Tuesday 28 April 2015

Celebrate Star Wars Day with Sky Movies



The first Bank Holiday in May coincides with Star Wars Day on May the Fourth in the UK.

All six Star Wars movies - A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith - will be shown live on Sky Movies Showcase. Followed by a rerun on Revenge of the Fifth.

In addition to all six movies. Season one of Star Wars Rebels and all six seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as well as the feature film, will be shown alongside documentaries chronicling the creative process behind the saga.

Haven't got Sky? Start a 30-day free trial with NOW TV today and May The 4th Be With You!

Monday 27 April 2015

BB-8 and Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens



Entertainment Weekly has posted new photos of BB-8 and Rey (Daisy Ridley) from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.



The above production photo was revealed during Star Wars Celebration and clearly shows JJ Abrams directing actress Daisy Ridley, who is standing on an AT-AT leg. I'd bet she's playing the daughter of Han Solo and Princess Leia, which means the force will be with her.

Friday 24 April 2015

Marvel and Telltale team up for 2017



Marvel has announced it's teaming up with Telltale Games, the studio behind licensed episodic adventures including Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Jurassic Park, for an upcoming game series project in 2017.

How will this fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Let the speculation begin.

Thursday 23 April 2015

Star Wars Celebration returns to London in 2016



Star Wars Celebration returns to London after almost a decade and follows the release of The Force Awakens this December. In 2007 I was unable to attend Star Wars Celebration Europe due to the death of my mum. However, this time I'll be there for the three days.

Coming July 15-17, 2016 to London’s ExCeL Center, Celebration will feature Star Wars cast and crew, costumes, exclusive merchandise, entertainment, exhibits, memories made with friends old and new, and never-before-seen glimpses into the future of Star Wars!

Guest and event announcements for Star Wars Celebration Europe 2016 have yet to be announced.

Will you be attending too? Let me know in the comments below.

Friday 17 April 2015

The Force Awakens teaser #2 at Star Wars Celebration



Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy wrapped yesterday's The Force Awakens panel at Star Wars Celebration with "One more thing..." A quote synonymous with keynote speeches given by Steve Jobs, the late co-founder and CEO of Apple.

In this case it was the second teaser trailer for director JJ Abrams upcoming magnum opus.



Two minutes of movie magic that distilled the rich mythology of the original trilogy in a way the prequels specularly failed to achieve...

Tuesday 14 April 2015

Watch the Star Wars Celebration live stream



Not able to attend Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, which kicks off with The Force Awakens panel with director JJ Abrams and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy this Thursday? Fear not, as from Thursday Star Wars fans will be able to view a live stream from StarWars.com.

Here's the Lucasfilm press release in full:

For the first time ever, highlights and more than 30 hours of exclusive video content from Star Wars Celebration Anaheim will be officially live streamed to a worldwide community of fans on StarWars.com, all powered by Verizon.

Launching with a live stream of the highly-anticipated kickoff panel featuring Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy, the StarWars.com Celebration live stream powered by Verizon will continue providing coverage throughout the four-day event from a specially-designed Star Wars Cantina set located in the middle of the action on the convention floor.

Verizon and StarWars.com will deliver 30-plus hours of live streamed content following Thursday’s Celebration kickoff, featuring over a dozen panels and events, including discussions with actors Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, Ian McDiarmid, and several other performers associated with the Star Wars saga. Additionally, StarWars.com and Verizon will be live streaming the Star Wars Fan Film Awards; the Smuggler’s Bounty radio drama; EA’s new Battlefront videogame; and several other exclusive Celebration events that might otherwise be missed by members from Star Wars’ global fan community.

Between the live, on-stage events, StarWars.com will feature live interviews with celebrity guests within the Star Wars Cantina set specially built to capture the mood and atmosphere of the infamous Mos Eisley watering hole from A New Hope. These segments will have a fun, variety show flavor to them that brings a bit of the Star Wars Celebration vibe to those enjoying the event from afar.

Exclusive clips from throughout Star Wars Celebration event will also be available on demand from Verizon, allowing fans to celebrate Star Wars long after the live streams are over.

