How the Mandalorian and Grogu Teaser Trailer & Poster Hint at Epic Battles!

From Star Wars / Lucfilm (Press Release)

 If you’re on the lookout for thrilling adventures, then you’re in for a treat! The first teaser trailer and poster for *Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu* have just dropped, and they’re nothing short of epic! With the fall of the evil Empire, Imperial warlords are now hiding throughout the galaxy, and as the young New Republic strives to safeguard the legacy of the Rebellion, they’ve turned to the legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter, Din Djarin (portrayed by the incredible Pedro Pascal), along with his small but mighty apprentice, Grogu (playing himself!). 

“You must unlearn what you have learned.” - Star Wars Movies Back On?

Well ... it looks like Disney and Lucasfilm have decided to move forward with their stand alone Star Wars prequels.

From ABC News

Hold up, "Star Wars" fans.

Reports of the death of future standalone films from that galaxy far, far away (like "Solo," "Rogue One" and a rumored -- but never-announced -- Obi-Wan Kenobi project) appear to be premature, and speculative at best.

Lucasfilm sources on Thursday characterized as "inaccurate" a report that future "Star Wars" movies falling outside of the regular trilogy storyline (Episodes I to IX) have been put on hold in the wake of the box office under-performance of "Solo: A Star Wars Story."

Instead, Lucasfilm told ABC News there are still "multiple" Star Wars films currently in development that have not been officially announced. Those projects are moving forward separate from an already-announced "Star Wars" trilogy being overseen by "The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson and another series of movies from "Game of Thrones" producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

"Star Wars: Episode IX" starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac is set to hit theaters in December 2019.

The film is being directed by J.J. Abrams, who also helmed "The Force Awakens" in 2015.

Lucasfilm is not yet talking publicly about the subject of any unannounced "Star Wars" films or their expected release dates. Fans will just have to wait and see.

"Always in motion is the future," as Yoda says.

Reference: Hold The Force! Disney Puts Future Star Wars Movies On The Shelf

Find out more in Movie News

Hold The Force! Disney Puts Future Star Wars Movies On The Shelf

Well this certainly sucks. After fumbling the ball with "The Last Jedi", which led to a so-so box office for "Solo", Disney has decided to put all of their future "Star Wars Story" movies back on the shelf until after "Episode Nine" is released. I will not be seeing the next movie myself due to the fact that I no longer care what happens to the remaining characters.

I still can't wrap my head around how Disney and Lucasfilm couldn't even remotely grasp what everyone wanted to see in their new trilogy. To put it simply "put the band back together". How hard is it to understand? Luke, Leia and Han save the galaxy one last time with some new interesting characters thrown in to expand the story. If those characters were strong enough, then make a movie about them. It was a slam-dunk and they blew it.

That being being said, both "Rogue One" and "Solo" were excellent!

From Collider

It may be a while before we see any more movies like Solo: A Star Wars Story out of Lucasfilm. Sources with knowledge of the situation tell Collider that Lucasfilm has decided to put plans for more A Star Wars Story spinoff movies on hold, instead opting to focus their attention on Star Wars: Episode IX and what the next trilogy of Star Wars films will be after that film. Sources tell us that the previously rumored Obi-Wan movie was in active development, but those who were working on the film are no longer involved. It was recently reported that Logan filmmaker James Mangold was in early talks to write and direct the Boba Fett film, but that was before Solo’s release.

This news comes in the wake of the disappointing launch of Solo, which was only Lucasfilm’s second A Star Wars Story spinoff, but which received mixed-positive reviews and fell short of box office expectations. The film scored $84.4 million on opening weekend and has grossed $192.8 million domestically (and $339.5 million worldwide) in four weeks, which is nothing to scoff at but is far, far lower than the performance of other Star Wars movies at this benchmark. For comparison’s sake, Rogue One opened to $155 million and had grossed $424 million domestic by Week 4. To put it simply, while Solo did fine by blockbuster standards, it wasn’t the “event” that Lucasfilm expected out of a brand new Star Wars movie.

Of course the May release date could have had something to do with Solo’s disappointing performance. As opposed to Rogue One or the episodic films by J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson, Solo went head-to-head with a slew of summer blockbusters in May, opening mere weeks after box office juggernauts Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2. One wonders how the film would have fared had Lucasfilm pushed Solo’s release to December instead.

Regardless, we’re hearing that plans to revisit this A Star Wars Story format have been put on hold for the moment. Initially announced as “anthology” movies, the spinoffs got off to a rocky start and haven’t exactly been smooth sailing. Josh Trank (Chronicle) was developing a Boba Fett movie around the same time Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) was prepping Rogue One, but Trank was subsequently removed from the project and Lucasfilm lost a film off its planned slate. Then story issues led to extensive reshoots on Rogue One that reworked the third act, with Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Legacy) overseeing the new scenes. And then of course Solo saw directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller fired during production, with Ron Howard coming in to replace them and reshoot a number of scenes.

In addition to Episode IX, Lucasfilm has officially announced development on a new Star Wars trilogy focused on new characters from The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson, as well as a new series of films written by Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. These projects continue to be in development and are not part of the paused spinoffs we’re hearing about. But Lucasfilm’s main focus at the moment is planning the next trilogy after the Abrams-directed Star Wars 9, which is expected to conclude the story of Rey (Daisy Ridley) that began with The Force Awakens.

As with everything in Hollywood, it’s always possible that some filmmaker could come in and pitch an idea for a Star Wars Story spinoff that makes Lucasfilm rethink its approach, or opt to greenlight that idea as a one-off, but as of right now we’re hearing the studio’s focus has moved away from these spinoffs for the time-being and is squarely intent on getting Episode IX to the finish line and figuring out what the next trilogy of films will be.

Get Up Off Your Butts And Go See "Solo: A Star Wars Story"!!!

As I am preparing to see "Solo" a second time, it has come to my attention that almost all of you haven't seen it for the first time yet, which is a damn shame. Look I understand your desire to punish Disney for that whole "Last Jedi" fiasco, but trust me here "Solo" is a great movie and you will love it.

From We Got This Covered

As you surely know, Solo: A Star Wars Story‘s Alden Ehrenreich has made a deal with Lucasfilm to portray everyone’s favorite scruffy-looking nerf herder in at least two more movies. Whether he gets the chance to do so or not though depends mostly on how the film performs at the box office, and in that regard, things aren’t going very well right now.

We heard earlier today that the Anthology pic only managed to pull in $83.3 million on this side of the pond – not to mention it bombed in China, too – which is tremendously disappointing and way under expectations. It’s the first true flop for Lucasfilm and has no doubt thrown those sequel plans into question.

But if there’s one person who’s not letting the numbers get him down, it’s Ron Howard. Taking to Twitter earlier today, the director found a silver lining in the situation, saying that though it didn’t quite soar as high as the studio hoped, Solo was still a personal best for him in terms of openings.

As for why exactly the pic did so poorly, well, when you combine the divisive reviews and production troubles, plus the fact that many people weren’t interested in seeing anyone else other than Harrison Ford portray the titular character in the first place, it isn’t exactly surprising that Solo: A Star Wars Story bombed at the box office.

Personally, I’m of the opinion that Disney is perilously close to devaluing the idea of a Star Wars event movie if they’re going to keep up their annual release schedule. Sure, the last couple have been great, but there’s a serious chance of audience fatigue if we hit the mid 2020s and we’ve had 7 or 8 movies in as many years. Even releasing Solo so hot on the heels of The Last Jedi feels a bit cheap. And judging by the box office numbers, that’s a sentiment that many share.

Here is my take on Solo (Again):

By Ken Hulsey

Disney is way better at making Star Wars prequels than sequels.

Let's just cut to the chase, Solo is a really, really, really good movie. I absolutely loved it. It was just the thing I personally needed to wipe the awful memories of "The Last Jedi" from my dorky brain. It is an all-around solid movie with a great story, acting and effects. It also contains enough plot twists and a special cameo that I really want to talk at length about, but can't in fear of ruining the movie for you, to make the movie highly entertaining.

Here is the bottom line, Alden Ehrenreich was really believable as Han Solo. This is of course the most important aspect that makes "Solo" as good a movie as it is. Ehrenreich owned the role and put his own unique take on it. He captured enough of Harrison Ford's mannerisms to effectively portray the character without making his performance an over exaggerated impression. It was very easy for me to accept Ehrenreich as Han Solo and by the end of the film I was completely sold and am now quite looking forward to the future installments with him portraying one of my favorite movie characters.

The rest of the cast was excellent from Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke (Just try to keep your eyes off her ... holy smokes) to much talked about Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian. Glover doesn't steal the show, which is actually a good thing, but ads a whole new level of charm and wit to the suave Calrissian.

Visually "Solo" is an amazing feast for the eyes. I marveled at just how good the special effects were. Star Wars films have always been a showcase for effects and I have to say that this movie looked as real as real could be. This movie will be able to stand the test of time much better than the prequel films, which in my opinion, are starting to look very cartoonish as time passes.

Here's where I rank Solo in the pecking order of Star Wars films. I would honestly put it behind "Return of the Jedi" and in front of "The Force Awakens". Okay so here we go:

1. Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. Rogue One
4. Return of the Jedi
5. Solo
6. The Force Awakens
7. Revenge of the Sith
8. Attack of the Clones
9. The Phantom Menace
10 ... Those Ewok movies
11. The Holiday Special
12. ... Star Wars toy commercials
13. The Last Jedi

Actually you could insert anything Star Wars related between twelve and thirteen, which shows just how much I loath "The Last Jedi."

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens - Review

Written By: Ken Hulsey

Last night I was treated to a movie that I had been waiting to see for thirty-two years, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. After the release of 'Return of the Jedi' in 1983 no one ever truly believed that it would take three decades for the next installment in the series to be produced. It seemed like a no-brainer that a money driven movie industry, along with a rabid fan base, would demand that after a short hiatus the next chapter in the Star Wars saga return to the silver screen. Alas that did not happen.

As we all know George Lucas would revisit his tribute to 1930s sci fi serials beginning in the 1990s with newly revamped versions of the original three films which paved the way for the three less than stellar Star Wars prequels. In the eyes of most fans the newly added scenes in 'A New Hope', 'Empire' and 'Jedi' did nothing to improve on the originals and the three films that followed them failed to capture the wonder and charm that made Star Wars the most beloved movie series in cinematic history.

Taking that into account I was optimistic but cautious about what Disney and J.J. Abrams would do with this beloved movie franchise. As it would turn out getting Star Wars away from George Lucas and into the hands of 'The Mouse Factory' was a great thing for both Star Wars and it's fanbase. As a fan who was there in 1977 when Star Wars I have to say that my expectations were far exceeded by what I saw last night.

I think what I tweeted (and posted on Facebook) immediately after seeing the movie summed it up best: "Just saw Star Wars The Force Awakens - MIND BLOWN!"

J.J. Abrams had to walk a razor thin line with this movie. He had to make a film that both captured the essence of the three originals, yet be new and fresh like his recent two 'Star Trek' movies. Amazingly the film maker was able to pull off exactly that. While watching The Force Awakens it was a joy to see an equal portion of Lucas (The Lucas who made A New Hope not Phantom Menace), Irvin Kershner (Empire), Richard Marquand (Jedi) and Abrams' influences in what made it onto the screen. I think that it would be safe to say what Abrams has produced here may be the most complete and polished Star Wars film with the exception of 'The Empire Strikes Back', which is arguably the best sci fi film ever made.

This is where things get tough. I really want to delve into the story at this point, but I realize that there are still a vast majority of fans who have not seen the movie yet and may not see it for a few days, so I'm not going to ruin it for you ... though I really, really want to talk about it.

That being said, I think that I won't be wrecking anyone's movie experience by talking about how the plot for The Force Awakens in many ways mirrors that of the first three films. A fact that has put off many of the critics who have already written about this movie. For myself personally this fact actually made the film more enjoyable. It helped connect this movie with the three original in ways that the three prequels failed to do. The plot for The Force Awakens may not have been 100% original, but who cares really? The film is both fun, compelling and stirred up more than a bucket full of emotions I can't get into without blowing any important parts of the story.

To sum it up, Star Wars The Force Awakens is an amazing movie with incredible effects, great acting and a kind of story that sadly had been missing from this franchise since the 1980s. As a fan this was what I wanted to see in a Star Wars movie for years.

In all honesty I waited til this morning to get all my thoughts together about what I saw last night, and I'm still trying to process it all, which in a way really speaks to what an overall amazing movie The Force Awakens really is. Maybe as the day goes by, or after I see it again numerous times, I can truly express whats brewing in my noggin.

Obviously I will be revisiting this film again in a few days after almost everyone has seen the movie to talk in depth more about the plot and the film as a whole in more detail.

The Force Awakens - I loved it, finally a Star Wars for Star Wars fans ... MIND BLOWN!

MARK HAMILL REPORTS TO SET OF STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII

Luke Skywalker is reportedly back in action for Star Wars: Episode VIII, according to reports from Ireland.

From IGN

The Irish Examiner says cast and crew members are gathering in County Kerry to film scenes off the coast on the rocky isle of Skellig Michael, which also served as a location on Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Unfortunately, bad weather conditions have reportedly impacted the shoot there.

See Also: Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Retro Style Lobby Card Print - Version 4

"A crew of around 100 people and cast members, including Mark Hamill who will reprise his Luke Skywalker role, are expected to be on the boats due to leave Portmagee today at 7am," reports the Examiner, which included a photo of Hamill's son Nathan checking into his local hotel.

We learned last week that Episode VIII would be shooting in Ireland this month. Skellig Michael was a monastic settlement between the sixth and twelfth centuries. And while we know for certain until The Force Awakens opens, persistent rumors claim the ruins of Skellig Michael double as Luke Skywalker's hideaway.

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Star Wars 8 News: Production Set to Begin in Ireland This Month for Episode VIII

From iDigitalTimes

Star Wars: The Force Awakens still has several more months to go before its highly-anticipated release, but that’s not stopping moves from being made on the follow up – Star Wars: Episode VIII.

Reports initially emerged on Wednesday that the The Force Awakens crew was regrouping in Ireland this month for last minute shoots, but Lucasfilm rebuffed those rumors shortly later. The production team is actually heading across the pond to shoot footage for Rian Johnson’s 2017 sequel, Episode VIII.

See Also: Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Retro Style Lobby Card Print - Version 1

Entertainment Weekly reports that Heather Humphries, Ireland’s arts minister, confirmed the news via Irish TV network RTÉ. Apparently the confusion surfaced because Lucasfilm did not specify which ‘Star Wars’ film was being worked on.

Little is known about Star Wars 8 in terms of plot and characters. As mentioned, Rian Johnson is attached to write and direct the eight installment. Guardians of the Galaxy star Benicio Del Toro has also revealed that he will play the main villain role, but we do not know anything about his character, nor has the studio or anyone else involved confirmed that news.

Episode VIII will be the third feature in the new Star Wars franchise following J.J. Abrams’ Episode VII – The Force Awakens as well as the series’ first “anthology” film, titled Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Star Wars: Episode VIII is set to hit theaters on May 26, 2017.

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