectly with the other directors Disney has snagged. Gareth Edwards and Josh Trank are two other filmmakers who come in with a fresh, youthful perspective and fluid style, and the same can be said of Abrams.

The plan is to release a new film every year beginning with Star Wars: Episode VII on December 18th 2015, followed by a spinoff in 2016 and presumably Johnson's movie in 2017. [THR]

Read More