Tag: Star Wars

‘The Acolyte’ trailer gives Star Wars fans a glimpse at a fresh story in an unexplored era

A Wookie is here, but otherwise, “The Acolyte” looks like a brand-new kind of Star Wars story.

The newest Star Wars show will be landing soon on Disney+.

And it looks incredibly cool and unique.

On Tuesday, fans were treated with a trailer for The Acolyte, and it seems to be delivering what it has long promised: a fresh start for fans of the franchise, and an unfamiliar story that isn’t connected to the Skywalkers or the Empire or even Lando Calrissian.

The show is set in the High Republic era of Star Wars — about 100 years or so before the events of The Phantom Menace — so, we won’t be seeing or hearing anything about Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi or Han Solo. The series is being spearheaded by writer and director Leslye Headland, whose past work includes Russian Doll and the 2015 rom-com Sleeping With Other People.

Judging by the trailer though, this story won’t be filled with comedy.

Here it is:

Disney and Lucasfilm seem to be billing the show as a crime drama of sorts. In an email sent to fans on Tuesday with a link to the trailer, the plot of the series is described as:

“An investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master against a dangerous warrior from his past. As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems…”

The series stars the likes of Amandla Stenberg (Across the Spider-Verse), Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Manny Jacinto (Top Gun: Maverick), Dafne Keen (Logan), Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim), Dean-Charles Chapman (Game of Thrones), and Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix, Jessica Jones). Additionally, Joonas Suotamo — the former Penn State basketball player who took over the role of Chewbacca in The Last Jedi — seems to be back to play a Wookie.

The Acolyte is one of a few Star Wars shows expected to hit Disney+ this year. Season 3 of The Bad Batch debuted last month, and Skeleton Crew is supposed to land on the streaming service this year too.

Good news, Star Wars fans: Disney is adding new scenes to the Star Tours ride featuring Ahsoka, The Mandalorian, and Andor

This is great news for those of you going to Disneyland and Disney World.

The Disney theme parks are an absolute haven for Star Wars fans, even more so in recent years with the addition of the Galaxy’s Edge, a massive and immersive Star Wars area added to both the California and Florida Disney parks.

But despite the billions spent on new, state-of-the-art attractions in recent years, Disney’s best Star Wars-related attraction may still be the beloved, clunky rust bucket of a flight simulator, Star Tours. Opened in 1987, the ride has been a consistent crowd pleaser since Return of the Jedi was less than five years old (!) but Disney has managed to keep it fresh by plugging in new scenes featuring characters from new Star Wars films over the years.

On Tuesday, Disney announced its latest batch of new scenes that will be added to the ride and this time it will feature the stars of the Disney+ shows that have kept the Star Wars universe going in recent years.

Beginning on April 5, the ride will include scenes featuring The Mandalorian and Grogu, as well as Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano and Diego Luna as Cassian Andor. The new additions mean the ride now offers more than 250 possible story variations, according to Disney.

You can get a glimpse of some of the footage from the Ahsoka version of the ride in this video released by Disney along with the announcement.

The new scenes will roll out April 5th, 2024 in California’s Disneyland, Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida, and Disneyland Paris.

Why Allegiant Stadium shares a nickname with the Death Star from Star Wars, explained

Some people think it looks more like a giant Roomba vacuum cleaner, though.

Allegiant Stadium, the host of the 2024 Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, is a very beautiful place.

Thanks to Raiders owner Mark Davis, the stadium also happens to have a nickname inspired by the Star Wars film series. That is because the first time Davis welcomed the players to the stadium back in 2020, he referred to it as the Death Star. Via ESPN, he said:

“Welcome to the Death Star, where our opponents’ dreams come to die.”

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ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez said that he told Davis that the Death Star was blown up multiple times throughout the Star Wars series. But that didn’t matter at all to Davis, who still thinks the $1.9 billion stadium bared a resemblance to the Death Star due to its sleek black and grey facade.

Ethan Miller – Getty Images

Despite the unfortunate fate of the Death Star in the Star Wars movies, this nickname is an identity that the team has embraced. During NFL games as recently as this season, the video board at the stadium has read “Welcome to the Death Star” with players holding light sabers.

Lucasfilms

Jon Gruden, who was the head coach of the Raiders (for the second time) from 2018 until 2021, said that it was a “cool name” for the stadium and that he did not “give a damn” about Star Wars.

Johnathan Abram, a former safety for the Raiders, also described the stadium as the Death Star when he discussed it with NFL.com’s Ian Rapaport.

Even if you think this place looks more like a giant Roomba vacuum, the team has landed on The Death Star as its chosen nickname.

