Much in common have Yoda and Maz Kanata, a new character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Both are very short, very old, very wise, very powerful and very CGI (we’re talking prequel Yoda, not puppet Yoda).
Playing Maz, a little orange pirate with a big castle, seems like a surprising career move for Lupita Nyong’o, the actress who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for 2013’s 12 Years a Slave. Yet as she told PEOPLE in the new Star Wars special issue, “I had been wanting to work in motion capture. When [Maz] was offered to me, I was so excited. I’ve always loved the work, like Andy Serkis and then Zoë Saldana in Avatar. And of course I got to work with [director] J.J. Abrams.”
And the Kenyan-raised Nyong’o, 32, has a special emotional bond with the original Star Wars. “In Kenya they would play Star Wars during public holidays,” she says. “So it was something I could look forward to. I watched it five or six years in a row.”
Much of Maz is still secret. The goggled character is only seen in the background of the official movie poster. In one trailer, a little orange hand gives a lightsaber to someone who appears to be Princess-turned-General Leia. “I love keeping the secret,” Nyong’o says, “knowing something no one else knows!”
But recently, Nyong’o and Abrams let slip to Entertainment Weekly that Maz’s eyes hold a secret power. Nyong’o even said they are “the means to her magic as a motion-capture character.” Watch out you must.
J.J. Abrams gave 60 Minutes’ Bill Whitaker a behind-the-scenes look at his upcoming movie “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Bill Whitaker shared the preview with CBSN’s Contessa Brewer.
Over-advertising the film would be a waste of money.
The excitement over Star Wars: the Force Awakens, Disney’s hotly anticipated upcoming space opera, has climbed to a fever pitch in the remaining days leading up to its premier.
For that maelstrom of buzz, the media behemoth has an abundance of eager fans, weaned on the preceding two sets of trilogies, as well as a carefully tailored marketing campaign on the part of Disney DIS -0.04% , owner of the Lucasfilm studio and its Star Wars franchise since a $4 billion acquisition in 2013.
Disney CEO Bob Iger made known on May earnings call his “extremely deliberate” and “carefully constructed” approach for generating publicity for the film. “We are managing this with great care,” he said of the plan.
With just a week and a half left until the film’s debut, one might wonder just how much Disney has spent on advertising so far. Although the company has not released a budget, sources close to the matter told the Wall Street Journal that the expenses, as the newspaper summarizes, are “slightly lower than what studios typically put into would-be blockbusters.”
Movie studios routinely invest $50 million in marketing upcoming releases in the United States and a little more abroad, the Journal notes, with most of that amount devoted to television.
So far, Disney had doled out about $17 million on TV ads, the Journal reports, citing data from the research firm iSpot.tv that extends through midday Monday, although the firm said it expects that figure to ramp up in the home stretch. For comparison, movie studios pushing other films with high ad budgets, such as Mad Max and Mission Impossible, spent about $30 million, or about twice as much, the Journal said, citing the same database.
Tie-ins with a host of other brands are buoying interest in the series on behalf of Disney as well. Seven official partnering companies, like Verizon VZ 0.15% and Proctor & Gamble PG 1.32% , have contributed $38 million in direct advertising, according to the Journal and iSpot.tv. And other companies such as Walmart WMT 0.39% and Electronic Arts EA -1.27% have indirectly added another $51 million by selling products blazoned with the franchise’s name. (That’s to say nothing of the press attention, too. Ahem, Fortune, Time, Entertainment Weekly…)
Even without going all out on the blockbuster elect’s marketing budget, Disney could still land the biggest box office payday ever—depending, of course, upon how the film is received in China. The cultural phenomenon is itself a self-propelling rocket ship.
Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume: The Exhibition at Discovery Times Square
Smithsonian Exhibition to Feature Costumes from
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Iconic costumes and other artifacts from “a galaxy far, far away” are presented in the Smithsonian traveling exhibition, Rebel, Jedi, Princess, Queen: Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume: The Exhibition. The exhibition will open at Discovery Times Square on November 14th, 2015 and will be on view through September 5th, 2016.
