George Lucas attends Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opening

Star Wars creator George Lucas joined Disney CEO Bob Iger and original trilogy cast members Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo) and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) for the grand opening of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

“Isn’t this fantastic?” Iger said, emerging from a full-scale replica of the Millennium Falcon, Deadline reported. “I have been in this job for 14 years. There are some good days, but this is right up there with the best of them.”

Commenting on the new Star Wars attraction, Lucas said, “Now the technology is here, this thing is amazing. It’s something you couldn’t even dream about 20 years ago. It was a great experience. for me, and it will change your life.”

Hamill added, “Look at where we are today. We get our own land! You know, Star Wars to me has always been the gift that keeps on giving, and that reason is you. Parents tell you not to speak to strangers, but people treat me like family, tell me personal stories.”

Ford started up the Millennium Falcon and poignantly dedicated the moment to Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) who passed away earlier this month, "Peter, this one's for you."

With the loss of Carrie Fisher (General Leia) and Peter Mayhem, it was a misty-eyed moment to celebrate the positive impact Star Wars has had on generations of fans.



Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opens to the public at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, today.

Darkness rises in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance

Netflix has released a teaser trailer for upcoming prequel series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. The Dark Crystal, Jim Henson's classic fable, remains a touchstone from my childhood and Trevor Jones' superlative soundtrack underscored countless Star Wars action figure adventures.



"In this prequel to the fantasy classic, three young Gelfling inspire a rebellion against the cruel Emperor when they discover a horrifying secret."

The lavish 10-part live-action prequel series has been in development for several years but looks like it'll retain the mythical power of the original movie with a stellar cast from Game of Thrones to Star Wars.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance streams exclusively on Netflix from 30th August.

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opens Friday at Disneyland

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, at the cost of $1 billion dollars, opens at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, this Friday.

Josh D'Amaro, the president of Disneyland Resort, posted the above photo on Instagram with the caption: "So proud to introduce you to the inhabitants of Batuu! I want to thank this amazing team for their incredible dedication and passion. Yesterday's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge cast rally was unforgettable. This photo is one for the ages!"

Coca-Cola is the official beverage partner at the new 14-acre attraction. Fans will be able to purchase exclusive Star Wars merchandise including droids and lightsabers for budding young Jedi Knights and Sith. I choked up watching fellow fans react to seeing the Millennium Falcon for the first time.



Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will not be open in time for the first day whilst the attraction undergoes further tweaks.

A second Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge theme park opens at Walt Disney World in the fall. Are you planning on attending? Let me know in the comments below.

Harrison Ford remembers his friend Peter Mayhew

Harrison Ford recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and discussed the 35th anniversary of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Mark Hamill's impression of him on the set of Star Wars and, most poignantly, the passing of his friend Peter Mayhew.

Ford and Mayhew played best friends and Millennium Falcon co-pilots, Han Solo and Chewbacca, in the original Star Wars trilogy and The Force Awakens.

Look who's back in Terminator: Dark Fate

Arnold Schwarzenegger is back and he's brought an old friend. As someone who's been a fan of Terminator since the mid-eighties, I wasn't sure about another sequel after Genisys failed to ignite the box office and reboot the ailing franchise. However, the trailer for Terminator: Dark Fate has my attention.



With Tim Miller (Deadpool) at the helm, James Cameron (Avatar) as producer and Linda Hamilton reprising the role of Sarah Connor for the first time since Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the franchise may have a resurgence not seen since Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Terminator: Dark Fate is in cinemas this October.

Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: Picard teaser trailer

In a week of farewells to Game of Thrones and The Big Bang Theory, CBS All Access has released a foreboding teaser trailer for upcoming spin-off Star Trek: Picard starring Sir Patrick Stewart in the titular role.

“15 years ago today, you led us out of the darkness,” the voice says. “You commanded the greatest rescue armada in history. Then... the unimaginable. What did that cost you? Your faith? Your faith in us? Your faith in yourself? Tell us, why did you leave Starfleet, Admiral?”



