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

Scott Mendelson, the box office guru for Forbes.com, tells us The Last Jedi did $151 million less this weekend than last weekend. That's the biggest drop from weekend to weekend ever. And yet, it's still projected to make a billion dollars worldwide. So what gives? Why the big drop? Is it the word of mouth from that one corner of fandom? Stronger movies opening against it in the second weekend? Th...

Back into the vault we go on this holiday weekend! Today, in the second of two episodes focused on the Star Wars holiday album from 1980, Christmas in the Stars, I'm sharing the behind-the-scenes story of the making of "R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas," which happens to feature the recording debut of a super-world-famous rock star. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/...

I'm going into the vault this holiday weekend, and sharing with you the episodes I did last year on the two best known songs from Christmas in the Stars, the Star Wars holiday album. Today, the behind-the-scenes story of the making of What Do You Get a Wookiee for Christmas?" Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate to the Star Wars 7x7 podcast, and you'll get...

Back in May 2017, in the Vanity Fair cover story, Mark Hamill said he told The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson that he "fundamentally disagreed" with every choice Johnson made for his character, Luke Skywalker. He later elaborated on that, to make it clear that there were no hard feelings or anything like that, and that it eventually became a thrilling experience for him. But what, exactly,...

What's it like to attend the world premiere of a Star Wars movie, and get to meet your boyhood hero? That's the payoff of the story I'm talking about with Jeremy Meadows, Senior Manager of Strategy and Integration with Nissan USA. On the way, we'll also be talking about Nissan's "Customize Your Craft" campaign, as well as the seven custom cars inspired by characters and vehicles from The Last Jedi...

Writer/director Rian Johnson has said they made sure that, even though this is the "darker" movie of the trilogy, there would be lots of humor in it as well. One of the things Star Wars does best is physical comedy, and so I'm taking the time on today's podcast to compare it to other Star Wars movies on slapstick terms. Is it one of the best? And how does it hold up against its fellow middle-of-th...

Shipping the characters of the Sequel Trilogy has been an avid interest of many Star Wars fans. And the events of The Last Jedi only fuel those fires. Without spoiling anything in this description, I'll be talking about five different combinations of characters, and where their romantic prospects stand after the end of The Last Jedi. What's more, there's something that happened in The Last Jedi th...

Full-spoiler podcast, no-spoiler description! So, the truth has been revealed - or so we think. The person providing the information may not be the most reliable source, but Rey's experience on the island of Ahch-To suggests there could be truth in what that character says. However, other stories in the new canon, including Before the Awakening, cast doubt on what that character claims. Mysterious...

On the one hand, The Last Jedi's opening weekend is the second biggest of all time (after a certain other Star Wars movie). On the other hand, it went from second-best finishes on Thursday and Friday to fourth-best finishes on Saturday and Sunday. What gives? Could it be that people don't actually like it, and word of mouth is driving down ticket sales? Is that why it has a 56% Audience Score on R...

Look, I like the Star Wars movies and I'm a positive guy. I'll look for the bright spots anywhere I can, and try to stay focused on those in a given day. But I'm not the kind of fanboy who just blindly accepts what people are putting out for us. So here, to prove that I'm able to critique The Last Jedi, are seven things that bothered me to varying degrees. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go t...

Today's the last day of being saved from spoilers on the podcast - starting in the numbered episodes, I'll be digging into The Last Jedi in full-spoiler detail. For now, enjoy this look at the final sequences of Star Wars Battlefront II, which cover the Battle of Jakku and the fate of Garrick Versio (Iden's dad); and a decades-later mission which reveals a shocking First Order secret. Punch it! **...

Rian Johnson may have given us a masterpiece with The Last Jedi that's second only to Revenge of the Sith in terms of its visual language and inventiveness. On today's episode of the podcast, I'm flagging seven moments from the new Star Wars movie that may well become indelibly etched in the hearts of fans everywhere. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate to...