The live streaming begins at 10:00 a.m. PST, Thursday, April 16, on StarWars.com with the Celebration kickoff panel and continues with 30-plus hours of coverage through the closing ceremony on Sunday, April 19, beginning at 3:30 p.m. PST. Watch exclusive highlights and on-demand clips from Verizon on Twitter, @VerizonWireless, and at Facebook.com/Verizon.

Monday 13 April 2015

Marvel's Ant-Man confronts Thomas the Tank Engine



Marvel's Ant-Man, much like Guardians of the Galaxy, is a standalone movie within the expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe. A comedic respite between Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War.



Many fans were left nonplussed by the Ant-Man teaser released earlier this year. However, this latest trailer may assuage any concerns and a cameo from Thomas the Tank Engine is hilarious.



Marvel's Ant-Man is released July 17th.

Friday 10 April 2015

LEGO Dimensions brings toys-to-life in September



Activision's Skylanders ignited the toy-to-life craze and Disney and Nintendo followed with Infinity and Amiibo respectively. Now there's LEGO Dimensions vying for your living room space.

“When kids play with Lego bricks, they build beyond the singular brands, intermixing all of their favourite characters and universes, and we have come up with a way for players to experience that in games,” said Jon Burton, creative director of developer, TT Games, in a press release. “Now for the first time in a videogame, Lego fans can play in the virtual world and in the real world – combining everything without restrictions.”

“Imagine putting Lego Gollum from The Lord of the Rings behind the wheel of the Lego Delorean in New Ninjago City – the creative play is endless.”

A $99.99 "Starter Pack" will launch on September 27th in the US (September 29th in the UK) for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and Wii U. The game leverages LEGO's original and licensed properties including Back to the Future, The Lord of the Rings and DC Comics. Doubtlessly Harry Potter will join the fray in a future update.

Given Marvel and Star Wars are both owned by Disney, there may be a conflict of interest bringing those characters to LEGO's toys-to-life franchise. This does pose a compelling question. What if you could scan a custom LEGO minifig into the game? May be Boba Fett's helmet on Iron Man's body holding Darth Maul's infamous double-bladed lightsaber.

Will you be trading-in your Skylanders, Disney Infinity and Amiibo collections for LEGO Dimensions this September? Let me know in the comments below.

Thursday 9 April 2015

Star Wars: The Digital Movie Collection this Friday



In anticipation of The Force Awakens, Disney and Twentieth Century Fox are releasing the six-part Star Wars saga on digital download, for the first time, on April 10th.



“Since the debut of the first film nearly 40 years ago, Star Wars has become a worldwide phenomenon with legions of fans from every generation,” said Alan Bergman, president, The Walt Disney Studios. “It’s only fitting that audiences enjoy this legendary saga and its many fascinating behind-the-scenes stories on a wide variety of platforms, and we’re very excited to finally bring all six films to Digital HD for the first time.”

“We’re thrilled that fans will be able to enjoy the Star Wars saga on their digital devices wherever they go,” commented Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. “These films broke new ground in technology, design, sound, and visual effects, and we’ve created some very special bonus material which delves into the saga’s rich history, including new and never-before-released conversations between legendary Star Wars artists — the masters who helped George bring his iconic universe to life.”

With Star Wars: Episodes I-VI available for purchase as a complete digital movie collection and individually, viewers will have the Rebel forces at their beck and call across their favorite devices anywhere – sunbathing at the beach, relaxing in their living room with friends, or waiting to board a flight to Endor (or elsewhere).

Enhancing the movie collection are a host of never-before-seen special features including Star Wars: Discoveries from Inside and insightful Conversations between key contributors from across this celebrated film franchise, plus a curated collection of classic Star Wars extras from each film.

Star Wars: The Digital Movie Collection is available for pre-order now!

Will you be downloading the digital collection? Let me know in the comments below.

Wednesday 1 April 2015

Audi and The Avengers



This isn't an April Fools' Day joke.

Audi, Tony Stark's car manufacturer of choice in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has unleashed its latest commercial promoting the new TTS, which includes new footage from Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man.



Thanks for the Marvel marketing double-dip, Audi.