JJ Abrams talks Star Wars secrecy

“It feels to me like there’s a purity in not knowing every little thing.”

JJ Abrams talks Star Wars, spoilers and his book project S in The Telegraph.

The director has hinted at a more conventional promotional campaign than those he’s previously overseen for Cloverfield, Super 8 and Star Trek. “Star Wars is in every way a different animal,” he said. “It’s always been a more open, fan-engaged universe than I’ve been used to, so I’m sure there’ll be some sort of compromise.”

Star Wars set to film in May

Now that JJ Abrams has completed the script for Star Wars Episode VII with original trilogy scribe Lawrence Kasdan. Principal photography will begin this May in London.

JJ Abrams says Star Wars script is done and confirms talks with Breaking Bad's Jesse Plemons

How's this for an early birthday (mine) present. Talking to The Wrap JJ Abrams says the script for Star Wars Episode VII is complete, and confirms that he’s talked with Breaking Bad actor Jesse Plemons about a role.

The Star Trek Into Darkness director confirmed that Plemons is among the actors he’s speaking with, and expressed surprise about the reports of his talks with the actor.

“He is one of the actors that we’ve talked to, yeah,” Abrams said. “But, you know. It’s not often that I read about actors that I’m going to be meeting… that I get to read articles about actors who are going to come in. And so I get to see someone and say, ‘Oh, I read that I’m going to see you.’ … It’s usually agents talking to people about what’s happening. It’s a lot of noise.”

And the script, expected to be delivered by the end of January, is indeed in place.

“We’re working really hard and we’ve got our script and we’re in deep prep. Full steam ahead, y’know.”

The Official Star Wars Fact File magazine hits stores!

OFFICIAL STAR WARS™ FACT FILE MAGAZINE HITS STORES, OFFERING FANS UNPRECEDENTED INSIGHT INTO THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO A GALAXY, FAR, FAR AWAY…

LONDON, UK – 17th January 2014: De Agostini Publishing, the leading partwork publisher, today announced the release of the most complete encyclopaedia of all things Star Wars ever published. THE OFFICIAL STAR WARS™ FACT FILE offers fans the most comprehensive insight into the Star Wars universe ever, building up week by week to be the ultimate guide to a galaxy far, far away…

Since 1977, when cinema audiences were first stunned by the sight of a vast Star Destroyer rumbling across the screen, the Star Wars films have continued to capture imaginations and, with a new film due to hit the screens in less than two years, fresh enthusiasm for the Star Wars universe is mounting.

Officially licensed by Lucasfilm, THE OFFICIAL STAR WARS™ FACT FILE features facts and figures from the original and prequel film trilogies, the Clone Wars TV series, and the official Star Wars novels, games and comics throughout the years.

With unprecedented access to historical information, movie photography, commissioned artwork, CGI images and detailed blueprints, each issue of THE OFFICIAL STAR WARS™ FACT FILE covers events from a long time ago in six separate sections:

· BATTLES & EVENTS - The major, decisive battles that have shaped the Star Wars universe; including battle plans and strategies, profiles of the key factions, training tactics and blueprints.
· HUMANS & ALIENS - Data files and biographies of all the major personalities and races, humanoid and alien, including councils, secret sects, and other important affiliations.
· PLANETS & LOCATIONS – Key data on the universe itself: orbits, environments, locations, cities, buildings, indigenous populations and, of course, Death Stars.
· DROIDS & MACHINES – Design details and specifications, historical usage, primary functions and notable models of droids, robots and other programmable entities.
· WEAPONS & TECHNOLOGY – The military and domestic technology of the Star Wars universe; from ion blasters to double-bladed lightsabers, sensor packs to quad laser scopes, cybernetic implants to thermal detonators, and much, much more.
· STARSHIPS & VEHICLES – Detailed cross-sections, design blueprints, owner profiles, and key uses of the spacecraft, land units and transporters from the Star Wars universe.

