Paul Bettany joins Han Solo movie to replace Michael K. Williams

After The Wire actor Michael K. Williams had to drop out of the Han Solo spinoff movie because of scheduling conflict, it looks like the role itself isn’t being cut but is instead being recast. A recent tweet from the film’s director Ron Howard suggests Paul Bettany might be taking over the role (it was later confirmed by the director in a follow-up tweet). Although, we know it’s not the exact same role. According to SlashFilm, while Bettany will play a character Williams was supposed to play, the character will now be human instead of a motion-capture alien. A Deadline story also claims it might be an entirely new character but will serve the same function as Williams’s character. At the moment we can only speculate what the character will be like. Howard and Bettany have previously worked together on A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code.

With the movie going through reshoots now after the original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller got fired, we’re hoping there isn’t any more controversy surrounding this rather beleaguered production. This might also not be the last time we see Williams in a Lucasfilm production. He expressed no bitterness over the changes and won’t say that this might be the final time we’d see him (or not see him, in this case). The untitled film is set to hit theatres in May 2018.

Mark Hamill teases Luke Skywalker’s look and big change for ‘The Last Jedi’

It’s been so long since we’ve last seen Luke Skywalker. Sure we saw a bit of him at the end of The Force Awakens but that brief encounter doesn’t really tell us anything. A new cover for a magazine featuring Mark Hamill as the iconic Skywalker gives us a glimpse of a changed man. Luke in an all-black ensemble with red light shining on him has people talking about the lengths the Jedi Knight has changed.

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‘Star Wars’ BB-8 gets an evil twin?

Just in time for Force Friday II, when merch for the upcoming Star Wars film comes out, Disney together with Sphero unveiled new droids we’ve definitely been looking for. One is a tiny incarnation of R2-D2 (at least that’s what it looks like to us based on the video) and another is what Hollywood Reporter calls the evil twin trope incarnation of Star Wars: The Force Awakens’s BB-8. Called BB-9E (or if Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson had his way, BB-H8), the new droid will be debuting in the Dec. 15 film as part of the Astromech unit of the First Order. BB-9E helps keep the starships and machinery running. The toy itself is being called a “rolling menace” and you see it toppling a Jenga tower in the video above.

The BB-9E is almost identical to BB-8, down to the markings on the body, but this time it comes in black and gray and has a more angular head and a red-eye, making it look similar to Darth Vader with his helmet on. The BB-9E will be available for US$149.99 (around CA$190), while if you’re more interested in R2-D2, the iconic droid goes for US$179.99 (around CA$220).

Source: Variety

Is there a ‘Star Wars’ Obi-Wan Kenobi movie in our future?

It’s not exactly a new rumour, but with the untitled Han Solo film now in its final stages, it seems the fixation is moving towards the other possible standalone movies from the Star Wars universe. And the rumour mill this time is saying a solo Obi-Wan Kenobi movie might be in the works, or at least in its very early stages. The Hollywood Reporter claims Oscar-nominated director Stephen Daldry might be taking the helm for this project. The director behind Billy Elliot and The Hours is reportedly in early talks with Lucasfilm to have him oversee the development and writing of the film.

Lucasfilm has been planning to release more standalone films and it isn’t an unusual thought that we’d get an Obi-Wan film, especially with Alec Guinness even getting an Oscar nomination for taking on the role in the original trilogy. Ewan McGregor took on the role in the prequels. But if they want to take a look at a younger Obi-Wan, he might not be able to reprise the role. We’d just have to wait and see. The wait might be a while, though.