Our penultimate numbered episode with no Last Jedi spoilers in it - but there are spoilers for the story mode of Star Wars Battlefront II. In this episode, which is part 4 of what will total up as a 5-part series on Battlefront II's story mode, gives the details of Han's and Lando's playable missions in the game. Plus, that time when Inferno Squad blew up three Star Destroyers - that's right, thre...

Head's up - this is a full spoiler discussion podcast! I've seen The Last Jedi for the first time, and here's my list of seven big ways the movie defied our expectations. 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 7x7 show notes and links...

We may be staying away from spoilers about The Last Jedi for the next few days on the numbered episodes, but that doesn't mean we can't give you spoilers about the story of Star Wars Battlefront II. Today, I'm covering the story mode and (specifically) the most surprising turn of events for Inferno Squad. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate to the Star War...

Yes, The Last Jedi debuts in theaters later this evening! Yes, you're still safe from spoilers here. At least, from The Last Jedi spoilers. In today's episode, I'm continuing my look at the story mode for Star Wars Battlefront II, and in particular the one mission in which Luke Skywalker appears, mere months after the Battle of Endor. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/s...

Safe Week continues! Less than two days until The Last Jedi appears in theaters, and until then (and for a couple of days afterward for folks who don't see the movie on opening day), I'll be digging into the story of Star Wars Battlefront II, which follows the further exploits of Iden Versio and Inferno Squad. Today, Iden's Endor and Operation Cinder missions. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported!...

The battle between the Resistance and the First Order takes on a political dimension, as Leia needs to get creative about fundraising for the Resistance. This is where the Resistance takes the propaganda war against the First Order to a new level. People are tired of hearing her dire warnings. Senators on the take are serving as apologists and placaters, claiming the First Order isn't a danger. It...

It's not Poe's fight, and it's not Leia's fight. The lesson Leia's trying to teach Poe is a crucial one, and it bears directly on the relationship we're going to see between the two of them in The Last Jedi. That, and the most dangerous mission for Black Squadron yet in "Legend Lost," the fourth story arc from the Poe Dameron comic series. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon....

C-3PO, spymaster? It's true, and I'd love to learn more about how he set it up. For today's purposes, all we get to know is that Poe has to act as Threepio's bodyguard while Threepio goes on a mission to make contact with a droid agent who may have discovered intel on Supreme Leader Snoke before going missing. In reality, it's a trap laid by Agent Terex of the First Order Security Bureau. "The Gat...

Poe Dameron, under orders to find Lor San Tekka before the First Order, has to go talk to Grakkus the Hutt in prison. Because that's where Tekka went. Grakkus has a history of collecting Jedi artifacts, which might have had something to do with it. But he'll only talk about Tekka if Poe and Black Squadron break out of prison. First. Before Agent Terex and the First Order do. Lots of shifting allia...

That's right, you can listen safely to us! Today, I'm talking about the second mission Leia sent Poe on in the months before The Force Awakens (and The Last Jedi as well, if you think about it). It's the start of Poe tracking down Lor San Tekka, and his run-in with an agent of the First Order Security Bureau. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate to the Star...

J.J. Abrams revealed the first spoken word in The Force Awakens two years ago, so it's only right that Rian Johnson was compelled on the Jimmy Kimmel show to reveal first spoken word in The Last Jedi. Fun fact for you: It's the first contraction to start off a Star Wars movie. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Go to http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to donate to the Star Wars 7x7 podcast, and you'll get...

All we know about when the novel Phasma takes place is that it's between The Force Awakens and the novel Bloodline - a six-year swing. It seems to be closer to Bloodline, but the only real clue of any kind is the fact that the D'Qar Resistance base is up and running. We also know the main story centers around a captured Resistance Spy and the man in the cardinal-red armor who had his thunder stole...

You want to talk ruthless? Let's talk about Captain Phasma. Sure, she didn't show up much in The Force Awakens, and she didn't do much either, but you could tell she was a bad person to be on the bad side of. And the Phasma novel by Delilah Dawson confirms that opinion and THEN some. The way she's operating, no one is safe - not even people at the highest levels of the First Order. Punch it! ***I'...