Friday 1st September was the second official Force Friday, a day in which Star Wars merchandise took center stage with toy manufacturers such as Topps, Hasbro, Lego and others showcasing their latest licensed products. In all honesty, most of the offerings were relatively nondescript, with the usual cheaply produced, low resemblance plastic rubbish one has unfortunately come to expect from today's manufacturers. However, there were a few surprises that stood out, but none so much as the new UCS Millenium Falcon set from Lego.
Expected to release October 1st, this new set will cost US fans $800 (UK fans £650) and contains a jaw dropping 7, 541 pieces, which will when assembled complete one of Lego's biggest models which measures 22 inches wide, 33 inches long and 8 inches tall. The set comes complete with 10 mini-figures and can be configured to look like the Millenium Falcon of the original trilogy or of the new sequel trilogy.
After the dramatic departure of directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, which led to veteran director Ron Howard stepping in as director it seems that production on the Han Solo Star Wars spin off may finally be back on track. Recent news from the movie which is currently in extended production until the end of the month has seen Donald Glover, who portrays a young Lando Calrissian, complete the filming of his scenes while Michael K. Williams was unable to complete his scenes due to a scheduling conflict. As such British actor and Avengers star Paul Bettany has been hired to replace Williams.
Although news on Star Wars: The Last Jedi has been relatively light there was a recent interview with Mark Hamill that appeared the Vancouver Sun, in which the American actor spoke of his return as Luke Skywalker and The loss of Carrie Fisher last Christmas...
"Luke changed, I think, more than the other characters in the original trilogy, from callow farm boy to a Jedi in training to finally a Jedi master. What you're talking about is what really fascinated me. Between "Return of the Jedi" and "Force Awakens," there's just decades of history that's unknown. So I was wondering how they're going to handle all this. Now, obviously, with "Force Awakens," J.J. (Abrams) had a full plate. It was inevitable that they would push me down the line. I was sorry I wasn't able to work with any of the original actors again. But it's not about us anymore. In this new one, I was saying to Rian Johnson: I need to know my backstory. It was kind of unclear. You read where he is now and what he's doing now and sort of have to fill in the blanks for yourself. So I did do a backstory myself. It's not about Luke anymore, so it's not really important. But I had to make sense of it for myself. What Rian came up with, I was stunned."
"She was irreplaceable. There can never be a proper reunion anymore. It's tragic. I hate that it adds an air of melancholy to the film because it doesn't deserve it. I know for a fact she would obviously want us to be having fun. She was all about laughter and enjoying the moment. We're all sort of having this communal period of grief. In a way, it sort of reflects the movies themselves, which were about triumphs and tragedies. They are about a family — a dysfunctional family, but a family nonetheless."
Additionally, a few new images from The Last Jedi were released courtesy of Hungarian Magazine Cinemánia Mozimánia, Topps, and Empire...
