Star Wars spin-off #2 is indeed Boba Fett origins

There has been a lot of speculation and rumors regarding what the second Star Wars spin-off is, or was, going to be. I guess Disney decided to spill the beans since Josh Trank "left" the project. Plus it's May the 4th, so here we go.

The second spin-off is confirmed to be a Boba Fett origins story, or at least a story focused on bounty hunters. It's what many people guessed and what a lot of insiders told the internet when the spin-offs were first confirmed. We already had a semi-origin of Boba with Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. We discovered he was an unaltered clone of the Stormtrooper army host, Jango Fett. Boba was left on his own after Mace Windu decapitated Jango in the battle on Geonosis. After that we didn't see Boba until the original trilogy, so there is a pretty big gap of time where this is possible.

This is a bit interesting because Star Wars: Rogue One is basically centered around the birth of the Rebellion and the world of Rebel fighters. Having the second spin-off be about the complete opposite could potentially be a lot of fun. The only question now is who Disney will hire to replace Josh Trank.

Was Josh Trank fired from Star Wars or did he quit?

Just a day after announcing his departure from the Star Wars franchise, there are already rumors about the reasoning behind Josh Trank's decision. Despite his statement giving the impression that the decision was his, there are many speculating that it might have been Disney that gave him the boot.

But why?

Well, the biggest theory is due to the issues behind the scenes of his adaptation of Fantastic Four with 20th Century Fox. There were some issues with Trank's adaptation of the film which, at first, caused a delay of the film's production and release. There's also the matter of the less than thrilling responses the film's trailer has received so far. Writer/Producer Simon Kinberg worked with Trank on Fantastic Four and is on board for the Star Wars spin-offs and sources are claiming that he spoke up to the Disney/Lucasfilm executives about some "unusual behavior" Trank displayed while in development and on set. Apparently he also displayed a lot of uncertainty and was indecisive causing the writers and producers to step in and help him pull his own film together, including taking the reigns for reshoots of the film alongside the film's editor, Steven Rivkin. This behavior very well might have given Disney reason enough to kick Trank to the curb.
Continuing this rumor, sources are claiming that Disney's decision came just prior to the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim last week. Trank cited illness as reason for him not appearing, but he might have been asked by Disney not to appear. In addition to his absence, there was no mention of him or his spin-off film throughout the whole weekend. You can't use the excuse of not focusing on the spin-offs because Gareth Edwards' had his own panel for Star Wars: Rogue One, starring Felicity Jones, and we got a short teaser for the film.

So what happens now? We are still getting Star Wars: Rogue One in 2016. Trank's film was originally slated for a 2018 release just after Rian Johnson's Star Wars: Episode VIII hits in 2017, but sources are claiming that Disney might shift the second spin-off to 2019. That leaves a gap in 2018 that will have to be filled with something if they want to keep a tradition of a Star Wars film every year. 
There is also no telling what is in Josh Trank's future with 20th Century Fox. We will have the chance to see Fantastic Four in August and a sequel has been announced, but Fox has not confirmed writers or a director for it. That is leading many to believe that Trank might be getting fired or has already been fired from that franchise as well. My guess is Fox is waiting to see what the response will be from audiences before officially hiring Trank to direct the sequel, but if the reception is bad and/or the movie is horrible you can expect him to be kicked to the curb once again.

Personally, I never understood why people gave this guy such big opportunities in the first place. It was all based on his directorial debut, Chronicle, and I'm sorry to break it to you but Chronicle was horrible. It was a classic example of a film that looked great on paper but it was a jumbled mess with a lack of vision and direction. Why Fox even gave him Fantastic Four confused me from the beginning and the issues on set proves that he doesn't belong in the world of blockbusters. I'm glad Disney recognized a problem and didn't take the chance.

Josh Trank exits Star Wars franchise

After some longstanding curiosity about the Star Wars spin-off films, it looks like we might have some changes made to at least one of them as director Josh Trank has exited the project.

Trank had been hired to direct the second spin-off film to follow Gareth Edwards', Star Wars: Rogue One. This comes one week after Trank was not in attendance at the Star Wars Celebration convention in Anaheim, CA. He cited illness as reason for missing the weekend, but with this announcement it might have been a ruse to cover up a problem. This also comes just months before his new adaptation of Fantastic Four hits theaters. After initially expressing extreme excitement, Trank made this statement regarding leaving the franchise:

"After a year of having the incredible honor of developing with the wonderful and talented people at Lucasfilm, I'm making a personal decision to move forward on a different path. I've put a tremendous amount of thought into this, and I know deep down in my heart that I want to pursue some original creative opportunities. That said, the Star Wars universe has always been one of my biggest influences, and I couldn't be more excited to witness its future alongside my millions of fellow Star Wars fans. I want to thank my friends Kathleen Kennedy, Kiri Hart, Simon Kinberg, and everyone at Lucasfilm and Disney for the amazing opportunity and to have been a part of this. May the force be with you all."

Lucasfilm and Disney have already released a statement that production for the spin-off will continue, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a new director hop on board quickly.  

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Second Teaser

Ooh, I am getting pretty excited about this one. I didn't think I was going to be, but I definitely am.

Alexandre Desplat to score Star Wars: Rogue One

Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat has landed the job of scoring the first Star Wars spin-off film. Desplat will score Gareth Edwards' Star Wars: Rogue One and will be the first composer aside from John Williams to score a Star Wars film.

Desplat had a very busy 2014 and created scores for The Grand Budapest Hotel, Unbroken, Godzilla, The Imitation Game, and Monuments Men. The Grand Budapest Hotel won him an Oscar this year and he was nominated for The Imitation Game. He's also been nominated for Best Original Score for Philomena, Argo, The King's Speech, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and The Queen. I think he's a great addition to the Star Wars universe, but I am nervous that it won't have the same feel that John Williams brings to these films.

Star Wars spin-off receives an official title

Gareth Edwards' Star Wars spin-off now has a confirmed leading lady and an official title. Star Wars: Rogue One is currently set for a December 16, 2016 release and will star Oscar-nominee, Felicity Jones.

Many are speculating, including myself, that the Rogue One title isn't necessarily referring to a single character but to a ship. Originally the rumor was that the film would focus on a young Han Solo, but with Felicity Jones being cast in the lead role I don't think it will have much to do with Solo. The title also could be referencing the "Rogue Squadron" within the Rebel Alliance. Let's not forget Luke was the "Rogue Leader" for a while.

In addition to this news, Disney also announced today that Star Wars: Episode VIII will be released on May 26, 2017 with Rian Johnson directing. It appears the studio wants to get back to the May tradition Star Wars has always carried.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - First Teaser

I don't know about you, but I am intrigued.





One thing I am a bit curious about is John Boyega. If he is a Stormtrooper does that mean the clones were eliminated? Or have civilians gained the chance to join alongside the clones?
Another thing I am curious about is this Sith creature. Is it human? Is it some form of life? Either way, that lightsaber looks pretty creative. 

#TheForceAwakens #StarWars #EpisodeVII

Star Wars Episode VII full title revealed

We finally have the official title for Star Wars Episode VII. This news hits a little over one year from the December release date.

Make way for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The photo was shared via Twitter on the official Star Wars page and it will be the first Star Wars film in 10 years. It is also the first out of a new trilogy and at least two spin-off films to be released by Disney.

David Fincher turned down Star Wars: Episode VII

J.J. Abrams ultimately landed the job as director of the new Star Wars film, but he apparently wasn't Disney's first choice. Director David Fincher is in the spotlight right now due to the press surrounding Gone Girl, but the director recently revealed that he had been approached to direct Episode VII and also explained why he turned it down.

Fincher revealed that he did meet with producer Kathleen Kennedy but also went into detail about why he turned down the project. Apparently, Fincher didn't feel that he could properly go into the dark aspects of the franchise with just one film and didn't think he could do anything similar to The Empire Strikes Back.

This isn't terribly surprising as just about every director in Hollywood was approached for Episode VII. Not to mention that Fincher doesn't really seem like a good fit for a franchise like this. You win some, you lose some.

List of every superhero movie through 2020

With the newest announcements from Warner Bros. regarding the DC Universe, we now have a more clear view of what movie theaters will be showing for the next five years and it's a bit overwhelming. This includes superhero movies as well as the planned Star Wars flicks.

Let's take a look at what we have on tap:


May 1, 2015

The Avengers: Age of Ultron (Marvel)

June 19, 2015

Fantastic Four (Fox)

July 17, 2015

Ant-Man (Marvel)

December 18, 2015

Star Wars: Episode VII (Disney/Lucasfilm)

March 25, 2016

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Warner Bros./DC)

May 6, 2016

Captain America 3 (Marvel)

May 27, 2016

X-Men: Age of Apocalypse (Fox)

Summer 2016

Star Wars Spin-off #1 (Disney/Lucasfilm)

July 8, 2016

Doctor Strange (Marvel)

August 5, 2016

Untitled DC Project

November 11, 2016

Sinister Six (Sony)

March 3, 2017

Untitled Wolverine Project (Fox)

May 5, 2017

Untitled Marvel Project

Summer 2017

Star Wars: Episode VIII (Disney/Lucasfilm)

June 23, 2017

Untitled DC Project

July 24, 2017

Fantastic Four 2 (Fox)

July 28, 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (Marvel)

November 3, 2017

Untitled Marvel Project

November 17, 2017

Untitled DC Project

2017 (unknown)

Venom and/or female Spider-Man spin-off (Sony)

 March 23, 2018

Untitled DC Project

May 4, 2018

Untitled Marvel Project

Summer 2018

Star Wars Spin-off #2 (Disney/Lucasfilm)
The Amazing Spider-Man 3 (Sony)

July 6, 2018

Untitled Marvel Project

July 13, 2018

Untitled Fox Project

July 27, 2018

Untitled DC Project

November 2, 2018

Untitled Marvel Project

April 5, 2019

Untitled DC Project

May 3, 2019

Untitled Marvel Project

Summer 2019

Star Wars: Episode IX (Disney/Lucasfilm)

June 14, 2019

Untitled DC Project

April 3, 2020

Untitled DC Project

June 19, 2020

Untitled DC Project



It is worth noting that a lot of the 2016 and 2017 releases are no doubt close to official announcements (cough, Justice League, cough) but for now we just have the dates reserved with the studios. Looking at this full schedule you can really begin to see how ridiculous this is getting. I love superhero movies and all, but damn.

Did the plot for Episode VII just leak?

If this is true I must say I am rather disappointed that we found out this early because it sounds pretty awesome. The following paragraphs will contain potential spoilers about Star Wars Episode VII, so proceed with caution if you want to be spoiler free.



You have been warned.





Badass Digest is reporting that the plot, and a lot of script details, for Star Wars Episode VII have leaked. Included in this leak are key plot points, characters, and the overall flow of events. It even details an opening scene. Now, keep in mind that this is all a rumor at this point but also remember that it could very well turn out to be true.

According to this leak, we will see the familiar Star Wars credit roll and it pans to find a floating, severed hand in space with a lightsaber in its grip. It lands on a desert planet and is discovered by the film's heroes to be played by John Boyega and Daisy Ridley. Boyega is apparently playing a character trying to change the course of his life (familiar enough). The pair recognize the lightsaber as an old Jedi relic and decide to return it to its rightful place.
The quest leads them to Han Solo and Chewbacca where they recognize the relic as Luke Skywalker's lightsaber and mention they haven't seen Luke since the events of Return of the Jedi which happened 30 years prior. Meanwhile, there is an evil force on a nearby frozen planet is developing a weapon capable of destroying entire solar systems, not just planets.


One thing that this plot reminds me of is A New Hope. It's almost like Luke stumbling across R2-D2 on Tatooine only it's characters stumbling across a severed hand. One thing it does reinforce, if it's true, is that John Boyega is indeed the main character of this new trilogy. It also is curious to think that Han and Leia are married, but they haven't seen Luke in 30 years? Also wondering, does Luke not develop a new Jedi academy? If lightsabers and Jedi tales are still considered relics that is somewhat curious.
I find this plot interesting enough, but I want a little bit more before I make a full judgment. Something about opening a movie with a severed hand is a bit odd.

[Rumor] Oscar Isaac to make up for lack of Han Solo

The Star Wars rumors just keep on trucking along.

The newest thing to hit is that Oscar Isaac's role is going to be expanded to make up for a lack of Harrison Ford in Episode VII. Due to Ford's injury sustained on set, the script has gone through a minor rewrite to expand other characters to make up for his absence. The initial info we got was that Han Solo was a major character and was going to be in the film a lot. But, with Ford's injury keeping him sidelined for at least 8-weeks it is very possible that instead of delaying production they just decided to expand other characters.
What this says to me, if it's true, is that Isaac's character is on Solo's side. If he's taking over some of the responsibilities that would have been on Ford I assume their characters must be pretty similar or it wouldn't work.

Other sources are claiming that Isaac won't take on more responsibilities but that production is just shifting the order of things to save a majority of Ford's scenes until later on. Basically... what was set to be filmed later will be filmed sooner and vice versa.











Source

Star Wars Episode VII could be delayed

Disney has been pretty insistent that Episode VII will make its December 2015 release date despite the injury to Harrison Ford. New rumors circling around the project are contradicting this saying it's very likely the film won't make the release date.

Harrison Ford was released from a London hospital today after receiving surgery for a broken leg sustained on the set. We learned last week that the injury would sideline Ford for a minimum of 8 weeks. Disney immediately came out to make a statement saying the release date was not in jeopardy and that filming was set to resume as normal. ScreenCrush is claiming that a production meeting in England raised concerns and proposed a delay of the film's release to allow Ford proper time to recuperate.
Disney has not commented on this incident again, so take this as a rumor. Either way there is bound to be some scheduling issues with Ford out of the picture for two months. He apparently had a major role in the film, so unless they can do a quick re-write to incorporate the injury or back-off his involvement, I'm sure the usage of body doubles is bound to happen unless they are willing to delay production.

This isn't the first time this has happened, either. As many online are stating, a similar event happened during filming of Iron Man 3 when Robert Downey Jr. broke his ankle on set. Filming shut down for a week and then resumed with the usage of body doubles for wide shots and scenes that didn't involve Downey so he could heal as much as possible.
If they do wind up having to delay the release it would be somewhat funny and ironic because director J.J. Abrams initially had squabbles with Disney over the release date. He claimed a December 2015 release was too quick and they needed to delay to 2016. If they slap a delay on Episode VII I don't think Abrams will necessarily be unhappy. It might be a blessing in disguise.

Rian Johnson to direct Star Wars Episode VIII

Rian Johnson has been confirmed to write the script for Star Wars: Episode VIII and also will write a treatment for Star Wars: Episode IX. Johnson will apparently be directing VIII and potentially IX as well, so I guess that means J.J. Abrams will walk away after Episode VII.

Episode VII will no doubt lay the groundwork for Episodes VIII and IX in terms of catching us up on Luke, Leia, and Han as well as introducing all of our new characters. This is somewhat interesting because a lot of people, including myself, assumed that J.J. Abrams was taking over Star Wars and would be directing the new trilogy in its entirety. However, with Johnson being involved with the last two episodes as a writer and director this could prevent a lot of hurdles that have come into play with VII, so far. The main example is writer Michael Arndt being booted from the film and having the script completely re-written by Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams. With Johnson writing both VIII and IX, that will boost up continuity and severely decreases the risk of massive re-writes and firings.

If you're unfamiliar with Rian Johnson you can't really be blamed because he only has three directing credits (Looper, The Brother's Bloom, Brick) and a couple television credits (Breaking Bad, Terriers). His writing credits are just as small and the only include the three movies he's directed and a couple short films. I was personally disappointed with Looper, but I think he has the potential to make decent Star Wars movies. It seems that Disney is mainly seeking out directors with a science fiction background, so they're at least trying to stick to the genre.

Harrison Ford out for 8 weeks?

It was confirmed last week that Harrison Ford sustained an ankle injury during on the set of Star Wars Episode VII. He was reported to be receiving care at a local hospital after a set piece fell on him. There is news now that the injury could sideline him for up to 8 weeks.

Rumors stated that it was the door of the Millennium Falcon that landed on Ford at Pinewood Studios in England, but that hasn't been confirmed. He was airlifted to an area hospital where he's been recuperating. Due to the project's ensemble cast filming has resumed as normal, but with this news there is no telling how long they can postpone any scenes with Han Solo. But with the magic of body doubles and and CGI I don't think this is anything to fret over.

Harrison Ford injured on Star Wars set

Han Solo isn't invincible after all. Harrison Ford reportedly broke his ankle on the set of Star Wars Episode VII today and is recovering in a local hospital. Rumors are already circulating that the door of the Millennium Falcon fell on him.

There are tons of rumors that Ford is a central character and has a major role, but Disney confirmed that shooting will continue despite the injury:

"Harrison Ford sustained an ankle injury during filming today on the set of Star Wars: Episode VII. He was taken to a local hospital and is receiving care. Shooting will continue as planned while he recuperates."

Well, that's a bummer.

Is Robert Pattinson the new Indiana Jones?

Please note this is just a rumor. A very sad, revolting rumor.

The Daily Star in Britain is claiming that Disney is considering Robert Pattinson for the role of Indiana Jones in a new franchise. If this is true, he would be replacing Harrison Ford in the iconic role. The tabloid is insisting that Disney is seeking a young star to exercise the long-term options of the franchise and Pattinson is on the top of the list because he has proved himself beyond the Twilight franchise.
It is no secret that Disney is interested in continuing or rebooting the Indiana Jones franchise. They shelled out a ridiculous amount of money to buy the rights from Paramount and acquired a bit of the franchise with the purchase of Lucasfilm. Not to mention the Indiana Jones rides inside the Disney theme parks. However, Robert Pattinson does not belong in this franchise. Sure he looks scruffy but that is because he apparently doesn't like to shave and looks like he never showers.

It was previously rumored that Bradley Cooper was being considered for the role but nothing has come of that just yet. Pattinson is too young and just doesn't seem rugged enough. Plus, if his desire was to back away from being nothing but a franchise actor he shouldn't accept this deal or go anywhere near it. At least we hope so.

Josh Trank to direct Star Wars spin-off

Fantastic Four director Josh Trank has been hired to direct another standalone Star Wars spin-off film. It was announced by Disney that they intended to make at least three separate Star Wars films and they just are keeping the ball rolling. Godzilla director Gareth Edwards was confirmed to be directing one of them last week.

Trank hit the scene with the 2012 film Chronicle and since then has been hired to direct Fox's Fantastic Four reboot. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy stated, "we are thrilled to welcome Josh into the family."

JJ Abrams responds to leaked Star Wars images

TMZ was busy the past couple days leaking almost 100 set photos from Star Wars Episode VII including the Millennium Falcon being built. Well, apparently being built. Director JJ Abrams has gone to Twitter to respond to the leaks:

That picture was posted on Bad Robot's Twitter page (here) and shows that he is trying to do his best to keep things a little under the tarp. It seems that the trend these days is to spoil just about everything in a movie before it's even released. This note sent by Abrams is a polite way of saying, stop stealing our shit.

Lupita Nyong'o joins Star Wars Episode VII

This had been rumored a while ago, but there is now confirmation that Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o has joined the cast of Star Wars Episode VII. Also joining the cast is Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie.

Christie can also be seen in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 and Nyong'o was last seen in Non-Stop alongside Liam Neeson. There is no confirmation on exactly what their roles are going to be, but this adds a bit more to the lack of female characters that was brought up when the cast was first announced.