Liam White, marketing manager for publisher De Agostini Publishing said: “We are extremely excited and proud of the release of THE OFFICIAL STAR WARS™ FACT FILE. This is a must for Star Wars fans of all ages. It’s the largest Star Wars guide ever published and, together with Lucasfilm, we have created the most detailed reference to our favourite galaxy far, far away…”

Issue No. 1 is currently on sale at the introductory price of 50p, with Issue No. 2 in stores from 15th January 2014 at the regular price of £2.99, with a free specially designed Star Wars Stormtrooper binder. There are 120 issues in the collection.

More information can be found on the official website www.starwarsfactfile.com, the official Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/starwarsfactfile and on Twitter at @StarWarsFiles.

STAR WARS and related properties are trademarks in the United States and/or in other countries of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. © & TM 2013 Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.

About De Agostini Publishing: De Agostini Publishing is the world leader in the partworks market, with publishing products ranging from hobby courses to soft-educational publications for children and adults, from physical collections to general reference with a high level of digital content, and from flow packs and trading cards to innovative and unique content for the latest digital devices.
De Agostini Publishing has a broad presence in Europe, Asia and Latin America (through a joint venture with the Planeta Group) and a turnover of €500 million annually. De Agostini publishes more than 300 collections per year, which are distributed across 46 global markets, in 21 major world languages. De Agostini Publishing headquarters are in Novara (northern Italy) and operates internationally through 8 fully owned subsidiaries – London, Hamburg, Warsaw, Athens, Moscow, Kiev, Tokyo and New York.

Loving the Alien: Isolation

When SEGA officially announced Alien: Isolation, and its survival horror ambitions, I was left cold! The Alien franchise hasn't had the most auspicious history in video games.

Alien³ on SEGA's Mega Drive and Aliens vs Predator on Mac and PC came closest to distilling the tension of James Cameron's Aliens. Whereas Aliens: Colonial Marines was met with derision by gamers and the gaming press.

However, reading this month's Edge magazine may have rekindled my enthusiasm! This is an excerpt from an interview with Creative Assembly (the studio tasked with putting the bite back).

After finishing Viking: Battle For Asgard, Creative Assembly’s Alistair Hope and Jude Bond worked together with a small team to develop a survival-horror prototype designed to sell Sega on the notion of letting them play with the Alien brand it had recently acquired. “Not that we were really prepared to make it,” Hope says. “We were in a position to make it, but we didn’t have the team or the tools.”

In six weeks, a “handful of guys” put together a proof of concept, which in its very earliest forms had a player-controlled xenomorph in place of the complex decision-making tree that would eventually dictate its behaviour. The decisions made by the alien player in those miniature games of hide and seek would later form the basis of the creature’s AI.

“In a way, that was just us being fanboys, just having a chance to build some alien environments,” Hope explains. “But that little tech demo went a bit viral within Sega, and suddenly it seemed like this pipe dream of making a game based on the original Alien [film] started to get some momentum.”

Alien: Isolation follows Amanda, Ellen Ripley's daughter, as she attempts to discover what happened to her mother and the crew of the Nostromo.

You can pre-order Alien: Isolation today.

JJ Abrams' Star Wars to focus on Luke, Leia and Han

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Star Wars Episode VII will focus on Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo.

The magazine reports: ‘The new characters, the offspring, will now be in supporting roles … and take centre stage in Episode VIII and IX.’

Can JJ Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan deliver a fitting swansong for the original stars? I think so.

Game of Thrones trailer: "There is only one Hell!"

HBO has unleashed the first trailer for Game of Thrones season four.

Here are a few memorable quotes amidst the desolation of war.

"They have a choice, they can live in my new world or die in their old one," Targaryen says.

"There is only one hell, the one we live in now," Melisandre laments meanwhile, though Tyrion Lannister has the final word in the trailer: "If you want justice, you’ve come to the wrong place."



The series' mythology rises throughout the early seasons and is the very definition of a slow burner, which rewards the dedicated viewer.

Game of Thrones returns to Sky Atlantic this April

Game of Thrones returns to Sky Atlantic on April 7th at 9PM! A day after the US network premiere.

The fourth season of Game of Thrones picks up where the last began, finishing up its adaptation of George R.R. Martin's A Storm of Swords. Mark Gatiss (Doctor Who/Sherlock) is to feature in the new series.

This Sunday fans will get their first peek at the new season on HBO.