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Bill Walton wildly claims George Lucas based Chewbacca off of him

If a game has Bill Walton on the call but he didn’t say anything that caught your attention, did it even happen?

Here is a question: If a game has Bill Walton on the call but he didn’t say anything that caught your attention, did it even happen?

The former NBA Finals MVP turned sportscaster is known to say some wild things whenever he is on the air and last night was no exception. During his men’s college basketball broadcast of Oregon against USC, his play-by-play partner Dave Pasch asked him to take a trip back in time.

Considering that they were at USC (the school where Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas attended in the 1960s) for the game, Pasch asked Walton if he could confirm a rumor he heard about the films.

Pasch said he heard that Walton was “in the mix” to play Chewbacca. Here is what Walton said (and note that the transcription reflects the way the former NBA big man pronounced the name of the Wookiee):

“No. I heard that. Chewybacca is modeled after me. […] George Lucas is all cool as they get and I remember the night that George and Kareem and Bill Russell and me, we were all up in San Francisco at a big fundraiser for the Martin Luther King memorial. […] I auditioned for Chewybacca and they said no but we’re going to model the character after you.”

While it is fun to take him at his word, especially because he shared a somewhat shaggy look with Chewbacca during his playing days, we might not want to take him seriously here.

Unfortunately, this sounds like it is potentially gibberish from Walton.

Lucas is on record as saying that Chewbacca is based on his pet (via the Denver Art Museum):

“I had an Alaskan Malamute when I was writing the film [Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope]. A very sweet dog, she would always sit next to me when I was writing. And when I’d drive around, she’d sit in the front seat. A Malamute is a very large dog—like a 130 pounds and bigger than a human being and very long-haired.”

Walton was bigger than most humans and also very long-haired but he was not Lucas’ Alaskan Malamute, who was named Indiana.

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What we learned from the new ‘Star Wars – The Bad Batch’ trailer: Asajj Ventress is back.

Is Asajj Ventress here to help Clone Force 99 or harm them?

Your favorite group of misfit clones are about to return to a streaming service near you.

On Feb. 21, Star Wars: The Bad Batch comes back to Disney+ with its third and final season with a special three-episode premier. Earlier this week, we got a look at the trailer for the latest animated offering from Dave Filoni in a galaxy far, far away.

Hunter, Wrecker, Echo and Omega are back, of course, as are Crosshair, Phee (voiced by the great Wanda Sykes), Captain Rex and Emperor Palpatine.

But in the trailer, we also see some other familiar – and unexpected – characters pop up.

Let’s dive in and break it down.

A spoiler warning here for all things Star Wars, in case you’re unfamiliar with the animated shows, the books and extended universe lore.

Everything we know about ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ movie so far (and more Star Wars content coming!)

Din Djarin and Grogu are coming to the big screen, and we’re getting a second season of Ahsoka.

It’s been three months since Star Wars fans have gotten new content. Oct. 3 was when the final episode of Ahsoka aired on Disney+ and fans have been waiting for word on what’s coming next.

On Tuesday, we got some news: Din Djarin and Grogu are coming to the big screen.

Lucasfilm announced that Jon Favreau is directing a new Star Wars film simply called The Mandalorian & Grogu that will begin production later this year.

And that’s not all. Season Two of Ahsoka is currently under development by Dave Filoni.

Let’s dive into what it all means for the franchise in a galaxy far, far away.

The best PlayStation Store Holiday Sale deals you won’t want to miss

We’ve rounded up some of the best PlayStation Store holiday deals, from Alan Wake and Baldur’s Gate to indie gems and more

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The PlayStation Store holiday sale deals have begun, with big discounts on some of the best PS5 games of 2023, old classics, and hidden gems you might’ve missed in a year crammed with releases. There’s a discount for everyone, whether you’ve been waiting for Jedi Survivor or Cyberpunk 2077 to go on sale or want to try out award winners such as Sea of Stars and Alan Wake 2. Red Dead 2 is on sale, as always, and Larian even threw in a little Baldur’s Gate 3 price cut as a treat – emphasis on “little.”

We’ve rounded up some of the best PlayStation Store holiday deals below. The sales are live now through Jan. 17, 2024.

The Star Wars KOTOR remake is reportedly in carbonite

The Star Wars KOTOR remake has had a rough time these past few weeks, but rumors of the Star Wars game’s demise are, reportedly, inaccurate

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The Star Wars KOTOR remake has had a rough time these past few weeks, but rumors of the Star Wars game’s untimely demise are, reportedly, inaccurate. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier says that his sources with Saber Interactive – the studio that Embracer passed the remake off to – tell him the remake isn’t completely dead. Not yet, anyway.

