Monthly Archives: April 2015

J.J. Abrams Provides Update on Harrison Ford

Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams has spoken with Harrison Ford, and provided an update on how he's doing following his recent accident.

"I was texting with him yesterday and I was gonna go over and see him but he didn’t have time for me," Abrams said during the opening panel for Star Wars Celebration.

"He sends his best and he’s doing great and working hard," Abrams continued. "I’ve never had more respect for a guy than to see how he landed that plane. He’s more of a hero with that move than he is in any of the movies he's been in."

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J.J. Abrams on Star Wars 7 Fan Expectations

During today’s Star Wars Celebration, Director J.J. Abrams talked about expectations for the new film, and whether he’s afraid of disappointing fans.

“Well, we just will,” Abrams admitted. “There are moments where the pressure of what we’re doing, honoring the legacy, it’s the most important thing that we’re all working on.”

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“There are moments of sheer horror, the reality is, I’ve never had more fun in my life working on anything.”

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BB-8 Takes the Stage at Star Wars Celebration

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During today’s Star Wars Celebration, BB-8, the new ball droid for Star Wars: The Force Awakens took to the stage along with R2-D2.

Director J.J. Abrams welcomed the droid onto the stage. “This could get ugly. SO BB-8 was a creature that was performed...we talked about how to do this...how to best have BB-8 in the film, how a CG BB-8 would be easier,” he said. “It was better for the actors and better for the film itself.”

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The First Planet from Star Wars 7 Has a Name

J.J. Abrams has revealed the name of the desert-like planet from the next installment of the Star Wars series, Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens.

Originally glimpsed in production photos and thought to be Tatooine, the arid planet was confirmed to be Jakku. The shooting location for the planet was Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Though Abrams declined to provide any more information on the planet when asked, he assured us more information is coming soon.

"I promise you you’ll see more today," Abrams said. Star Wars: Episode VII, helmed by J.J. Abrams, is due for a Dec. 18, 2015 release.

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Why Star Wars 7 Uses Practical Effects

During today’s Star Wars Celebration, Director J.J. Abrams spoke about the importance of practical effects to the new film, and how it impacted the original Star Wars films as a whole.

“The thing that struck me, that wouldn’t get out of my head, is just how real you knew and felt Star Wars was when you first saw A New Hope. You couldn’t deny it,” Abrams said. “It’s Star Wars. There will be an endless number of effects. We needed a standard. You want it to be legitimate and authentic.”

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Tweet Star Wars Hashtags, Get Exclusive Emojis

Star Wars Celebration is in full swing, and during the event's first panel, it has been revealed that if you tweet certain hashtags, you'll be able to score some exclusive emojis themed after Disney's upcoming film Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Those who tweet using the hashtags #stormtrooper, #c3po, or #bb8 will get each of the following emojis, pictured below.

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Watch the Star Wars Celebration Stream Right Now

Star Wars Celebration is kicking off in Anaheim now with a panel on Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Watch the stream below.

We'll be bringing you all the breaking news from this panel and the rest of the Star Wars Celebration throughout the weekend, so stay tuned!

You can expand the slideshow above to view images in higher resolution. You can also view much larger images in the Star Wars Screenshot Gallery.

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Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture’s Soundtrack Is Mesmerizing

Indie developer The Chinese Room has released a new trailer and music track for its upcoming PlayStation 4-exclusive Everybody's Gone to the Rapture.

The studio has been hard at work on the game's soundtrack, which will play an integral role in the overall experience. You can listen to the debut song, dubbed The Mourning Tree, on the PlayStation Blog.

The Chinese Room promises to announce a release date for Everybody's Gone to the Rapture very soon. Stay tuned to IGN for future updates, and while you patiently wait, read up on the game's emotional approach to storytelling.

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Evolve Community Challenge Rewards Free Skins

Evolve players who spend the weekend mowing down monsters with Bucket's sentry guns could help earn themselves and others a free Bucket Predator skin.

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If the Evolve community can wrack up 200 million damage using the sentry guns between 12:01 AM ET on Friday, April 17th and 12:01 AM ET on Monday, April 20th, everyone who played the game during that time frame will be rewarded with the skin.

More than 350 million damage earns players the Support Predator skin set in addition to the Bucket Predator, also free. Reward skins will be distributed to players by Thursday, April 23rd. Check out the details on Evolve's website.

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