Sci-Fi Storm

Breaking from StarWars.com: The official title for the next episode of the saga, Star Wars Episode VIII, will be The Last Jedi. Rumors had been swirling about a supposedly leaked title of “Forces of Destiny” (similar to a licensed card game), and others that sounded a bit Indiana Jones-ish. This at least seems respectable.

Rian Johnson is writing and directing, to be released on December 15, 2017.

It has been rumored the past several days but it is now confirmed that Woody Harrelson, most famous for his role on the hit TV series Cheers, and more recently as Haymitch Abernathy in The Hunger Games, is indeed signed to play an unspecified role in the upcoming Star Wars anthology movie that will follow a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) and Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover). While Lucasfilm isn’t saying what the role is, sources say that he is some form of mentor to the young scoundrel.

“We couldn’t be more excited to work with an artist with as much depth and range as Woody,” according to directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who released a statement. “His ability to find both humor and pathos, often in the same role, is truly unique. He is also very good at ping pong.”

The new movie, which does not yet have a title, is scheduled for release late in 2018.

Just a quick roundup on end-of-2016 events…most notably that it’s been the biggest U.S. box office year for movies ever, taking in $11.13 billion with a few days of strong tracking to go. Leading the pack was Disney/Pixar’s Finding Dory at $486 million, followed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story which had $424M, and Captain America: Civil War at $408M, giving Disney’s divisions the box office trifecta for 2016. Rogue One also looks to keep running into 2017, as it reached it’s mark in only 16 days!

While slower at gaining a box office following, Arrival, which cost much less to make than Rogue One and faced a lot of competition after its release, passed $150 million in the global box office, which is not bad for a “thinker” science fiction movie.

What happens when you mash up a superhero story with Doctor Who on Christmas Day? You get the most watched program in 2016 for BBC America. “The Return of Doctor Mysterio” had 1.7 million viewers in the Live+3 ratings and topped all the key demographics, as well as being the channels most active program on social media. Still not sure when the upcoming season will begin, but we are thinking around April.

Carrie Fisher, who suffered from a cardiac event on a flight home to Los Angeles from London on Friday shortly before landing, has passed away, according to her daughter Billie Lourd’s publicist. She was 60 years old.

An outpouring of thoughts and prayers started on Friday and continue today, with many people, celebrities and fans, saying how much she has meant to them over the years. For me, she was the first “movie crush” I can recall. I had Star Wars trading cards, and me and my friends fought over a particular card of her. She was the prototype Strong Woman, busting the “princess” stereotype. She may have been the damsel in need of a rescue, but she took part in her own rescue and wasn’t afraid to get dirty doing it. All the boys wanted to be Luke, because back then everyone thought Luke would get the girl in the end.

Carrie wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, and even played up the “Star Wars vs. Star Trek fan feud” tongue-in-cheek with fellow actor and “rival” William Shatner. Shatner tweeted this afternoon, “I’m deeply saddened to learn of the death of Carrie Fisher. I will miss our banterings. A wonderful talent & light has been extinguished.” More recently, with her re-appearance in her iconic role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, she spoke out against the body-shaming “fans” who criticized her looks on how she aged since she last appeared as Princess Leia some 32 years previously. “Please stop debating about whether OR not I aged well.unfortunately it hurts all3 of my feelings. My BODY hasnt aged as well as I have,” she wrote on Twitter.

She was very open about her struggles with alcoholism and mental health, even writing a semi-autobiographical book about a substance-addicted actress called “Postcards From The Edge” that became a movie starring her friend Meryl Streep, and then in 2009 wrote her memoir, “Wishful Drinking”.

Regretfully, we were supposed to meet Carrie last year at a convention, but she had to cancel due to an illness, and she wasn’t able to attend this year.

We miss you already, Carrie.

Update 12/28: Just a day later Debbie Reynolds, her mother, passed away after being rushed to the hospital this afternoon, according to her son, Todd Fisher. Her and her son were reportedly working on funeral arrangements for Carrie.

2016 has been full of such sadness. 2017 cannot get here fast enough.

If you are a Star Wars fan, and haven’t seen Rogue One: A Star Wars Story yet, I don’t know what you are waiting for. As much as this was touted as a standalone story, it really is as much a part of the saga as any of the others – you could call it “Episode III.9” – it just lacks major roles for the well known characters. And that may be its strength.

Rogue One took in a massive $155 million domestically in its opening weekend, and $290 million globally, helping Walt Disney Studios to be the first to ever pass the $7 billion mark in a calendar year. And despite some competition attempting to take a piece of the box office this coming weekend (Passengers has been getting a lot of buzz), the studio may have yet another juggernaut which may leave other studios battling over second for several weeks.

Here forward be SERIOUS SPOILERS, as I can’t comment on things without revealing plot points, GO WATCH THE MOVIE, and then come back here…
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This is the latest full trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which opens in just three weeks! Here we get to see some more of K-S2O, voiced by Alan Tudyk (Wash from Firefly)

The official Star Wars site confirmed today after months of speculation that the younger version of the smooth operator of Cloud City will indeed be played by actor, writer and Grammy-nominated artist Donald Glover, announced today by Lucasfilm. He joins Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo in the upcoming standalone anthology film, to be released in 2018.

“We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us,” said directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. “These are big shoes to fill, and an even bigger cape, and this one fits him perfectly, which will save us money on alterations. Also, we’d like to publicly apologize to Donald for ruining Comic-Con for him forever.”

A while back I came across this fan theory that Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars: The Force Awakens is in fact Mace Windu, the former Jedi Master who fought the soon-to-be-Emperor and lost, being flung Palaptine’s office window in a high tower on Coruscant. But we didn’t see him die – it is only implied, and if anything is true in science fiction (or Hollywood), if you didn’t seem them die, they can always come back – and sometimes, even if you did…and Samuel L. Jackson believes he’s still alive.

Now, this fan theory seems to stretch quite far on a number of things – I don’t believe the Finn is related theory at all – but it does raise some interesting points. But there’s one in particular that I want to debunk…that of the lightsaber color.
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It keeps getting better…

The international trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, shown below, gives us some more scenes and dialog that perhaps reveal a bit more of the story…watch and see…