Well, Solo: A Star Wars Story has a poster now and J.J. Abrams is done with the script for Star Wars: Episode IX, which is set to begin shooting in July, so things are definitely moving forward in the galaxy far, far away. But the 18-month gap between those two releases is the longest between Star Wars movies since the series returned in 2015. Does that mean the franchise is going to be taking a break (perhaps at the Star Wars hotel)? Read on and you tell us.
Thought You Saw All of The Last Jedi? Think Again
The Source: Official Disney announcement
Probability of Accuracy: It doesn’t get any more official or accurate than this.
The Takeaway: Details on the home release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi are out, and, well, it sounds like something every fan of the movie would want, with two documentaries, three scene breakdowns, 14 deleted scenes, and commentary through the whole thing from writer/director Rian Johnson. More details can be found here, but the home editions—in multiple formats, because of course—will be released March 27, two weeks after the digital release March 13.
The Best Sound Effects in the Galaxy
The Source: Skywalker Sound staff, via ABC News
Probability of Accuracy: It’s a fascinating look behind the scenes, but there’s always the possibility they were lying the entire time…
The Takeaway: An unexpected look at the making of the latest Star Wars movie came last week when ABC News—owned, like Star Wars studio Lucasfilm, by the Walt Disney Company—debuted the online documentary short The Force of Sound, which showed the process of creating the sound effects for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. You may never look at BB-8 the same way again, never mind the vulptices of Crait. Which, when you say it like that, really seems like it’s an old sci-fi novel waiting to happen. Hey, who’s got the book license for the vulptex, anyway?
Here Comes the Solo
The Source: Disney Publishing, via Entertainment Weekly
Probability of Accuracy: No one would dare offer inaccurate information about media tie-ins in this day and age.
The Takeaway: After months of wondering where all the tie-in novels and comics for the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story were, Disney announced a whole host of them earlier this month, including Last Shot, a novel that takes place before, during, and after the original trilogy, as well as Lando: Double or Nothing, a five-issue comic book centering on Donald Glover’s younger incarnation of the character. There’s also going to be young adult and young reader books, with much of the latter concentrating on Chewbacca, somewhat wonderfully. Best of the bunch? Probably Choose Your Destiny: A Han and Chewie Adventure, which really is the choose-your-own-adventure-style book you’re hoping it is.
Jabba the What?
The Source: Solo director Ron Howard and Entertainment Weekly
Probability of Accuracy: The basic information is almost certainly 100 percent accurate. We can make no guesses as to whether or not the character will turn out to be “very cool,” however.
The Takeaway: We're not exactly sure how this happened, but somehow the news that director Jon Favreau is voicing a character in Solo became a thing online last week—in large part, it seems, because a vague tweet from director Ron Howard led people to believe that he would, in fact, be voicing Jabba the Hutt. Apparently, collective fandom only has one reading of the phrase “very cool & important.” Either that, or they desperately wish Happy Hogan would get fat and slimy in his old age. Then again, both things could be true, of course.
Could the Resistance Be the Future Of Star Wars?
The Source: Fan speculation
Probability of Accuracy: At this point, there’s little to actually be accurate…
The Takeaway: The Yakface fansite recently noticed that Lucasfilm has been filing a lot of trademarks for something called "Star Wars Resistance," including for toys, clothing, publications, digital media, audio books, and more. It’s not clear what "Resistance" actually is at this point—although io9 suggests a new TV show—but it’s worth noting that the Resistance is, already, the successor to the Rebellion. And we’ve already had an animated series called Star Wars Rebels. Could this new incarnation be some kind of a follow-up set during the current movie trilogy? Stay tuned, dear readers.
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