Culled from the collection of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Star Wars and the Power of Costume: The Exhibition is a partnership of the museum, the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and Lucasfilm. George Lucas imagined and created a fantastical world filled with dynamic characters who told the timeless story of the hero’s journey. The costumes shaped the identities of these now famous characters, from the menacing black mask of Darth Vader and the gilded suit of C-3PO, to the lavish royal gowns of Queen Amidala and a bikini worn by Princess Leia when enslaved by Jabba the Hutt.
“Craftsmanship and artistry in costume design are valued creative components in the Star Wars saga,” said Lucas. “The detailed precision of a design can be as bold a measure of storytelling as words on a page, leading to truths at the core of a character, situation or shared history. From initial concept drawings to complex physical constructions, the costumes featured in this exhibition serve to further define crucial aspects of worlds created to move, educate and entertain us—to inspire the imagination.”
“There is not a more iconic entertainment property than Star Wars”, said James Sanna, President of Discovery Times Square. “We’re thrilled to host the East Coast premiere of this exciting new exhibit which will connect Star Wars fans to not only iconic costumes and artifacts from the first six films, but also introduces them to the next exciting chapter of the Star Wars saga.”
Presenting over 70 of the finest hand-crafted costumes and dozens of artifacts from the first six blockbuster Star Wars films including a selection from the soon to be released Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the exhibition uncovers the challenges, the intricate processes and the remarkable artistry of Lucas, the concept artists and costume designers.
The costumes reflect an eclectic mix of cultural, historical and mythical sources that add rich texture to the story. Through 15 galleries visitors will explore the creative process from Lucas’s vision through concept drawings by artists such as Ralph McQuarrie and Iain McCaig, to the final costume designs of John Mollo and Trisha Biggar, among others.
Featured costumes include:
Select costumes and BB-8 from Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Jedi masters Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker and Yoda
Intimidating suit and complex breathing apparatus of Darth Vader
Military-influenced uniforms of the Imperial Stormtrooper, Senate Guard and TIE Fighter Pilot
Yak hair and mohair costume of the towering Wookiee Chewbacca and Han Solo
Intergalactic outfits of Senators Bail Organa, Mon Mothma and Mas Amedda
Fierce armor of mercenary bounty hunters Jango Fett, Boba Fett and Zam Wesell
Elaborately detailed gowns of Queen Amidala, Queen Jamillia and their handmaidens
Short films featured in Star Wars and The Power of Costume: The Exhibition provide a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process and include interviews with artists, designers and actors. The visitor experience will be enhanced by interactive flip-books featuring sketches, photographs and notes that capture the creative team’s inspiration and vision. In addition, visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to see themselves in one of the iconic costumes through a unique virtual experience provided by Platige Image, which specializes in designing CG imagery, 3D animation and digital special effects.
Advanced ticket prices start at $20. Special savings for groups of 10 or more are available with advanced reservation. Once open, the last tickets are sold 60 minutes prior to closing. For individual tickets and venue hours, visit http://www.discoverytsx.com/starwars or call 866.9.TSXNYC (866-987-9692) or visit the Discovery Times Square Box Office.
Throughout the six Star Wars movies so far, Emperor Palpatine was the ultimate bad guy, building Death Stars, killing Jedi and turning Skywalkers to the Dark Side (well, he was 1 for 2). So how can The Force Awakens top that?
Get ready for Supreme Leader Snoke, a new CGI character. While his motives and his appearance are among the most closely guarded secrets surrounding the new movie, PEOPLE has drawn some clues from the cast and crew.
He’s Freaky Tall and Skinny
While director J.J. Abrams tried to use as “real” creatures as possible, including intricate puppets and costumes in scenes on the junkyard planet Jakku and in pirate Maz Kanata’s castle, Snoke couldn’t be created for “real.” As Neal Scanlan, chief of creature and droid effects, told PEOPLE, “This character is much better executed as a CGI character. That’s just a practical reality when he’s 7-foot-something tall; he’s very, very thin.”