UK fans should follow the official Facebook page for exclusive trailers and more here.

Bring on the dragons...

Martin Scorsese on the future of cinema

Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese has written an open letter, addressed to his daughter, in which he discusses the future of Hollywood cinema.

A topic I recently debated with Andrew Lewin here.

Dearest Francesca,

I’m writing this letter to you about the future. I’m looking at it through the lens of my world. Through the lens of cinema, which has been at the center of that world.

For the last few years, I’ve realized that the idea of cinema that I grew up with, that’s there in the movies I’ve been showing you since you were a child, and that was thriving when I started making pictures, is coming to a close. I’m not referring to the films that have already been made. I’m referring to the ones that are to come.

I don’t mean to be despairing. I’m not writing these words in a spirit of defeat. On the contrary, I think the future is bright.

We always knew that the movies were a business, and that the art of cinema was made possible because it aligned with business conditions. None of us who started in the 60s and 70s had any illusions on that front. We knew that we would have to work hard to protect what we loved. We also knew that we might have to go through some rough periods. And I suppose we realized, on some level, that we might face a time when every inconvenient or unpredictable element in the moviemaking process would be minimized, maybe even eliminated. The most unpredictable element of all? Cinema. And the people who make it.

I don’t want to repeat what has been said and written by so many others before me, about all the changes in the business, and I’m heartened by the exceptions to the overall trend in moviemaking – Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, David Fincher, Alexander Payne, the Coen Brothers, James Gray and Paul Thomas Anderson are all managing to get pictures made, and Paul not only got The Master made in 70mm, he even got it shown that way in a few cities. Anyone who cares about cinema should be thankful.

And I’m also moved by the artists who are continuing to get their pictures made all over the world, in France, in South Korea, in England, in Japan, in Africa. It’s getting harder all the time, but they’re getting the films done.

But I don’t think I’m being pessimistic when I say that the art of cinema and the movie business are now at a crossroads. Audio-visual entertainment and what we know as cinema – moving pictures conceived by individuals – appear to be headed in different directions. In the future, you’ll probably see less and less of what we recognize as cinema on multiplex screens and more and more of it in smaller theaters, online, and, I suppose, in spaces and circumstances that I can’t predict.

So why is the future so bright? Because for the very first time in the history of the art form, movies really can be made for very little money. This was unheard of when I was growing up, and extremely low budget movies have always been the exception rather than the rule. Now, it’s the reverse. You can get beautiful images with affordable cameras. You can record sound. You can edit and mix and color-correct at home. This has all come to pass.

But with all the attention paid to the machinery of making movies and to the advances in technology that have led to this revolution in moviemaking, there is one important thing to remember: the tools don’t make the movie, you make the movie. It’s freeing to pick up a camera and start shooting and then put it together with Final Cut Pro. Making a movie – the one you need to make – is something else. There are no shortcuts.

If John Cassavetes, my friend and mentor, were alive today, he would certainly be using all the equipment that’s available. But he would be saying the same things he always said – you have to be absolutely dedicated to the work, you have to give everything of yourself, and you have to protect the spark of connection that drove you to make the picture in the first place. You have to protect it with your life. In the past, because making movies was so expensive, we had to protect against exhaustion and compromise. In the future, you’ll have to steel yourself against something else: the temptation to go with the flow, and allow the movie to drift and float away.

This isn’t just a matter of cinema. There are no shortcuts to anything. I’m not saying that everything has to be difficult. I’m saying that the voice that sparks you is your voice – that’s the inner light, as the Quakers put it.

That’s you. That’s the truth.

All my love,

Dad

Lucasfilm Story Group to streamline Star Wars canon

All Star Wars spinoffs will be centrally curated by the Lucasfilm Story Group run by Pablo Hidalgo and Leland Chee. This encompasses the Expanded Universe including books and comics not directly created by George Lucas.

Chee was hired by Lucas Publishing in 2000 to create The Holocron, the authoritative licensing and continuity database for all Star Wars products.

Does this mean Mara Jade and Grand Admiral Thrawn appearing in Star Wars movies? Who knows. But from now on it's not such a stretch...

Better make room for an even bigger toy collection.