Star Wars 7x7: A Daily Bite-Sized Dose of Star Wars Joy

The "Find the Force" character scavenger hunt app within the official Star Wars app promises to let you unlock (and do photo/video AR stuff with) 15 characters from The Last Jedi. We've been promised new characters, and they've fulfilled it by having the Porgs as their early unlock preview. (Yes, I know - not exactly a "character," from a certain point of view.) And Admiral Ackbar has also been co...

Whereas the original Star Wars had 31 wipe transitions, Empire had 42, and The Force Awakens only had 14, The Last Jedi is bringing up the rear with 12 wipe transitions, according to writer/director Rian Johnson. What does that mean for the structure of the movie? What could that tell us about the opening sequences? And does it mean that we won't see Luke and Rey at the very beginning of The Last...

In the latest excerpt from the upcoming Phasma novel, we get the name of her home planet and details about how deprived they've been. We also learn about her clan, get verification of her real name, see the scene of her first meeting with Commandant Brendol Hux and the First Order, and maybe even get a glimpse of the Emperor's former pleasure yacht. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http:...

Reshoots are already happening on the Han Solo movie, as revealed by Michael K. Williams in two separate interview about how he was unfortunately (and with no ill will on either side) cut from the Han Solo movie due to scheduling conflicts. More about that, about the character he would have played, and a name for Emilia Clarke's character - is it the real name, or a code word (again)? Punch it! **...

Look, Snoke is Snoke. So let's start there. We've been given an idea of where he comes from, and who in the known Star Wars galaxy seems to have discovered his existence first. Beyond that, the whole existence of the First Order and its origins suggests a couple of options about Snoke's own origins, and how he hooked up with the First Order. Which I'll be exploring in today's podcast. Punch it! **...

Yesterday, I talked with you about the First Order's AT-M6 "gorilla" walker revealed on the Star Wars Show, and today I'm going over the details of the Dreadnought - that's the giant 7.7 kilometer/4.5 mile long First Order ship packing two massive orbital auto cannons. Lucasfilm design supervisor Kevin Jenkins reveals that it was designed for a particular sequence, and I've got some thoughts about...

On the Star Wars Show on Wednesday, two new vehicles from The Last Jedi were revealed! I'm talking about one of them today, the AT-M6 - that would be the All Terrain MegaCaliber Six for those of you interested in such things. The reveal, and the related interview with Lucasfilm design supervisor Kevin Jenkins, has implications for everything from ways to combat it in specific, to design decisions...

Star Wars 7x7 Patron Bobby Gordon caught up with Star Wars Rebels' Taylor Gray, who was performing in his new play "Sold in the Name of Sex" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. (Which he wrote, produced, and directed as well.) They talked about the play and its inspiration, Taylor's favorite Star Wars memory, what's in store for Ezra Bridger in Rebels Season 4, and what Taylor's plans are beyond Reb...

It was a marathon podcast call-in show! I hung out with Steele Saunders for about two hours, as his guest on the Steele Wars call-in show. The Obi-Wan Kenobi movie was a hot topic, of course, and in this excerpt from the show, Steele begins by suggesting Star Wars could look to another franchise in terms of figuring out where their next great success could lie. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported!...

When I've been doing single-question interviews in 2017, the one question I've been asking folks is, "What's your favorite Star Wars memory?" I had the good fortune to hang out with Steele Saunders last Friday, and he graciously contributed a lovely story that harkens back to a special viewing party for The Force Awakens in Australia. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/s...

The synopsis for the novel "Phasma" by Delilah S. Dawson has been released, as well as three posters depicting mysterious characters from the novel. Well, not so mysterious anymore, perhaps, since the synopsis seems to make it rather clear who at least two of the three characters are. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate to the Star Wars 7x7 podcast, and yo...

Some Star Wars new sources, I trust whatever they're reporting about. Other sources, I only trust for certain things. I was reminded starkly of this by the reporting on the Obi-Wan Kenobi movie rumors. Some o those semi-trusted sources used the words "official," "confirmed," or other forms of those words when they shouldn't have - since neither Lucasfilm nor Disney have even *responded* to the rep...

it's early, EARLY days yet, but unnamed sources (perhaps inside Lucasfilm, perhaps not) are saying that director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours, The Reader) is in an early, EARLY stage of talks with Lucasfilm about directing an Obi-Wan Kenobi standalone Star Wars Story. I'm breaking down the rumors that began with The Hollywood Reporter yesterday (8/17). Punch it! ***I'm listener supporte...

Earlier this year, I theorized that one of the biggest challenges Luke would have in The Last Jedi is coming to terms with the guilt of what happened with Ben Solo and the destruction of the fledgling Jedi Academy. In the fall 2017 Movie Preview cover story on The Last Jedi in Entertainment Weekly, Rian Johnson and Mark Hamill give interviews which suggest I was pretty on the money with this one....

Rian Johnson notes that, structurally, J.J. Abrams essentially handed Johnson a situation that already had a number of structural parallels to The Empire Strikes Back. So Johnson set about making it different. Here's a look at some of the similarities we've seen so far, along with some of the more noticeable differences. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate...

I'm celebrating hitting the iconic 1,138-episode mark with a look back at all the uses of that special number in the Star Wars movies. (Hint: there may be more references than you might expect.) Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate to the Star Wars 7x7 podcast, and you'll get some fabulous rewards for your pledge.***  Check out SW7x7.com for full Star Wars...

Going back to some of the earlier stories released about The Last Jedi as part of Entertainment Weekly's Fall 2017 Movie Preview cover story, I'm taking a look at what new things we've learned about Leia and Poe - as well as a bit about Laura Dern's Vice Admiral Holdo, and about the state of the Resistance and the New Republic. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to...

Anthony Breznican and Entertainment Weekly wrapped up their eight-story coverage of The Last Jedi (as part of their Fall 2017 Movie Preview Cover Story) by giving us a few insights into some of the as-yet-uncovered characters in the movie - specifically, Kylo Ren, Captain Phasma, Chewbacca, and Maz Kanata. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate to the Star Wa...

No spoilers in the article from Entertainment Weekly about the parents of Rey and Finn, but we do get to learn a bit about *what* we're going to learn about Rey's and Finn's parents, and a bit about how much that family lineage ultimately matters to their characters and the events of the movie. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate to the Star Wars 7x7 podca...

Thanks to Entertainment Weekly's cover story on The Last Jedi, we know a bit more about Benicio del toro's shady "DJ" character. On today's podcast, I'm reviewing the reveals; piecing together a theory based on those reveals and what we learned from the D23 Expo; and considering the possibility that he's a character we've met previously in the new Star Wars canon - specifically, in the Aftermath n...

Remember how I've been saying that this is the time of year that we get the Entertainment Weekly Fall 2017 Movie Preview, and that The Last Jedi should be on the cover? Well, it all came true on Wednesday. From Snoke Praetorian Guards to the "Caretakers," from Finn piloting a speeder on Crait to the naming of the planet that's home to the casino city of Canto Bight, I'm recapping the new reveals f...

It may seem like Lucasfilm has been having a challenge with directors recently - needing Tony Gilroy to come in and tinker with Gareth Edwards' Rogue One, needing Ron Howard to take over the Han Solo movie - but there may be a more fundamental issue plaguing Lucasfilm and the smooth production of its movies, and the cause goes all the way back to the days when George Lucas was running the company....

Since being acquired by Disney in 2009, Marvel Studios - the movie production arm of Marvel - has produced more than a dozen films, none of them lower than 66% on Rotten Tomatoes (to give you a thumbnail indication of their quality). In the same time period, Lucasfilm produced four movies - two of which were Red Tails and Strange Magic, neither of which broke even at the box office. Punch it! ***I...

Will there be a trailer for The Last Jedi in August? Does there even need to be? Considering the upcoming Entertainment Weekly Fall Movie Preview and the lack of chatter on social from sources usually in the know, I'm rethinking my prediction for an August trailer after all. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate to the Star Wars 7x7 podcast, and you'll get s...

John Boyega's and Gwendoline Christie's interviews about The Last Jedi; Ron Howard's tweets about the Han Solo movie; and the Hollywood Reporter's exclusive on a new writer being brought in for Episode IX are all up for discussion on today's podcast. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate to the Star Wars 7x7 podcast, and you'll get some fabulous rewards for...