New Zealand Mint Officially Licensed Star Wars Coin Collections!

New Zealand Mint is thrilled to announce two major new officially licensed Star WarsTM coin collections. The Star Wars Classic collection highlights many of the great characters associated with this cultural phenomenon. The Star Wars: The Force Awakens collection shows engraved and colored illustrations of the key characters appearing in the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens film. To see and order these new Star Wars coins, click here.

2016-06-28 16_02_08-Coin Collections – Star Wars _ New Zealand Mint

Bill Hader Didn’t Know He Would Get Credit For BB-8

Via Ew.com:

Amid all the hubbub over Star Wars: The Force Awakens last year, Bill Hader became the droid everyone was looking for when it was revealed he acted as a vocal consultant on the film for BB-8.

“J.J. Abrams called me and said, ‘Hey man, do you want to do a voice in Star Wars,’” Hader told Jimmy Kimmel about the experience on Wednesday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. “He didn’t tell me it was the new R2-D2 character.”

Hader and actor Ben Schwartz helped bring BB-8 to life with vocal sounds – Hader’s produced using an iPad and a talk box – but the SNL vet said he wasn’t expecting any kind of credit.

“It was a giant surprise,” Hader said of seeing his name in the Star Wars credits, the first time anyone realized he had participated in the film. “I didn’t know about it until I was watching the movie and my name came up.”

New Zealand Mint Officially Licensed Star Wars Coin Collections!

New Zealand Mint is thrilled to announce two major new officially licensed Star WarsTM coin collections. The Star Wars Classic collection highlights many of the great characters associated with this cultural phenomenon. The Star Wars: The Force Awakens collection shows engraved and colored illustrations of the key characters appearing in the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens film. To see and order these new Star Wars coins, click here.

2016-06-16 11_43_28-Coin Collections – Star Wars _ New Zealand Mint

Rey Character Vignette – LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released on June 28, 2016 and marks the triumphant return of the No. 1 LEGO videogame franchise, immersing fans in the new Star Wars adventure like never before. Players can relive the epic action from the blockbuster film in a way that only LEGO can offer, featuring storylines from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, retold through the clever and witty LEGO lens. The game will also feature playable content exploring previously untold adventures set in the time leading up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Additionally, LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens will showcase original dialogue from key members of the theatrical cast, providing the most authentic Star Wars for experience for players, including: John Boyega (Finn), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Daisy Ridley (Rey), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron) and other top stars from the film.

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Steam (Windows PC).

Behind The Scenes With Propshop

Via Gqmagazine.co.uk:

You can buy a lot of things at Harrods – and that now includes a Millenium Falcon. To celebrate the release of probably the ultimate piece of Star Wars memorabilia, GQ went behind the scenes with Propshop, Pinewood-based prop manufacturer for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, to find out how you make a Millenium Falcon.

You’ve kept your Star Wars Luke Skywalker figurine since 1977 (it’s not in its box, but you can’t have everything), you have an R2D2 egg cup and even a C3PO tape dispenser. Now is the moment Star Wars memorabilia collectors have truly been waiting for. In conjunction with Propshop, Pinewood-based prop manufacturer for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, are working in conjuction with Harrods to offer Star Wars fans to own their very own piece of production quality replica merchandise.

You can now get your hands on either Kylo Ren or Rey/Luke’s lightsaber, battle your enemies with Rey’s staff or Chewbacca’s crossbow, or be the best fancy dress party guest of all time with a genuine Poe Dameron or Kylo Ren helmet – each product made by the very same craftsmen, using the very same processes as the props that are used in the film, manufactured nowhere other than at Pinewood Studios itself.

“What’s unique about these things is that they are the actual thing,” explains Propshop’s CEO James Enright. “What’s different is that they haven’t actually been shot, but I have no problem with putting these on the set and shooting them as a prop. That could go straight on the set this afternoon, because it’s the same level of quality, the same level of detail. They’ve been made the same way, they’ve been made in the studio, they’ve been made by film technicians and artists.”

Click below to read the full article.

New Zealand Mint Officially Licensed Star Wars Coin Collections!

New Zealand Mint is thrilled to announce two major new officially licensed Star WarsTM coin collections. The Star Wars Classic collection highlights many of the great characters associated with this cultural phenomenon. The Star Wars: The Force Awakens collection shows engraved and colored illustrations of the key characters appearing in the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens film. To see and order these new Star Wars coins, click here.

2016-06-16 11_43_28-Coin Collections – Star Wars _ New Zealand Mint

GREG GRUNBERG TALKS THE FORCE AWAKENS

Via Starwars.com:

STARWARS.COM SPEAKS WITH SNAP WEXLEY HIMSELF ABOUT HIS LOVE OF STAR WARS AND BECOMING PART OF THE SAGA IN THE FORCE AWAKENS.

