Sci-Fi Storm

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced during today’s quarterly earnings call that a sequel to mega-hit The Avengers is already in development, but skipped over any details. He also re-iterated that Iron Man 3, Thor 2 and Captain America 2 are still on schedule.

He also mentioned that Disney’s Imagineers are also stepping up plans for Marvel-themed attractions for it’s DisneyParks division. However, Universal currently holds the rights to most of the top-line Marvel characters in the US east of the Mississippi for it’s theme parks in Orlando – so don’t expect anything other than merchandise to show up at Walt Disney World any time soon.

This is just amazing – a single guy, doing the theme to Star Wars theme, totally a cappella! And unlike video several years back where someone used his own face on an a capella group’s track where words were used, this is the actual theme…Nick McKaig also covers various other themes by multi-tracking himself to be his own group…not sure how he’d do it live though. 🙂
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Did you ever want to decorate a wall, like Han Solo did in Jabba the Hutt’s palace, but don’t want to deal with hibernation sickness? Well now you can…this year at Star Wars Weekends at Walt Disney World, which starts a week from Friday on May 18th and takes place for four weekends, they will be offering “Carbon-Freeze Me”.

Guests will step into a “carbon freezing chamber”, where multiple cameras will be used to scan the guest’s face in 3D. That scan will be used to create an 8-inch figurine of the famous carbon freeze pose, with the guest’s face instead of Han’s (which will be shipped to the guest in about 4 weeks). A light-up wristband is also included, and the process costs $99.95. Additional figurines can be ordered for $74.95 each.

You must book ahead by calling 407-WDW-TECH and a credit card is required to guarantee the reservation with a $25 cancellation fee if canceling within 48 hours. Theme park admission to Disney’s Hollywood Studios is also required.

It is a bit on the expensive side, but it’s the closest thing to an actual lightsaber yet…the folks at Wicked Lasers, who have crafted a number of powerful but handheld lasers, including one that looked remarkably like a lightsaber hilt that for a while got them in the sights of the Lucasfilm stormtroopers, has taken the next step at Epic Geek Toy – turning it into an actual saber! It takes the form of an attachment to one of their standard S3 laser units, and creates the blade effect – including the on and off “growing” effect. However, I wouldn’t plan on doing any sort of fighting, or even slicing cheese with it – it doesn’t look like it is meant for striking anything, and at $400+, I wouldn’t risk it – but it sure looks cool…it’s still an actual laser which can be dangerous, so it is not meant for kids. But check out the video below (note: the two guys fighting are not demonstrating…)
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Disney has long had a Star Wars-based attraction at 4 of it’s current theme park locations, with Star Tours at Disneyland in Anaheim, Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, and recently updating the attraction at WDW with all new technology. And the recently “expansionist” moves by the company, with the new Cars Land at the California Adventure park and additions at WDW like the Fantasyland expansion at the Magic Kingdom and the announced “Avatar-land” for Animal Kingdom, a lot of Disney and Star Wars fans have felt that a larger Star Wars presence was warranted, and could easily be accommodated at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It could even be the answer to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter over at nearby Universal Studios, which is already getting an expansion.

Star Wars Weekends are already very popular at WDW.

So it was no surprise to start hearing through the Disney rumor mill that a Star Wars land is actually being considered. What was surprising is that it appears to be aimed for Disneyland Paris, leaving U.S. fans throwing up their hands and wondering, “What about us?” They are even planning a Mos Eisley Cantina – how cool would that be? Of course, hopefully it will be more safer than the real thing…

It is uncertain just how real this is – certainly nothing is official at this point, and Disney is also known for announcing things at their parks that ultimately don’t happen. But even if Paris DOES get this, I think it is actually a GOOD sign – as it is not unknown to develop something at one park and then do it again at another park, hopefully with the kinks worked out.

Fancy the idea of taking up arms against some of your favorite heroes from SF film and television? Or fancy a blaster fight with a squad of Stormtroopers led by General Motti? (Hey, at least that last one should be easy…we know how well Stormtroopers shoot!)

Well, you might have your chance at Comicpalooza, in Houston May 25-27!

“The next best thing to being a sci-fi or action hero has to be shooting a sci-fi or action hero with a gun. Or maybe being shot by one,” says John Simons, founder and Chairman of Comicpalooza, the Texas International Comic Con. At least that’s the premise that led to the Badass Celebrity Smackdown, in which fans attending Comicpalooza May 25-27 will get their chance to pit themselves against stars of some of the biggest sci-fi and action franchises in Hollywood while helping US veterans at the same time.
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If you remember, Disney made a big announcement in September that it was going to build an Avatar-themed land at the Animal Kingdom park in Walt Disney World in Florida. But since then there has been little said, and no visible work has been done.

If you follow Disney fan boards, there has been a large uptick in speculation that Disney put the plan on hold or even outright canceled it, and given how long it might be before we see the next movie, the costs, etc. it seemed that could have been the case.

Well, at today’s shareholder meeting for the corporation, Disney President/CEO Bob Iger and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Tom Staggs talked about some upcoming things, and Avatar was specifically mentioned. They are still working on the plans, and the “land” themed for Pandora will likely not open until 2015, which could put it around the time of the sequels.

During a Q&A period, Iger was asked about how John Carter would affect the financials of the corporation, but Iger said it was too early to tell.

This May an all new ride at Universal Studios Hollywood will open up: Transformers: The Ride 3D, a 3D attraction themed around the Transformers movie franchise and even director Michael Bay collaborated on the original version that opened in Universal Studios Singapore.

For those that watched the Super Bowl, and stayed watching during the commercials, caught an interesting ad, that looked an awful lot like a live broadcast…
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Here it is – the extended version of this year’s Volkswagen Super Bowl commercial…it may look like any other commercial, but keep watching – there’s something more than just a nod to last year’s ad, called “The Force”. The 60-econd version will air during the second quarter…

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If you remember last year’s Super Bowl ads, it featured this one from Volkswagen, called “The Force”. Well, Volkswagen will return this year with another Star Wars-themed commercial – but first, they are sending out a teaser for the commercial! This isn’t part of the commercial itself, but may be setting us up for it…

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