Sci-Fi Storm

Actor Peter Mayhew, the giant who played Chewbacca in four the the Star Wars movies, will make a guest appearance on Tuesday’s season finale of Heroes of Cosplay. The world’s most famous Wookie helps Jinyo woo Victoria with a surprise she’ll never forget.

Mayhew, who regularly tours the conventions, is currently recovering from double knee replacement and tendon lengthening surgery in the hopes he will be able to walk unaided again. Of course, he had to wait until someone built a machine that could build replacement knees large enough…

Tune in Tuesday, September 17th at 10/9c on Syfy!

Just announced at Star Wars Celebration Europe – the next Star Wars Celebration (presumably Celebration VII – connection?) will return to California, and take place April 16th-19th, 2015 in Anaheim.

The previous two Celebrations were held in Orlando, Florida. Celebration IV was held in Los Angeles in 2007.

BREAKING: Kathleen Kennedy, the head of Disney’s Lucasfilm division, has announced at Star Wars Celebration Europe that maestro John Williams will return to score Star Wars Episode VII, as he has done for the previous six films…the following interview video was released with the announcement:

Well, at least we know that the long-gestating live-action Robotech feature is still alive…Latino Review is reporting that while Disney’s heating-up casting for the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII is going after big game, one prize target they apparently had in mind has already said no.

Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic) has reportedly said NO to Star Wars, instead wanting to work on a different SF epic – Robotech. A live action version of the 80s anime mashup (it was really three unrelated-beyond-mech-tech anime series edited and dubbed together to produce a three-part story) that has been in development since 2007 with Toby Maguire (Spider-Man) as a producer and then-possible star. It’s passed through some writers but only recently got a director in Nic Mathieu, a newcomer to feature films but a successful dramatic commercial director.

In general I’m looking forward to Robotech hopefully getting made – I think CGI technology is sufficient to pull it off now. But as for Leo, all I can think of is, “Whaddayanutz?”

This is apparently the first glimpse of characters for the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII? The casting directors attached to the movie have sent around a casting sheet, and it’s been confirmed by Lucasfilm. I’ve seen to similar but different versions of the list so far…from Bleeding Cool:

Late-teen female, independent, good sense of humour, fit.

Young twenty-something male, witty and smart, fit but not traditionally good looking.

A late twentysomething male, fit, handsome and confident.

Seventy-something male, with strong opinions and tough demeanour. Also doesn’ t need to be particularly fit.

A second young female, also late teens, tough, smart and fit.

Forty something male, fit, military type.

Thirtysomething male, intellectual. Apparently doesn’t need to be fit.

And from Schmoes Know:

1) MAN in his 20′s, intelligent, funny, not bad on the eyes.
2) MAN in his late 20′s, strong, good looking, and assured.
3) WOMAN in her teens. Strong willed, in shape and intelligent.
4) MAN in his 40′s, strong and able, militaristic.
5) WOMAN in her teens. Strong, sure-headed and funny.
6) MAN, 30′s, smart as a whip.
7) MAN, between the ages of 60 and 70, rough around the edges and head strong.

In either case, I’m not sure I can pass for the 30s male, and I can’t pass for physically fit, so I guess I’m out of the running 🙁

Do these descriptions fit with any existing material?

We know there was at least some measure of completed footage for episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars left in limbo after the announced cancellation in March – including the first signs of the infamous “Order 66” being programmed into the clones.

But just how much almost-finished material was there? According to composer Kevin Kiner, who has done all the music for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, they may in fact have 10 episodes near completion. In an interview with the Full of Sith Podcast, Kiner said, “We have about 10 shows that we’re still working on that are going to be part of the special material. And even hopefully there’s going to be a soundtrack record as a part of this special material, we’ll see…they’re in negotiations about that so we’re not positive that’s going to happen.”

In addition, during the recent Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, during one of her “Behind The Force” shows, Ashley Eckstein also mentioned new episodes. So it seems we may not have seen the last – but we’re still not sure how and when we might see the rest.

