Star Wars at Madame Tussauds – Special Preview!

2/3/2015, StarWars.com

Visiting a galaxy far, far away is somewhat cost-prohibitive and often difficult. You have to hire a pilot (a hefty sum, especially if said pilot owes Jabba money); directions come in the form of visions of the ice planet Hoth, usually after surviving a wampa attack; and asteroid fields are really bad for traffic. But don’t worry — thanks to Madame Tussauds, you can avoid all of that. The characters and locales of Star Wars are coming to you.

Interview: Jason Reitman on the Empire Strikes Back Live Read

1/29/2015, StarWars.com

The Empire Strikes Back is widely hailed as the best of the Star Wars films — the most humorous, the most romantic, and the most emotionally complex. On December 18 of last year, Film Independent (a non-profit organization that helps filmmakers and triumphs independent movies) paid tribute, holding a live table reading of Empire as part of its Live Read series for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Your First Look at Kanan the Padawan – Exclusive!

1/16/2015, StarWars.com

Star Wars Rebels has established Kanan as a heroic — yet flawed — Jedi. He doubts himself, he loses his patience, and he struggles in his new role as a teacher to Ezra. An Order 66 survivor, he also seems haunted by his past; finally, that past will be explored in Marvel’s Kanan: The Last Padawan series, coming this April. And StarWars.com has an exclusive first look at young Kanan — then known as Caleb Dume — right from the sketchbook of series artist Pepe Larraz!

runDisney Star Wars: A Wookiee Welcome

1/16/2015, StarWars.com

With months of training, costume making, and gearing up behind us, the day has finally come! As the Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend kicks off, I’ve got a full report on the runDisney Health & Fitness Expo and Wookiee Welcome live from the Disneyland Resort.

Fully Operational Fandom: Star Wars in the Classroom

1/15/2015, StarWars.com

The Star Wars saga has it all. Action, space battles, lightsabers, interesting characters. Everything. Fans discuss every aspect of the saga and channel their enthusiasm into blogs, fan films, podcasts, and crafts. I’m constantly surprised by what they do. I know, it’s a phrase I repeat again and again, but hey, that’s why this column exists.

From Characters to Colors: The Story of Star Wars Celebration 2015’s Official Poster

1/13/2015, StarWars.com

Star Wars posters are an art form unto themselves. For an artist to capture the essence of Star Wars on a poster — the feel and look of the films, the drama of the stories, Han Solo’s overall awesomeness — isn’t easy. To do it in concert with their own sensibilities is even harder. But Craig Drake‘s stunning new Star Wars Celebration poster, the official key art for April’s mega-event, appears effortless.

Revenge of the Sith 3D, Disneyland Discount Announced for Star Wars Celebration

1/5/2015, StarWars.com

“Once more, the Sith will rule the galaxy.” So said Darth Sidious upon the turn of Anakin Skywalker to the dark side, and he was right (for awhile…). Only this time, they’ll do it in 3D.

'Star Wars,' 'Avengers 2,' And The Biggest Blockbusters Of 2015

1/1/2015, forbes.com

Okay, it’s New Year’s Day, so nothing too taxing for the day. I can wait until tomorrow for something that requires anything resembling big picture thinking or complaining about the things I always tend to complain about. This one is purely for fun, but as the new year begins, let’s take a quick look at some of what likely will be the biggest would-be blockbusters of 2015. This list will be in order of release and I’ve tried to spread out the wealth in terms of the release calendar by choosing what I think could be the biggest film of each respective month, or at least the one that I find most worth discussing. That’s basically because I didn’t want to spend the whole piece discussing films dropping in April, May, June, November, and December.

‘Star Wars Rebels’ Gets a Visit from Yoda

12/31/2014, variety.com

Disney XD’s “Star Wars Rebels” is bringing back a familiar voice for its Jan. 5 return: beloved Jedi Master Yoda (Frank Oz), who escaped the Jedi purge and fled to Dagobah following Anakin Skywalker’s betrayal and the fall of the Republic in “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.”

'Star Wars' tops 'Avengers': Most anticipated 2015 movies ranked

12/30/2014, ew.com

Stormtroopers and the Millennium Falcon have eclipsed the hype for Ultron and killer dinosaurs—so claims Fandango’s annual survey of the most-anticipated films for the coming year. The ticket service says Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the most eagerly awaited movie of 2015 even though it doesn’t open until next December. In second place was the return of Marvel’s all-star team in The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Ranking third is the conclusion of The Hunger Games franchise with Mockingjay — Part 2. In fourth place was the only non-sequel to make the list: Fifty Shades of Grey, which of course is still a widely known format as it’s based on the bestselling erotic novels. The reboot of the Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World, was No. 5.

