In this edition of Star Wars Bits:
- Mark Hamill gets schooled by a 10-year-old on Ellen
- Pre-Star Wars: The Last Jedi cast interviews reveal a shocking antipathy towards Porgs
- New intel on the Resistance’s “ski speeders”
- Laura Dern meets Chewbacca and BB-8, revels in preciousness
- And much more!
Rancho Obi-Wan’s grand theft saga has mercifully come to a close, as the man responsible for a series of thefts from Steve Sansweet’s non-profit museum of Star Wars memorabilia has been granted his sentence. Here is Sansweet’s statement on the verdict, courtesy of Team Jedi News:
AN UPDATE: As many of you know, Carl Cunningham pleaded guilty to felony grand theft earlier this year and admitted to stealing about $ 200,000 of Star Wars memorabilia from Rancho Obi-Wan. Today, in Sonoma County Superior Court he was sentenced to one year in jail and three years of probation. A restitution hearing will be held soon.
And remember, kids: smuggling IRL is not cool.
Following the loot crate controversy that left fans of Star Wars games cold, a leaked gameplay video shows that Battlefront II players may soon be able to customize characters. GameSpot has additional analysis on the situation, including a glorious mental image of Darth Vader in pink armor.
Mark Hamill made his first visit to The Ellen Show a memorable one: first, by losing spectacularly in a game of Star Wars trivia against 10-year-old superfan Britton Walker, and second, by supplying Ellen with some wonderful tidbits about Carrie Fisher in this interview.
Empire published a juicy excerpt from the magazine’s January issue featuring all things Star Wars and The Last Jedi. This quote above comes from Hux actor Domhnall Gleeson, whose character is clearly aiming to be more of a main player in the upcoming film:
Because of what happened in the first film, [General Hux has] been pushed to a place where his position is in real jeopardy, and people make really bad decisions when they get desperate. Hux and Kylo Ren are vying for power and for Snoke’s attention. They’re both contenders for the throne and Hux is hoping Ren explodes, so that he can take up the mantle. He knows it will be a battle otherwise, one he may very well lose.
Let the power struggle commence!
.@brianNpikachu @JoonasSuotamo Hi Joonas! #RianJohnson pic.twitter.com/XlM5NlFU4o
— Star Wars (@starwars) November 28, 2017
As reported by EW, Rian Johnson revealed in a recent Facebook live event that his wrap gift from Neal Scanlan, the head of the Star Wars creature shop, was a Porg. (The entire Q&A can be found here and here, on the Star Wars Facebook page.) However, in answer to a fan question, Johnson also tweeted rather cheekily that working with Porgs was “an absolute nightmare.” Blasphemy! Might we expect Episode IX to be titled “Revenge of the Porgs”?
More tidbits from EW: Pablo Hidalgo of the Lucasfilm story group explained the philosophy behind the design of the Resistance’s rickety old ski speeders, depicted above striding into battle against the First Order on Crait. “They are basically heaps of crap,” Hidalgo told EW. “They are old and not meant to instill confidence. They are like a lot of things in the Resistance — weapons of last resort.” Three cheers for the underdogs!
StarWars.com posted a complete collection of Pop Icon posters, featuring bold but minimalist designs of symbols that are important to The Last Jedi. Must… hide… wallet…
Laura Dern is all of us. On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Dern related an anecdote that recalls her first meeting with Chewbacca on the set of The Last Jedi:
One day on set, Rian [Johnson] said, Hey Laura, somebody wants to say hi. And I remember turning around, and I was like, CHEWBACCA? And I started crying. I felt slightly embarrassed that I was weeping when he hugged me, but it was profound.
Here’s hoping a certain Maz Kanata doesn’t get jealous!
This cutie! pic.twitter.com/ub9GuO7iC3
— Laura Dern (@LauraDern) December 3, 2017
No, hold up, this video of Laura Dern meeting BB-8 trumps anything and everything I may have written before this. Where’s our BB-8 and Amilyn Holdo spinoff?!
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The post Star Wars Bits: Laura Dern Hugs Chewbacca, Domhnall Gleeson Talks Hux’s Motives, and ‘The Last Jedi’ Interviews Galore appeared first on /Film.