The story goes back several months. Aspyr was working on the KOTOR remake and presented a vertical slice demo – a demo meant to showcase several aspects of a project. That demo didn’t go over well, and Embracer reportedly moved development to Saber. Trailers then disappeared from Sony’s social media channels, though a PlayStation representative said that was a result of copyrighting issues, nothing indicative of the game’s development progress.

More recently, reports started emerging that Saber had canned the project and that no one was working on it.

It seems the supposed insiders jumped the lightsaber, so to speak. Schreier said two people at Saber told him two people are working on the remake, which is possibly stranger than canceling the project entirely. Sure, it’s alive – but there probably isn’t much happening. Even smaller indie games need more than two people to work on them. Such a small team for a full-blown AAA-scale remake of a large RPG still raises questions about its future and what Embracer plans on doing with it.

Embracer is keeping those plans close. CEO Lars Wingefors said in a recent interview that he refused to comment on it, as every time he did, it turned into a headline. When there’s this much secrecy around a project, though, it’s hardly any wonder why that happens.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Bubba Wallace and Mark Hamill unveil Star Wars-themed paint scheme for NASCAR season finale

Gotta love a Star Wars-themed NASCAR paint scheme.

Bubba Wallace’s paint scheme for the last race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season is straight out of a galaxy far, far away.

With the help of Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, Wallace unveiled the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota’s final paint scheme of the season for Sunday’s championship event at Phoenix Raceway — though Wallace and the No. 23 team were previously eliminated from contention. And it’s an awesome silver and black Star Wars-themed ride with strong Millennium Falcon vibes.

Highlighting sponsor Columbia’s new Star Wars collection, Wallace shows up to Hamill’s door in the reveal video, dressed in a fire suit resembling the design of X-wing pilot suits from the franchise, including a look Hamill wore as Luke Skywalker. Hamill compliments Wallace’s outfit before tossing him the “keys” to the No. 23 Toyota.

“Remember, Bubba, the force will be with you — always,” Hamill says at the end.

A great paint scheme reveal, especially for Star Wars fans, who might be a bit jealous of this car’s look, including self-described aspiring Jedi Ryan Blaney.

Update: Wallace’s 23XI Racing teammate, Tyler Reddick, has a Star Wars-inspired ride too.

Ahsoka ends with returns, cliffhangers and reasons to trust Dave Filoni

Shoutout to Force Ghost Anakin. And always trust Dave Filoni.

SPOILER WARNING AHEAD FOR ALL STAR WARS CONTENT!

“Today, victory is mine. Long live the Empire.”

“Ezra is where he needs to be. And so are we. It’s time to move on.”

Ahsoka came to its conclusion Tuesday night, but it’s unclear whether that was a season finale or the final chapter of the series.

Regardless, Episode 8, The Jedi, The Witch, And The Warlord, was a real banger. Directed by Rick Famuyiwa (Dope, The Chi, The Mandalorian), we witness each of the show’s key characters take the next steps in their journeys. For fans of Rebels, this is the show that we’ve always wanted: one that added depth and context to some of our favorite animated characters and took them on new adventures. It was apparent that that every step, every detail and every episode was crafted with care by showrunner Dave Filoni, and it was extremely satisfying.

A quick recap…

Ezra Bridger makes a new lightsaber akin to that of his master Kanan Jarrus with some help from Huyang, just in time to fight off some ZOMBIE STORMTROOPERS. Ahsoka Tano and Morgan Elsbeth run back their duel from Season Two of The Mandalorian, and despite Elsbeth’s new weapon (more on that in a bit) the result is the same. Sabine Wren finally uses the Force in two crucial moments, saving her own life and giving Ezra a lift to join Thrawn on his Star Destroyer for another blast between galaxies. Huyang swoops in to rescue Sabine and Ahsoka, but the trio can’t quite catch up to Thrawn’s ship before he jumps back through hyperspace.

Shin Hati joins the bandits of Peridea, while Baylan Skoll is last seen standing on a mountain-sized structure resembling the likeness of the Mortis God, the Father. Neither Shin or Baylan are featured much in the episode – and unfortunately, it might be the last glimpse we get of Baylan because of the untimely death of the great actor Ray Stevenson.

Thrawn and the Great Mothers take their Star Destroyer to Dathomir, while Ezra steals a Stormtrooper suit – just like how his master used to – and escapes in a shuttle, arriving at a New Republic outpost where he is reunited with Chopper and Hera.

Ahsoka, Sabine and Huyang take refuge on Peridea with the same creatures Ezra had befriended. As the episode closes on a few cliffhangers, we get one more look at Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker as a Force Ghost, flashing a smile in approval of his former padawan.

Here’s what else we learned from the finale: