‘Rogue One’ Aliens Will Bring Way More Realism To The ‘Star Wars’ Universe

Via Mtv.com:

The “Star Wars” creature supervisor reveals the challenges of creative believable aliens and droids.

We still have a year and a half to find out what’s going on with Rey in “Star Wars: Episode VIII,” but it doesn’t mean that there’s no more “Star Wars” until then. This year marks the arrival of Lucasfilm’s first spin-off anthology film, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” and director Gareth Edwards promises a darker, grittier, more realistic look at the fantastical galaxy we all know and love.

According to Neal Scanlan, who worked on the creatures for both “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Rogue One,” that sense of realism will translate into how the aliens appear in this prequel story — so basically, don’t expect any lavishly shot, creature-crowded scenes in the film.

“In the world of ’Force Awakens,’ there was a real mixture of all different kinds, very much like the original Cantina sequence,” said Scanlan, referring to the iconic scene on Mos Eisley in “A New Hope.” “Working with Gareth now on ’Rogue One,’ he sees these aliens as being much more part of the human [world]. They co-habitate, they work together and so it’s pushed us very much to create characters that are more realistic.”

“They move more realistically, they’re able to emote more than maybe the characters that we did for ’The Force Awakens.’ So they’re a closer part of the storytelling. They’re less of the world, and they’re more of this group who have a mission, and play a part in that.”

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Star Wars Rogue One Stormtrooper Helmet Revealed

Via Gamespot.com:

Following the first official image from the upcoming Star Wars spinoff Rogue One last week, another image has emerged, this time presented by actor Donnie Yen.

The Hong Kong action star posted a picture on Instagram that showcases three helmets, together with the message “I am the force and I fear nothing… Going to put this in my company’s display room.”

The middle helmet is clearly that of a classic original trilogy Stormtrooper, while the black one bears some resemblance to those worn by TIE Fighter pilots. The third helmet is entirely new to the Star Wars universe, but all three clearly evoke the era of the classic original films.

Is A Classic Star Wars Character Being Digitally Resurrected For Rogue One?

Via Entertainment.ie:

Digital resurrection in movies isn’t particularly new.

When Oliver Reed died during the filming of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, the director reused footage with the help of CGI to finish out his scenes. More recently, Arnold Schwarzenneger’s younger self was digitally interested into Terminator: Genisys for a key scene. There’s plenty more examples out there. Long story short – it’s been done.

With the flurry of news last week for Star Wars: Rogue One, the rumour mill has kicked up a notch. A report over the weekend suggests that Peter Cushing, who played Grand Moff Tarkin, will play a pivotal role in Star Wars: Rogue One. The film is set before the events of A New Hope, was released back in 1977. Cushing, however, passed away in 1994. There was a small scene in Revenge of the Sith where a younger actor played Tarkin for a few, brief moments. However, if the report is to be believed, Cushing’s character will feature more largely in the film.

There’s been no official confirmation whether there is correct or not. Moreover, the legality of the situation and how family will react if it’s true is also uncertain. JJ Abrams has been quite vocal about the fact that The Force Awakens will have significantly less CGI than the prequel trilogy and the sense is that Rogue One will be much more grimy and realistic than anything we’ve seen so far in the entire series.

So, does this legit? Not really, if we’re honest about it. Although Tarkin is a fantastic character and Cushing’s grave visage would suit perfectly with that more sinister world director Gareth Edwards is trying to make, the idea of CGI-created performance doesn’t sit well with us. For one, it’s a bit unsavoury to resurrect a dead actor and one that was so well-known. Two, anything we’ve seen of these CGI reconstructions never look right. And three, there’s a dearth of actors out there who could very easily play a younger Grand Moff Tarkin.

Off the top our heads? Benedict Cumberbatch. Eddie Redmayne. Tobias Menszies. Any thin English actor who’s got a stuffy voice and look mean, basically. There’s a better way of doing it than CGI, basically.

Let’s hope this isn’t true.

ROGUE ONE – CAST AND CREW ANNOUNCED

Via Starwars.com:

Lucasfilm announced that their first film in the new standalone Star Wars stories series, Rogue One, has begun principal photography. Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, Monsters) is directing Rogue One, which tells the story of resistance fighters who have united to steal plans to the dreaded Death Star. The film is produced by Kathleen Kennedy and is slated for a December 16, 2016 release.

The filmmakers have assembled a stellar cast, including Felicity Jones, nominated for an Academy Award for her leading role in The Theory of Everything; Diego Luna, who was featured in 2008’s Oscar-winning Milk and 2013’s Elysium; Ben Mendelsohn, recently nominated for an Emmy for his leading role in Bloodline and co-starring in the upcoming Mississippi Grind; Donnie Yen, Hong Kong action star and martial artist who starred in Ip Man and Blade II; Jiang Wen, who co-wrote, produced , directed and starred in the award-winning Let the Bullets Fly and Devils on the Doorstep; Forest Whitaker, recently featured in the critically-acclaimed Lee Daniels’ The Butler and winner of an Academy Award for his leading role in 2006’s The Last King of Scotland; Mads Mikkelsen, who starred in The Hunt and was the memorable villain from 2006’s Casino Royale; Alan Tudyk, who plays a performance-capture character in Rogue One, stars in the soon-to-be-released Con Man series and Trumbo, which releases this November; and Riz Ahmed, who was recently featured in Nightcrawler and starred in the BAFTA-winning film Four Lions.

