Leaking The Greenham Commons Story – The Holes In JJ’s Mystery Box

Leaking

Star Wars: Episode VII director JJ Abrams has humorously and syn-onymously become known as “Mr. Mysterybox,” BUT, despite his best efforts, his mystery box continues to leak. Find out the latest scoops after the jump.

 

Strong in the Force is JJ Abrams who landed two of the [arguably] biggest franchises this decade with the Star Trek reboot and now the Star Wars rebirth. His high profile films obviously warrant alot of geek attention. But the genius — and I mean that in all sincerity since I am an avid supporter of the director — that is JJ Abrams has constantly anticipated all form of leak and unwanted exposure, coming prepared with NDA’s, signs warning about “loose lips sinking ships,” and as we have just learned via /Film an apparent DroneShield.

 

Security Countermeasures

 

What the Hell is a DroneShield you may be asking just as I did? Apparently a DroneShield is something that can be ordered from the company with the same name. According to their site:

“DroneShield Provides Advanced Warning of Harassment by Drones and Helicopters

 

Harassment from drones and helicopters used by paparazzi and other unauthorized pursuers is a growing problem around the world. DroneShield can provide advanced warning of helicopters and drones commonly used by paparazzi and media. Alerts are sent by email or SMS and can be linked to alarm and security response teams and data collected is preserved for subsequent legal proceedings.”

 

Invoice?

 

According to /Film the website Motherboard apparently got ahold of a billing invoice from DroneShield themselves proving that such an order was placed from Pinewood Studios. First, this clearly proves that JJ and company had anticipated the potential of drone and/or helicopter snooping for this leg of the production. Secondly, IF this alleged invoice proves to be genuine this is an alarming bit of “evidence” as it suggests that someone from within this company named DroneShield — supposedly invested in supplying security solutions for high profile clientele — has violated this trust by leaking the invoice to Motherboard. And thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, DroneShield was incapable of providing the product according to Motherboard:

“…the folks over at DroneShield say that Pinewood Studios never actually got the product: The State Department keeps close tabs on products like these that are shipped overseas, and a rep at DroneShield told me the company’s export application never went through. So, no DroneShield to protect against Star Wars leaks.

 

“We weren’t able to ship overseas because our ITAR (export) application, filed in May, hadn’t been approved,” the rep told me in an email. “It is now September and it STILL hasn’t been approved.”

 

According to the rep, the company has orders from at least 20 overseas companies, but it still doesn’t have permission to ship the DroneShield.”

 

SpanishLeak1

 

However, one has to wonder how credible this story is. We have a company that is claiming they have an invoice for a product they weren’t even legally authorized to sell outside the United States. More disturbingly, the company readily claims a rather lackadaisical and unprofessional attitude about the whole incident if it is in fact true. It seems to this Blogger that DroneShield should have used the same kind of foresight that JJ, via Disney/LFL/Bad Robot, when they ordered the product. As /Film put it:

“Of course, the only people confirming this is the company that produces the unit, and this story is giving them publicity, so who knows if this is true or not.”

 

I’m not exactly sure why DroneShield would volunteer to air their ineptitude to the world only to be associated with Episode VII if even in a dubious way. I’m only reminded by the ol’ Hollyweird saying, “Even bad publicity is good publicity,” or something to that affect. So what is a rather strange, if not interesting, story gets a little more interesting as we add our own exclusive bit to it. As you will recall we recently have been covering the Greenham Common story. One of our sources that lives near the site told us that he heard that a drone was shot down recently. What this information suggests to us is that the story may in fact be true since it also suggests that:

 

VIIwingFlaconbase

 

1) JJ and co were in fact anticipating the drone and helicopter intrusions

 

2) They did NOT receive the DroneShield product

 

3) They resorted to Plan B, which it would seem is some form of OFFICIAL UK Military or Law Enforcement contingency

 

Whether this is fact or fiction only time will tell, but be sure to keep checking back here for the updates. And be sure to log into The Cantina to discuss this and other topics with all our fellow Star Wars fans!

