'Star Wars' launches Fan Film Awards 2016

Think you can make a better Star Wars film than JJ Abrams? Lucasfilm wants you to prove you have what it takes to recreate and reimagine that galaxy far, far away with the annual Fan Film Awards. Check out the Star Wars Fan Film Awards page to download the sound asset pack of official sounds from the franchise, do's and don'ts of the competition, and other things you need to get started. You can also check out the official rules here.

Submissions will be accepted until April 24, 2016 at 11:59 p.m. PT, you can win a "Fett-worthy bounty" that includes the award and a Star Wars Price Pack. The Star Wars Fan Film Awards welcome films of varying genres, styles, and tones; award categories include Filmmaker Select, Best Animation, Best Non-Fiction, Spirit of Fandom, Best Comedy, Best Visual Effects, and Audience Choice, and winners will be announced in a special ceremony at Star Wars Celebration 2016. Those ages 13 and up from the US, District of Columbia, and Canada (except for Quebec) and residents 18 years of age and up from the UK, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico are eligible to join.

Source: Star Wars.com

Captain Phasma will be in ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’

If you thought Captain Phasma (played by Gwendoline Christie) met her demise in the hands of Finn and company at a trash compactor, it seems you have that wrong. According to the Game of Thrones actress, she will be coming back in Episode VIII, which is slated for release in December 2017, and she had “very overexcited” for her role in The Force Awakens. Now, it seems we might get to see more of her in the second Star Wars film of the new trilogy, which is welcome for us since she got what we thought was a small part.

“I made no secret of the fact that I really campaigned for the part for a long time,” she said. “And then I was delighted when J.J. Abrams wanted to have me in the film and then wanted to cast me in this role that had originally been designed for a man.”

Source: People | Via: The Verge

‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ release gets pushed back to December 2017

If you thought May 26, 2017 was a long time to wait for the next installment of the new Star Wars trilogy, then you’re in for a bit of a disappointment. The movie has been pushed back to December 15^th of the same year. The move was done after the success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and its December release (which was a first for a Star Wars film). What will be taking its place is Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

Moving to December means that Star Wars will go head-to-head against James Cameron’s long-awaited Avatar 2, which is set to be released the following weekend. If you think the date change has affected Episode VIII, the Rian Johnson-led film will start principal photography in London next month.

Source: Wired

There won’t be an extended cut for ‘The Force Awakens’ Blu-ray edition

If you were thinking scoring the Blu-ray version of Star Wars: The Force Awakens will score you extra footage you didn’t see in the cinema, well you thought wrong. The film’s director J.J. Abrams has said there will be extras in the DVD/Blu-ray release but these will come in the form of deleted scenes from the movie. He hasn’t specified though how many scenes or how long these scenes will run.  Abrams said during the recent panel that the first cut of The Force Awakens clocked in at two hours and 50 minutes, which is 35 minutes longer than what we saw at the cinemas. Unfortunately, we don’t know yet when the DVD/Blu-ray editions of the new Star Wars trilogy will come out.

Source: EW + SlashGear