Monthly Archives: April 2017
Furious 8 Beats Force Awakens’ Global Debut Record
If this weekend's box office estimates hold then The Fate of the Furious will surpass Star Wars: The Force Awakens as scoring the biggest worldwide opening of all time.
The Fate of the Furious, the eighth installment in the 17-year-old franchise, grossed $532.5 million worldwide in its opening weekend. The previous record holder, The Force Awakens, made $529 million in its 2015 bow.
Fate grossed an estimated $100.2 million domestically and $432.2 million internationally, breaking the record previously held by another Universal release, Jurassic World ($316.7 million). Before Fate, Jurassic World had been Universal's biggest worldwide debut with $525.5 million.
Fate's international tally includes $190 million from China alone, where it now holds the record for the country's biggest three-day opening for a Hollywood movie. (It should be noted that The Force Awakens did not open day and date in China as Fate did.)
The Biggest Stories From Star Wars Celebration 2017
This year's Star Wars Celebration has come to an end, and today's closing ceremony looked back at the weekend and some of the huge announcements and panels that Lucasfilm brought to Orlando.
Here's a look at five of the biggest moments of Star Wars Celebration 2017.
Star Wars Celebration kicked off with the "40 Years of Star Wars" panel, during which Disney and Lucasfilm shared a touching tribute to the late Carrie Fisher. George Lucas spent a few minutes talk about Carrie Fisher and reflect on the important role she played in the Star Wars saga as Leia Organa. "There really aren't very many people like her," he said. "They're one in a billion. And for this part she was absolutely perfect."
The Weirdest Merch Money Can Buy at Star Wars Celebration
There are the star-studded panels, the incredible cosplay, and goodies to buy as far as the wallet can spend. But Star Wars Celebration hides one extra delight - the really weird stuff.
With a fandom as big as Star Wars has got, there's bound to be one person among millions who says "well, what if we made Twi'lek head jump ropes that sang as you skipped?" (We're still looking for that one.)
New Star Wars Rebels Images: X-Wings, Yavin and More
The announcement that Star Wars Rebels: Season 4 would be the final year for the series came accompanied by a big new Season 4 trailer - packed with plenty of cool "Hey!" moments.
Check out the gallery below to see some of the highlights, as several notable parts of Star Wars lore make their Rebels debut, including notable characters from the past and some big ties into the classic Rebel Alliance imagery from A New Hope and expanded elements from Rogue One.
Star Wars Celebration Cosplay: Overwatch Mash-Up, Leia Meet-Up, And More
Disneyland’s Star Wars Land Combines RPG and Theme Parks
At Star Wars Celebration today, fans got a bigger look at what to expect from the Star Wars-themed lands coming to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World in 2019.
With a couple years to go until they are complete, many specifics on how the lands will work and the main attractions and entertainment included were still kept secret, however, the overall approach was discussed, along with some tantalizing clues on what guests will find there. Read on to get more info on what it will be like for Star Wars fans to visit.
Note: The official name for these areas has not been revealed, and it’s not expected to be as simple as Star Wars Land. However, I’ll use that term frequently below as a simple placeholder.
Star Wars Rebels Becoming More Serialized in Final Season
Star Wars Rebels will leave behind its traditional, more standalone episode style, and become more akin to a heavily serialized show as it approaches the end of its final season.
Speaking to IGN (watch that chat above), executive producer Dave Filoni explained how the season will make that transition:
"Season 4 is unlike any other we've ever done in that, at a certain point, a couple of episodes in, it's more one continuous story arc all the way to the end than it's ever been, in anything we've done - even Clone Wars - where each story really fits together.
"Yes they're unique and independent, but it almost feels like day-to-day. Things start to move fast and get really exciting and interesting and desperate and awesome - and we've never done that before, and it's really exhilarating."
Disneyland’s Star Tours Adding Last Jedi’s Crait
It was revealed at Star Wars Celebration that the popular Star Tour attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney Tour is getting a big new location added - Crait from Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
When The Force Awakens opened, Star Tours -- which randomly takes guests to many different worlds from the Star Wars films -- added Jakku as a location and once again, a new Star Wars Episode is bringing with it a ride upgrade.
Crait in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi Will Address Rey’s Parentage
Star Wars: The Last Jedi will address one of the biggest mysteries from The Force Awakens in Rey's parentage.
In an interview with Good Morning America, director Rian Johnson confirmed Rey's parents will come up in The Last Jedi in some capacity, saying her parentage is "something that is absolutely going to be addressed in the movie."
EXCLUSIVE: @StarWars director @rianjohnson says Rey's parentage will absolutely be addressed in #TheLastJedi. #SWCO pic.twitter.com/wgupPzYDkB
Fast 8: Diesel Reportedly Removed an End Credits Scene
Vin Diesel reportedly removed an end credits scene in The Fate of the Furious featuring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham.
As reported by TheWrap, the scene was supposed to be a tag at the end of the film that would set up a spinoff movie with Luke Hobbs (Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Statham).
The scene was allegedly filmed because producer Neal Moritz and Universal were so impressed by Johnson's and Statham's chemistry throughout the making of The Fate of the Furious. "They had early screenings where Johnson and Statham popped so much on-screen together that they were looking at doing a spinoff," said one of TheWrap's sources.