 

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34 thoughts on “Leaking The Greenham Commons Story – The Holes In JJ’s Mystery Box

  • September 22, 2014 at 12:06 am
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    I’ve learned nothing about episode 7 in that post

    • September 22, 2014 at 12:59 am
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      This isn’t about news regarding Episode VII. It’s about a breach in the security/secrecy of the project, and that’s saying something considering how good J.J. is at keeping things under wraps.

    • September 22, 2014 at 2:30 am
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      Sure you have. You’ve learned that everything you’ve seen so far you have seen because it was designed that way

  • September 22, 2014 at 1:59 am
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    Another lame post. Who really cares??

    • September 22, 2014 at 2:02 am
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      I Do.

      • September 22, 2014 at 4:30 am
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        “I care.”

        –Luke Skywalker.

    • September 22, 2014 at 6:26 am
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      We got a long wait for this movie if you’re gonna be one of those ‘who cares’ about one of the posts guys…. I cannot even =P Plus imo this post was freaking interesting! Every one has been on the site 😀

  • September 22, 2014 at 2:28 am
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    Remember those prequel production web videos at starwars.com? Getting those official updates via video was a treat. I guess those days are over.

    • September 22, 2014 at 4:33 am
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      Yeah, those were the days. Fans are less likely to want to break into Pinewood/off site sets when they are given tidbits. Actually, I’m amazed JJ isn’t doing that too, just like Peter Jackson’s blog videos with the Hobbit. Reason 54,329 why Disney is keeping themselves away from the PT. It’s a shame, really.

    • September 22, 2014 at 4:56 am
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      It’s for the best they don’t have production videos. Could you imagine the negativity and internet backlash that would come if we knew what they were up to over there? I am not saying what they are creating will not be good, but the less the fanboys have to cry about going into December of 2015, the better.

  • September 22, 2014 at 2:35 am
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    Well Disney has a considerable amount of investment in this movie, well the whole bloominfranchise! So I can see thier point they want this movie to be the absolute best it can be without outside interference of any kind, I doubt you will see a decent teaser trailer until the last few weeks before release good way of packing out those theatre’s just before Christmas I
    can’t wait.

  • September 22, 2014 at 3:14 am
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    Imagine the conversations on set:

    “Drone alert! Drone approaching! Direct all power to Drone Deflector Shield!”
    “The Drone has cleared the hill! The Drone has cleared the hill! Drone within range!”
    “But where is it? No drone that small has a cloaking device!”
    “I shall take full responsibility for losing it, and apologize to Lord Abrams … No, there! Fire at will, commander! Activate ion canon!”
    (*Drone disintegrates and pieces come falling down!*)
    “Great shot, kid! That was one in a million!”
    “I didn’t hit it that hard. It must’ve had a self-destruct.”

    • September 22, 2014 at 1:51 pm
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      Despite security. Will ep7 be able to show production material for the next 37 years to come?

  • September 22, 2014 at 6:21 am
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    The story is believable. It works just like buying a Class 3 weapon here in the USA. You pay first (thus the invoice), and then they make legal determinations. Lots of beurocracy and a lengthy process so companies that deal in this stuff want money up front. You don’t pay, you don’t play.

  • September 22, 2014 at 6:43 am
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    I can confirm that no, J.J. placed no such order and that this is a marketing ploy from that security company, expect many more to crop up as light gets shed on the production.

    AS

    • September 23, 2014 at 4:42 am
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      I can confirm that the order was actually placed by master Sifo Dyas.

  • September 22, 2014 at 7:41 am
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    Spying with drones is an invasion of privacy.

  • September 22, 2014 at 8:17 am
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    In my opinion? Mystery box has the title of Episode VII…

  • September 22, 2014 at 8:50 am
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    Personally i dont care if it is a boring post or not. Im thankfull we got people that have the heart making part 7 and beyond. These people like JJ Abrams, Kasdan, etc didnt have to make this movie. Thye not doing it for money cause they already rich. They doing this cause they love it like we do. So to all the babies that keep crying about ” this is a bad post, or yakn about ” i dont like these ideas, etc “.. i say, get out and leave the Star wars family. And i say to this website and others, great job. Im thankfull you use your spare time to do this while we wait for part 7 to come out. I guess some peeps here think that making a movie is easy..lmfao !!! Making a B rated crap movie isnt easy let alone a 200 million dollar Episode 7 that alot of thwe world is waiting for…. Thank you Disney, Lucas, Abrams, Kennedy, Kasdan, etc for the hard work you all put into making this saga continue… And thank you guys for all the hard work you do on these posts….