Could Episode VII of Star Wars be filmed in Ireland? It looks that way.

It appears that J.J. Abrams Bad Robot has been talking with the Irish Film Board about shooting some scenes in North Clare, Ireland, as well as Donegal and Sligo, after Abrams and his wife Katie McGrath (not the Merlin actress, but like her is Irish) vacationed in the area in 2011.

In addition, a biopic about Irish king Brian Boru would also likely film in the same area, notable at the Cliffs of Moher, which may seem familiar – they are the cliffs where scenes from The Princess Bride and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows were filmed.

Ok, I’ve put some of the best pics I got from this past weekend’s trip to Star Wars Weekends – man, it was blasted hot! We ended up taking it easy and some of the stuff was family oriented, and I’m still getting used to the new camera. But you can see the pics over at our Google+ photo album here.

It was a great time. Ashley Eckstein was great as usual – always friendly and remembers everything. And you could see her HerUniverse shirts being worn everywhere! It was good to see Sam Witwer again as well – he’s really funny in person.

Warwick Davis also put on a short but amazing show called “An Ewok’s Tale”, which covered his early life (very humorously) and how he got the part of an Ewok in Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi that later turned into a starring role, as well as his later roles. It included footage I’ve not seen before as well.

If you are a Star Wars fan and can get to Florida for a weekend, this is well worth it! This coming weekend is the last for this year, but it seems pretty certain there will be more next year!

The Cartoon Network may not have any Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes to air any more, but that doesn’t mean there is no Star Wars – the network will air episodes of the web series LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles starting next Wednesday, May 29th at 8/7c with a 30 minute premiere, “The Phantom Clone”. Two more episodes will air later this year.

To celebrate, LEGO took over Times Square and unveiled a life-sized X-Wing constructed from LEGO bricks – over 5 million of them. It took 32 master builders 17,000 hours to construct it, and they used the actual X-Wing kit blueprint to do it! The X-Wing will spend a couple days in Times Square, and then it will be relocated to LEGOLAND in California.

Now we know what Dave Filoni has been working on since the announced ending of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. We knew it was a new animated series, and we knew it would be set at a time “untouched” so far in the movies and TV shows.

Star Wars Rebels will debut in the fall of 2014, starting as a one hour special on the Disney Channel, then as a series on Disney XD.

The action-filled series is set between the events of Episode III and IV — an era spanning almost two decades never-before explored on-screen. Star Wars Rebels takes place in a time where the Empire is securing its grip on the galaxy and hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights as a fledgling rebellion against the Empire is taking shape. Details about the show are a closely guarded secret at this point.

Leading the development of the series is a creative team of exceptional talent. Screenwriter/producer Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class, Sherlock Holmes, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) is an executive producer on Star Wars Rebels and will write the premiere episode. He is joined by Dave Filoni as executive producer, who served as supervising director of the Emmy nominated Star Wars: The Clone Wars since 2008. Executive producer Greg Weisman brings with him a wealth of animation experience with credits such as Young Justice, The Spectacular Spider-Man and Gargoyles.

Gary Marsh, president and chief creative officer, Disney Channels Worldwide, said, “The entire team at Lucasfilm has provided extraordinary creativity and innovation for over three decades, and we’re thrilled to be bringing the expansive and imaginative world of Star Wars to Disney XD’s viewers.”

“I couldn’t be more excited to explore new corners of the Star Wars universe,” said Kathleen Kennedy, president, Lucasfilm. “I think Star Wars Rebels will capture the look, feel and fun that both kids and their parents love about Star Wars.”

Star Wars Rebels will be produced by Lucasfilm Animation, featuring many of the key talents that made Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Fans attending Star Wars Celebration Europe will be the first to get an exclusive look at the new series. Casting will be announced at a later date. More information about this developing project will be found on StarWars.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/starwarsrebels.

Check out the quick video where Dave Filoni talks about it: