You would know by now that the D23 Expo is not a droid, but a spectacle for many things Disney. Marvel, Pixar, Touchstone etc. That also includes Star Wars, itself growing to be many more things.
For one, it’s a reason for Harrison Ford to leave the house without endangering his life or others. He features on the new Episode VII: Force Awakens (2015) poster that was revealed at the expo, along with John Boyega wielding a lightsaber. That tells us his character’s either full of midichlorians, or a Jedi dropped his weapon.
The Expo also introduced plans for Star Wars to become a theme park. Why didn’t anyone think of this before? Disneyland California and Disney World Florida will each have it’s own Star Wars Land, with 14 acres of Millennium Falcon simulators and the like. That might tie in well with Episode IX, which has just just been assigned to Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow. That will be the third of this current trilogy, one of six Star Wars films currently in production, and is set for release in 2019. The theme parks will be released in Real 4D™, the fourth dimension being smell.
You can head over here to watch some cast interviews from the expo. There are also some new stills from the film here, as well as the first image from next year’s Rogue One. The two most recent cast members to join are Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal) and Alan Tudyk (Firefly). Neither is in the photo, which does include Felicity Jones, Riz Ahmed and Diego Luna looking a lot like rebels trying to get their hands on plans for the Death Star. No Ben Mendelsohn, so he must be an an imperial officer. That means Forest Whitaker must be Boyega’s Jedi father!
Alas, there was no new Episode VII footage, but that dream was quashed a week before the Expo. Mr Abrams, however, has little jurisdiction in South Korea, where this new TV Spot has been released, providing a considerably different angle on the same old stuff.
The Force Awakens will be released in Australia on December 17.
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