Lucasfilm ditches paper holiday cards for animated 'Star Wars' droids

12/20/2014, cnet.com

For the first time in decades, Lucasfilm sends an animated holiday greeting rather than a collectible print card. The stars: crafty "Star Wars" droids R2-D2 and C1-10P Chopper.

Yoda and Frank Oz Return in Star Wars Rebels

12/15/2014, StarWars.com

The last time we saw the Emperor’s “little green friend” in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, he was traveling to Force planets, encountering evil spectres of ancient Sith, and unlocking the path to immortality. Not a bad bit of work! But there’s no rest for a Jedi Master, as we’ll soon see on Star Wars Rebels.

'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' character names revealed (in coolest way possible)

12/11/2014, ew.com

We finally got to meet some new characters in the teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but now we’re getting to put some names with the faces. J.J. Abrams, the film’s co-writer and director, and Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, have decided to reveal the identities of some of their new characters exclusively to EW—and they’ve done it in a retro fashion that should bring a smile to anyone familiar with the phrase “Collect ‘Em, Trade ‘Em.” That was the catchphrase of the Topps trading card company, which in addition to baseball players and comic book characters put out a series of collectible cards featuring scenes and characters from around the galaxy for the original 1977 Star Wars movie.

'Star Wars’ Theme Park Attractions to Be Based on New Films, Not Old

12/10/2014, variety.com

Two years after buying Lucasfilm for $4 billion, Disney is starting to reveal just how “Star Wars” will be integrated into the company’s theme parks. Main attractions will be based on new sequels and spinoffs — the first of which, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” bows next year — not the older films in George Lucas’ sci-fi franchise, according to Walt Disney Co. chief Bob Iger. “There will be a much larger ‘Star Wars’ presence in our parks globally,” Iger said during a Q&A at Variety‘s Dealmakers Breakfast on Wednesday, presented by Bank of America and sponsored by Delta. “But we want to do this big, which takes time, and to do it right.”

Watch Stephen Colbert’s hilarious take on Star Wars’ controversial new light saber

12/3/2014, bgr.com

It’s been less than a week since the exciting new Star Wars trailer came out but fans who still feel understandably burned by Jar-Jar Binks have already found something to whine about: The major redesign of the films’ iconic light sabers. You see, instead of being a straight-up light saber as in the old movies, the new films show a contraption that looks more like a light bastard sword with two extra little light sabers that stick out from the sword’s main hilt, as you can see in the photo above.

Star Wars trailer inspires fan parodies

12/1/2014, bbc.com

The 88-second trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens has amassed more than 40 million YouTube views in 72 hours. But it has also inspired a series of spoofs, including a "George Lucas edition", which pokes fun at the director's poorly received prequels.

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ trailer coming to iTunes Friday

11/28/2014, time.com

Hey, remember how you bought tickets to whatever movie so you could see that 88-second teaser to the new Star Wars movie? Well, while the theater appreciates your money, Disney is releasing the trailer on iTunes at some point today—which is nice for the people who didn’t happen to live anywhere near one of the few theaters showing it.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer released

11/28/2014, bbc.com

It’s the trailer that has perhaps seen more speculation than any other in movie history. The teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens has just been released, revealing details about a film that’s been kept under wraps to a remarkable degree.

'Star Wars: Episode VII' Official Movie Title Revealed: 'The Force Awakens'

11/6/2014, abc.com

Filming on the movie wrapped up last week. In addition to the original stars like Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, "Episode VII" will feature a slew of newbies, including "Girls" star Adam Driver, Andy Serkis and Oscar nominee Max von Sydow. Since then, Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o and Gwendoline Christie from "Game of Thrones" have also joined the cast.

Star Wars: The stormtrooper still storming, 38 years on

10/31/2014, bbc.com

Laurie Goode was a professional musician who supplemented his income working as a film extra. One spring day in 1976, a chance series of events changed his life. Laurie received a phone call asking if he would be free for some work as an background artist on a science fiction movie that was being filmed in Elstree. He was called up because a friend of his had pulled out because of illness.

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