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Star Wars Celebration 2015: That’s A Wrap – Round Up with Links!

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Here is quick guide with links to all the image galleries, videos and news we posted over the last 5 days.  We posted over 35 reports between the website and social media!  Check out the summary (and over 1,000 images)  and direct links below to each report for anything you may have missed! See you in Europe in July of 2016!

Celebration 2015: Around the Con Floor Final Image Gallery 1 

Celebration 2015: Around the Con Floor Final Image Gallery 2 

Celebration 2015: Around the Con Floor Final Image Gallery  3 

Celebration 2015: R2D2 Builders Club and Droids Around the Floor

Celebration 2015: Sideshow Presents R2-ME2

Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One Teaser Trailer at Star Wars Celebration

Celebration 2015: Darth Vader Collector Case Art Project

Celebration 2015: Kotobukiya

Celebration 2015: Fans In Costume Gallery 2!

Celebration 2015: Disney Star Wars Weekends

Celebration 2015: Images from Rebels Panel & Press Conference

New Star Wars Rebels Trailer LIVE Crowd Reaction – Celebration Anaheim 2015

Celebration 2015: Displayed Costumes

Star Wars Celebration Over Sized Topps Vintage Cards Giveaway!

Celebration 2015: SMS Audio

Celebration 2015: Hot Wheels!

Celebration 2015: Fans In Costume!

Celebration 2015: LEGO Booth Quick Look!

Celebration 2015: Star Wars Cars!

Celebration 2015: Hasbro Quick Look!

Celebration 2015: Gentle Giant Booth Images!

Collectibles Panel Gallery (SWCA 2015)

Images from The Force Awakens panel at Star Wars Celebration

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Official Teaser #2

The Force Awakens Live Stream from Celebration

New Star Wars fashions premiering at Celebration

JJ Abrams Buys Pizza For Everyone Waiting in Line at Star Wars Celebration

Celebration 2015: Set Up Gallery #1

Celebration 2015: The Calm Before The Storm…

Spacetrooper Sixth Scale Figure by Hot Toys – Star Wars Celebration

First images from Celebration Anaheim!

Rogue One Composer Is Alexandre Desplat

Via SlashFilm.com:

As production prep gears on the first Star Wars spin-off film Rogue One, we are beginning to learn about new creative talent who will be part of the team. The latest bit of info tells us who to expect as the Star Wars Rogue One composer — and it isn’t Star Wars franchise composer John Williams

Click here for the full story at SlashFilm.com

More on ROGUE ONE and EPISODE VIII from StarWars.com

The official site, StarWars.com, just posted the latest news with more details:

This morning at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, across the street from Lucasfilm, Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger hosted a shareholder meeting where he announced news regarding the first Star Wars stand-alone movie as well as Star Wars: Episode VIII.

Rogue One is the title for the first film in a unique series of big-screen adventures that explores the characters and events beyond the core Star Wars saga. Rogue One will be directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) and written by Oscar nominee Chris Weitz (Cinderella, About a Boy, Antz). The first actress cast is Felicity Jones, who garnered an Academy Award nomination and critical acclaim for her performance in The Theory of Everything. The idea for the story of Rogue One came from John Knoll, an Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor and chief creative officer at Industrial Light & Magic. He will executive produce along with Simon Emanuel (The Dark Knight Rises, Fast & Furious 6) and Jason McGatlin (Tintin, War of the Worlds). Kathleen Kennedy and Tony To (Band of Brothers, The Pacific) are on board to produce and John Swartz (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will co-produce. The film starts shooting this summer in London and is due for release on December 16, 2016.

In addition, Iger confirmed that Rian Johnson will write and direct Star Wars: Episode VIII. The film, which continues the saga after the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is set for release on May 26, 2017 — forty years and a day after the release of Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977. Johnson is widely considered one of cinema’s most gifted young filmmakers, having directed the modern sci-fi classic, Looper, as well as Brick and The Brothers Bloom. He was also behind the camera for three episodes of the critically-acclaimed TV series Breaking Bad, including “Ozymandias,” which series creator Vince Gilligan named as the best installment of the show. Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman, producer of Looper, Don Jon, Brick, and The Brothers Bloom, are on board to produce.

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Episode VIII Gets Release Date and Spinoff Movie Called ‘Rogue One’

Via Variety.com:

Disney and Lucasfilm have announced details of the upcoming “Stars Wars” films at its annual shareholders meeting in San Francisco.

Rian Johnson has also been confirmed to write and direct Star Wars: Episode VIII, which will hit theaters May 26, 2017.

Gareth Edwards upcoming standalone film, starring Felicity Jones, will be called “Rogue One.” The movie starts filming in London this summer and opens Dec. 16, 2016.

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