He Interacts with Darth Vader Fanboy Kylo Ren
Even though Snoke is a CGI character, cinematographer Daniel Mindel shot on set with Serkis and Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. “It’s not a complete green-screen environment,” Mindel says. “Therefore, we have atmosphere. We have texture that we’re putting [Snoke] into, that is physical. Sometimes, from the outside it would seem absurd to just walk in and look at how we do that. On the other hand, there’s a great amount of method to it. In that particular theme, we had Andy Serkis interacting with Adam. Andy himself brought a massive amount to the scene.”
He Has a Real Costume
To further make Snoke blend in with the actual actors and sets, costume designer Michael Kaplan created an outfit for Snoke and fellow CGI character Maz Kanata. “Even though they were to be CGI, there were initial costume sketches and then actual costumes were built,” Kaplan says. “This helps the CGI technicians realize their final effect and know precisely how the fabrics will move.”
He Has Mysterious Strengths and Weaknesses
“[Snoke] is strangely vulnerable at the same time as being quite powerful,” Andy Serkis, the supreme actor for CGI characters who embodies and voices Snoke, tells Entertainment Weekly.
He Knows the Force Woke Up
The voiceover of the very first teaser trailer was Serkis as Snoke saying, “There’s been an awakening. Have you felt it? The dark side and the light.”
He’s Freaky Ugly
Or at least, that’s likely what the audience will think. Serkis will only say, “He has a very distinctive, idiosyncratic bone and facial structure.”
Carrie Fisher is not shy about Princess Leia’s groundbreaking place in Star Wars — and movie — history. During yesterday’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens press panel in Los Angeles, moderated by Mindy Kaling, she and the cast and crew of new film naturally had to tiptoe around spoilers and plot details, even with the film’s release less than two weeks away. But if there was one theme to the panel, it was Carrie Fisher handing the baton to a new generation of women, who are creating a stronger, more female-driven version of the space opera saga than George Lucas ever dreamed of.
Princess Leia had a strange arc in the original trilogy. We were introduced to her as a strong leader that took no bullshit, but by the time Return of the Jedi rolled around the actress was forced to starve herself down to 98 pounds to wear the infamous “slave Leia” costume. (She’s recently mentioned being forced to lose weight for The Force Awakens as well, something co-star Mark Hamill also reportedly had to contend with.) Recounting her time on the original films, Fisher described how she was “the only girl on the all-boy’s set.” Things are clearly different this time around, and Fisher highlighted the strength of Daisy Ridley’s Rey as an example. “She takes the physical power, and then I scream at [the men] until they pass out.”
Billie Lourd has said she’s not playing Princess Leia’s daughter in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, even though she’s the real-life daughter of Carrie Fisher.
But as PEOPLE’s exclusive first look at her top-secret character reveals, she has at least inherited Leia’s hairdo!
In PEOPLE’s special Star Wars collector’s edition, on newsstands today, Lourd reveals she had an obsession with the original movie when she was growing up.
“I made [my mom] watch it at least once a week – and on special occasions I would make her get in a lightsaber fight with me,” Lourd, 23, says. “Let’s just say the more trained Jedi usually won.”
Lourd’s destiny at first seemed to take a different path from her mom and dad’s (her father is CAA superagent Bryan Lourd). At 19, she was studying religion and psychology at New York University. At that age, her mom started production on the original movie as the now-iconic Princess Leia, up to her hair buns in a galactic war.
She costars on the Fox TV show Scream Queens. While the name of her The Force Awakens character still hasn’t been revealed, Lourd says her mom’s portrayal of Leia has long been an inspiration for her.
“When I saw the [original] movie for the first time, I noticed my mom was not only equally as confident and strong as the men, she was one of the most confident characters in the entire film,” Lourd says. “It made me realize women are just as powerful as men and that we can truly do anything they can – if not more!”
We use cookies to track visits to our website; we store no personal details. Accessing our website tells us you are happy to receive all our cookies.DismissNo
