J.J. Abrams confirms script for ‘Star Wars Episode IX’ is finished

Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow was originally set to direct the upcoming Star Wars Episode IX but he was replaced by Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams. With the change, the release of the movie was pushed back from May to December of 2019. But now it seems at least the script for the new movie is done and filming will begin at the end of July. Abrams talked about the progress of the movie on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. He said, "We have a script, which is a big deal for me. It starts shooting end of July. Sometimes having the script in advance is something I haven't always been lucky enough to have. But I'm writing this with Chris Terrio, who's a genius, and I'm having a great time."

Abrams was previously quoted saying they won’t be playing it safe with the new film. "I feel like we need to approach this with the same excitement that we had when we were kids loving what these movies were," he said. "But at the same time, we have to take them places that they haven't gone, and that's sort of our responsibility."

Source: Gamespot

Hasbro takes a stab at crowdfunding, starts off with massive vintage Star Wars toy

Hasbro is taking on crowdfunding and is taking an unusual approach to it. But if you’re a diehard fan of the company’s toys, Haslab, as Hasbro calls it, might be an exciting concept for you. The crowdsourcing program kicks off with something massive—quite literally. It’s a 4-foot long, 14lbs recreation of Jabba’s Sail Barge from Return of the Jedi. Launching Haslab allows the company to develop more premium toys that would seem a bit too much for the mainstream toy market. It’s for enthusiasts who are willing to shell some precious moolah for limited edition toys.

What’s unusual about this crowdsourcing platform is that Hasbro will announce a possible project and if the product meets its preorder goals, the company will make the toy. If it doesn’t the toy won’t get made and its backers won’t be charged for the preorders. In the case of the Sail Barge, its target is 5,000 preorders at a very premium price of US$500 apiece and the company hopes to reach this goal before April 13. The Barge is part of Hasbro’s newly revived 3.75” “Vintage Collection” of Star Wars action figures. It features a fully detailed interior with removable panels, fabric sails a special figure of Jabba himself, as well as a production booklet how the vehicle was translated from the movie to the figure.

Source: io9

‘Game of Thrones’ creators will develop new ‘Star Wars’ films

So, the new Solo: A Star Wars Story isn’t the only big news we’re getting from the galaxy far, far away this week. It’s just been announced that the creators of HBO’s Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, will be coming on board to create a new series of movies for the franchise. These movies “will be separate from both the episodic Skywalker saga and the recently-announced trilogy being developed by Rian Johnson, writer-director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” So, yup, there is a whole lot of Star Wars in our futures, ladies and gents. No word yet on the timeline of these films but we’ll definitely hear more when the time comes.

Here's the first official teaser for 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'

It feels like forever for us to get the first official footage from the upcoming standalone Star Wars film about “the galaxy’s greatest scoundrel” but it’s here and we’re extra stoked for the movie. Disney and Lucasfilm gave us the first trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story at the Super Bowl and it’s looking pretty amazing. We definitely got goosebumps watching it. The film comes out in May 2018 and is directed by Ron Howard and stars Alden Ehrenreich with Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Woody Harrelson, Paul Bettany, and Joonas Suotamo.