Stewart is reprising his iconic role from Star Trek: The Next Generation for the first time in 17 years. The new series is set 18 years after Star Trek: Nemesis and explores the reasons Jean-Luc Picard left Starfleet. Evidently, this appears to be a more intimate, character-driven, series to counterpoint stablemate Discovery.

Star Trek: Picard will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime outside the US.

Knights of Ren return in The Rise of Skywalker

Kylo Ren's (Adam Driver) fabled Knights of Ren, first mentioned by Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and appearing in Rey's (Daisy Ridley) Force vision in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, will finally make their move in The Rise of Skywalker.

Many fans (myself included) imagined the Knights of Ren would play a pivotal role in Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi, but it was not meant to be.

Vanity Fair has an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at JJ Abrams' upcoming Star Wars sequel that will conclude the Skywalker saga spanning three trilogies beginning with George Lucas' original trilogy in 1977.

BBC and HBO adapt His Dark Materials

As the sun sets over Westeros and genre fans look to Westworld, HBO has its sights on a fantastical literary adaptation in conjunction with the BBC. His Dark Materials.

The classic Philip Pullman trilogy was previously adapted for the cinema in The Golden Compass, starring Daniel Craig (James Bond) and Sir Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings), but further sequels were abandoned. HBO and the BBC have released a trailer for the upcoming 8-part series.



His Dark Materials looks utterly compelling, but what's happened to the live-action adaptation of The World of the Worlds, BBC? Asking for a friend.

From Westeros to Futureworld in Westworld III

Before the climactic series finale of Game of Thrones, HBO dropped a sinister teaser trailer for Westworld season 3.



Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) discovers a distressed Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) in what appears to be Futureworld. Futureworld was the sequel to the original Westworld directed by Michael Crichton.

How long before the machines revolt? Find out on HBO in 2020.

Who will sit upon the Iron Throne in Game of Thrones?

Not since Star Wars: The Last Jedi has there been such a vocal backlash from a fevered fanbase. Game of Thrones' final series is as divisive as it is brilliantly brutal (this is coming from someone who painstakingly built model kits; only to destroy them with fireworks). So much so, there's a fan petition demanding HBO remake season 8. Like that's ever going to happen as discussed with major spoilers here. Ownership is an issue that has plagued creators and their audiences for millennia. George Lucas tinkered with the original Star Wars trilogy, for creative and commercial gain, much to the chagrin of many fans.



Admittedly, there are increasing instances of choose-your-own-adventure (Fighting Fantasy was my literary gateway into the genre) creeping into Hollywood film and television series as video games surpass those long-lasting pillars as successful works of commercial art. Netflix recently experimented with branching storylines in Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.

During season 8 of Game of Thrones, there are moments when I instinctively reach for an imaginary games controller in order to save or allow Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) to die, much like playing Don Bluth's laserdisc-based Dragon's Lair in a Felixstowe arcade long, long ago. However, there will always be a place for linear storytelling and Game of Thrones has been a pop culture phenomena during a decade that has witnessed a seismic shift in geopolitics.



Did anyone really expect a franchise filled with deeply flawed antagonists, and no clear heroic archetypes aside from the bumbling Jon Snow (Kit Harington), would end happily ever after? Daenerys Targaryen's (Emilia Clarke) dark descent into the 'mad queen', nor Cersei (Lena Headey) and Jaime Lannister's (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) fate, won't please everyone. But it sets up a difficult to predict finale.



As a wise person once told me: sometimes the journey is more exciting than the destination. Like Lost before it. Game of Thrones has been enriched by shared experiences with followers online and friendships forged. I subscribed to NOW TV in 2012 solely to watch the then-fledgeling series and would never have received Blu-ray box sets or been invited to preview the first four episodes of stablemate Westworld courtesy of the fine folks at Sky Atlantic.

Whatever happens in the series finale today, I'll be watching early Monday morning (BST). Just need to set my Alexa alarm...