    • September 23, 2014 at 5:32 am
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      Well, aren’t you just one big overflowing bucket of love?
      Good for you!
      🙂

    • September 23, 2014 at 2:31 pm
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      Sorry but I disagree. Do you mean to say that no criticism is allowed? Everyone that does not like JJ’s work is not entitled to be a SW fan?
      I must say that I absolutely dispised JJ Startrek movies. IMO they digraed what was once a brilliantly different show with ingenious villains like Dukat, Tomalek and excelent actors like Steward to a stupid teen action movie. When I go to see a Trek movie I want to see starsips with carpets and diplomacy, not cars driving through the American desert. So I think JJ screwed up the complete idea of Trek and turned it into jet-another-ironman-like-action-flick.

      YET, what I have seen from JJ’s Starwars so far, I liked a lot. The descission to go to a more pupet less CGI style of movie making was great. JJ might just be much better suited for SW than Trek. After all once he said that Trek should be more like SW, which for me just said that he did not understand the point of Trek.

      I certainly will give the movie the benevit of the doubt, but if I don’t like something I want to be allowed to say so.

  • September 22, 2014 at 10:00 am
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    Many Bothan Drones were shot down to bring us this information…

  • September 22, 2014 at 8:46 pm
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    Just the beginning. I think everyone knows the drone industry is about to explode, quite literally. There is some really cool (or scary, depending on how you look at it) tech on the horizon. My own company is collaborating on the ASP (Aerial Surveillance Protocol) which will be the new standard for all drone tech, worldwide. A few things you’ll see fairly soon:

    -Security drones
    These are dockable units that detach and survey on a predetermined schedule. Suitable for larger homes and businesses, they are highly customizable and intrinsic to existing security systems.

    -Traffic Drones
    Another type of docking drone attached to spires along freeways, these are invaluable for monitoring/relaying accidents and traffic info in real time.

    -Weaponized drones
    These will obviously be implemented by government entities, but extenuating civilian contracts will follow, pending legalities (pretty much the same as existing gun licencing laws)

    Again, this industry will serve a wide purpose, not to mention saving hundreds of millions of pounds (and dollars) on traditional methods of doing things, from helicopter fuel to human armed guards.
    Brave new world

    • September 23, 2014 at 6:51 am
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      Geeze Ian. Do you think you could have added any more to it ? lmao

    • September 23, 2014 at 6:29 pm
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      Scary stuff! Big Brother meets The Terminator!

    • September 25, 2014 at 6:52 am
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      Hate to break the news, but they’ve had this stuff since 1990ish.. Weapon and none weapon drones where used in the first gulf war. Around 1995ish new companies etc where using them along with helicopters to get traffic reports.

  • September 22, 2014 at 10:46 pm
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    Cool to know but how about a little more “news” pertaining to the film’s actual story. Thx

  • September 22, 2014 at 11:35 pm
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    Can’t give ya what we don’t have, Anon. For good or ill, Abrams is keeping a much tighter lid on this production than Lucas did during his PT films. All we can report for the time being is whatever rumors come down the pike, and there’s no telling how much truth there is to any of that stuff.

    • September 23, 2014 at 4:46 pm
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      I wouldn’t expect the same level of secrecy once the ball gets moving and the next director talks the helm.

    • September 23, 2014 at 6:37 pm
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      I think the exceptional secrecy/security is all down to what the actual plot is about.

  • September 23, 2014 at 6:53 am
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    I am surprised how long alot of this has been kept a secret with todays rats and dogs and camers and internet in a hurry to show da world their find. lol

  • September 23, 2014 at 2:24 pm
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    If they anticipated the attack, what if that shoot was all fake, to trick us? I would be SO pissed!

  • January 18, 2015 at 9:37 pm
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    I do the same thing. Altho I haven’t self published yet, I’m wornkig on it.After finding out how much work is involved, I don’t review a book unless I’m going to give it 4 or 5 stars.My reviewing criteria is similar to yours.Great piece!louise3anne twitter

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