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

We're still in pre-production for Star Wars: Episode IX, and the details are still very hush-hush. But there's been a change in the working title of the movie, and it tells us absolutely nothing about the content of Episode IX - much like "Red Cup" and "Space Bear" told us nothing about Solo or The Last Jedi. But chances are there's some hidden meaning behind the choice, because J.J. Abrams is inv...

All right, enough with the heavy stuff. Let's have some fun! Registration opened for Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019 on Tuesday, tickets and hotel blocks both. The organizers at ReedPOP also updated the Celebration website with a bunch of new details about the stages at the event, as well as some of the elements for which they'll be entertaining submissions from the fan public. I'm sharing all...

There are some folks who would have you believe that half of Star Wars fans thought The Last Jedi was the worst offense ever committed against the franchise. And those folks would have you believe they're the reason why Solo: A Star Wars Story is doing so poorly at the box office, because they voted with their feet. I've had a few people suggest that I'm ignoring this situation or not understandin...

There was a time when making nearly $265 million in 10 days would have been considered remarkable! Not so anymore, considering the budget that Solo: A Star Wars Story had to work with (reshoots included). And especially considering the last three Star Wars movies each took home a haul north of a billion dollars. Scoundrel Business in today's podcast... Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to ht...

Okay, once more with feeling. The notion of "brand fatigue" can express itself in different ways. I took a very informal poll in a few Star-Wars-focused Facebook groups where it would be unlikely to encounter the sorts of people who have been raging about The Last Jedi, with the intent of exploring an idea - had people gone to see the new Star Wars movies less often with each new release? Not out...

The first three new Star Wars movies were about 50/50 in terms of their North American box office versus their non-North-American box office. Solo: A Star Wars Story is not - it's much stronger in North America versus the rest of the world. What gives? Deadline Hollywood tried to get some answers, and I've got questions (and answers) about the answers from some of their anonymous industry sources....

Yeah, yeah, Thor: Ragnarok came out in November, and Black Panther came out in February, and Avengers: Infinity War came out in April, and they were all boffo at the box office, so is this brand fatigue thing real? Why yes, it's a real thing! Maybe not the *whole* thing, but worth considering. And in today's episode, I'm talking about the other reason why you can't compare the MCU of 2018 to the S...

While we wait to see how Solo: A Star Wars Story does at the box office in its second weekend, I thought I'd take a deeper look at the idea of "brand fatigue" as it (potentially) relates to Star Wars. One of the main arguments against the brand fatigue theory is the case of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Folks are saying, "Look at Black Panther and Infinity War coming out within two months of each...

Back in early May, I did an episode covering what Lucasfilm did to celebrate May the 4th (Star Wars Day). One of those things was to release a commercial that, at the time, I didn't want to talk about on the podcast because it was something that I wished I had seen for the first time in the theater while watching Solo: A Star Wars Story. Well, now I'm pulling back the curtain on that one and talki...

If your only experience with Star Wars is the movies themselves, you may have watched Solo: A Star Wars Story and thought to yourself, "How did THAT character show up at the end of the movie?!" If you're versed in the Clone Wars and Rebels cartoon series, you probably weren't as shocked as everyone else, but still. On today's episode, the brief history of that character leading up to the surprise...

With all the headlines saying that Solo: A Star Wars Story is a "bomb," is "crashing" at the box office, and other clever things like that, it's tougher to find some positive news about how Solo did over the long Memorial Day weekend. But the details are there, if you only know where to look... Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate to the Star Wars 7x7 podca...

Fans skewing the narrative? Bad PR over the director change? Earlier critics' reviews? Memorial Day competition? Brand fatigue? I'm ranking these and a couple other possibilities to explain why Solo: A Star Wars Story is not performing up to its (lowered, even) expectations at the box office. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate to the Star Wars 7x7 podcast...

Well, the user scores for Solo: A Star Wars Story on Rotten Tomatoes have jumped from 38% to 58% since its Thursday release, but as we all know, that score is being heavily skewed by people who still have an ax to grind about The Last Jedi. But as we talked about with The Last Jedi, there are a couple of sources for audience reactions that movie studios trust WAY more than any online user review s...

Warning! Spoilers on the show today for Solo: A Star Wars Story. I'm connecting a few threads here, including: the recent news about momentum on a Boba Fett movie; the old rumor about an Obi-Wan movie; the fact that Obi-Wan is causing trouble to a certain gangster in the new comics; the reference in Solo to another (but unnamed) gangster; and the surprise appearance of THAT character at the end of...

As broken by Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter and followed up on by Anthony Breznican at Entertainment Weekly, it seems that there's some motion on a Boba Fett movie once again. Both writers have sources telling them that James Mangold is going to be directing the movie and co-writing the script with Simon Kinberg. I've got the details and analysis of the story here for you... Punch it! ***I'm...

From the performances of Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover to the reaction by two-plus generations of viewers spanning a group of about 18 people, let's start the official Solo: A Star Wars Story reactions by looking at some non-spoiler-y info. 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...

In an interview with Mashable's Chris Taylor, Ron Howard seems to leave the door open to the possibility that George Lucas could direct another Star Wars film someday. It's a very diplomatic answer. It's also utter nonsense, because we all know what Lucas' answer to that would be. Plus, on the big day - the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story in theaters - a small favor to ask of the people who are...

It's happening all over again! User ratings are tanking for Solo: A Star Wars Story on Rotten Tomatoes, and the movie hasn't even come out yet. What gives? Rogue One re-wrote Star Wars history, too, but that's still getting lots of love on the movie review aggregator. Let's get to the bottom of this... Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate to the Star Wars 7...

No one can't predict things with 100% accuracy, but that doesn't stop anyone from trying. And from "unaided awareness" to "definite interest," movie studios spend a lot of time and effort trying to gauge what an audience will do before they every do it. So, what are the predictions saying about the performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story? Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.co...

What can the performance of Deadpool 2 at this weekend's box office tell us about how Solo: A Star Wars Story will fare next week when they square off at the box office? Well, the performance of the first Deadpool movie in 2016 leaves some clues for us... 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...

Ewan McGregor showing up at premiere of Solo: A Star Wars Story stirred up a couple of questions. Like, will he have a cameo in the movie? And does this mean that the oft-rumored Kenobi movie could be any closer to reality? Meanwhile, a French reporter misinterpreted something Kathleen Kennedy said at Cannes about future movies featuring Lando, Han, and Chewie, and that got everyone worked up, too...

In an interview with Esquire magazine, Alden Ehrenreich revealed that he is under contract with Lucasfilm for three movies. Solo: A Star Wars Story is just the first, but what does this three-picture deal really mean? Especially in light of the fact that Felicity Jones has an option for a second movie in her contract, but Jyn Erso died in Rogue One? Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http:...

We've been talking this week about some of the films that Larry and Jon Kasdan were keeping in mind as they wrote the script for Solo: A Star Wars Story. But what about Ron Howard? Surely this supremely accomplished director had a few films in mind that might serve as useful touchpoints for his filming? Well, yes, of course! And we'll talk about two of them today: Bullitt, and Rush. Punch it! ***I...

What does a neo-noir gangster thriller have in common with Solo: A Star Wars Story? That's the topic of today's podcast. Miller's Crossing is another of the films that were mentioned in the Entertainment Weekly interview about sources of inspiration for Solo. Coming up, we have a look at what the movie could also tell us about the relationships between Dryden Vos, Tobias Beckett, Qi'ra, and Han. P...

There's a certain feeling in the relationship between "the kid" and Clint Eastwood in the movie Unforgiven, Jon Kasdan says, that he and his father Larry Kasdan were interested in when they were writing Solo: A Star Wars Story. The source of that info, an interview in Entertainment Weekly, can be misread as being about Clint Eastwood and his son, but it's actually about Eastwood and a wanna-be mur...