Greg Grunberg is the man behind Temmin “Snap” Wexley — the best recon flier in the Resistance’s Starfighter Corps, who along with Poe Dameron and his fellow X-wing pilots, helped bring down Starkiller Base in the thrilling finale to The Force Awakens.

Behind the scenes, Greg is one of the biggest Star Wars fans you’ll ever meet and, like many, stood in line with his best buddy to watch the original movie back in 1977. But how many can say that their best buddy goes by the name of J.J. Abrams? Greg can. And how many can say that 38 years later they ended up working together on a new Star Wars film? Yep, Greg can.

Greg is not only an actor, but also a producer, a philanthropist, and soon-to-be a graphic novelist with the release of his debut work, Dream Jumper, this June. StarWars.com recently had a quick chat with the man himself about his love of Star Wars, why he’s geeking out with Kevin Smith, and what he said to Abrams after witnessing THAT Force Awakens Han Solo moment.

StarWars.com: So Greg, let’s take a little stroll down memory lane. What’s your earliest Star Wars memory?

Greg Grunberg: When it all began! I turned 50 this year, so I was 11 in 1977 and my best friend in the world was J.J. Abrams. We were both just so excited to see this whole new world and to discover these new characters. I can totally get how the movie executives would have been like, “What is this garbage?!” But it was sold to us immediately!

And you know they always use a fake name for a production, because they don’t want people to know that we’re shooting Star Wars, so for The Force Awakens they used AVCO, and it was after the Avco theatre in Westwood, California, where J.J. and I both went to see the original film all those years ago! It’s just so amazing that it came full circle like it did.

StarWars.com: It really is! Okay, so who was your favorite character back then?

Greg Grunberg: Han Solo! It was almost like he was begrudgingly going through the movie. It’s just a very relatable character; the guy who doesn’t want to do things by the book and who kind of just always gets them wrong but gets them right, you know, doing it his way. I just think Harrison Ford as Han Solo is brilliant and I immediately gravitated towards him.

Click below to read the full article.

New Zealand Mint Officially Licensed Star Wars Coin Collections!

New Zealand Mint is thrilled to announce two major new officially licensed Star WarsTM coin collections. The Star Wars Classic collection highlights many of the great characters associated with this cultural phenomenon. The Star Wars: The Force Awakens collection shows engraved and colored illustrations of the key characters appearing in the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens film. To see and order these new Star Wars coins, click here.

2016-05-13 13_34_14-Coin Collections – Star Wars _ New Zealand Mint

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Is Out Of Theaters After Earning A Record-Breaking Amount Of Money

Via Yahoo.com:
DISNEY

It seems like it was released a lifetime ago, but Star Wars: The Force Awakens isn’t even seven months old. Episode VII came out on December 18, 2015, and was greeted rapturous reviews that washed away the sins of the toxic prequels. It also broke numerous box office records, including 3D, IMAX, worldwide opening, Christmas day, fastest to $100 million, fastest to $150 million, fastest to $200 million, all the way up to fastest to $500 million. The Force Awakens is the highest grosser for all of ’em — including, most impressively, all-time domestic box office, with a staggering $936 million (that’s $176 million more than second place Avatar) — but all good things must come to an end. After 168 days, Episode VII has finally left theaters.

The Force Awakens made $119,119,282 on December 18, when it came out, according to Box Office Mojo. On May 30, the movie’s final day in theaters, it pulled in another $1,450. Assuming the cost of a movie ticket is $11 (which is probably high, considering there are a lot of dollar theaters taking down a lot of BB-8 posters right now), that means 131 people finally got around to seeing Episode VII, or saw it for something like the 87th time. It’s one or the other.

More fun final day facts: It played in 20 theaters (all in Wyoming, I imagine), and was still one of the country’s 50 highest grossing movies for the week, slightly below Don Cheadle’s Miles Ahead and slightly above Meet the Blacks.

I’d say Disney made a wise investment. It’s a shame they’re not making any more Star Wars movies, though. Best not to mess with a good thing, right?

Daisy Ridley On Han Solo’s Death

Via theweek.co.uk:

Star Wars actor Daisy Ridley has spoken about the dramatic climax of The Force Awakens, in which the much-loved character Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford, dies at the hands of his own son.

In an interview with The Big Issue, Ridley, who plays newcomer Rey, said she understands why many Star Wars fans were so affected by the scene.

“People die so awfully every day that if you experienced every grief the whole world would be a dark, dark place. So many awful things happened last year and Han Solo dying, which was one of the last moments of the year, is some weird way of people experiencing that,” she said.

“People are weighed down by awful things that are happening and what they see on the news. If everybody puts a piece of themselves into Han Solo and Han Solo dies – in the cinema, where it’s dark – you can express it and it alleviates some of the pain. His death is obviously not as important as actual lives that are lost but people probably use it as some kind of carrier for the grief.”

Ridley has just finished filming the as-yet-unnamed sequel to The Force Awakens in Ireland and is on her way to the next location, Star Wars News reports.