UPDATE 3! First Pictures & Rumors from the Skellig Michael Set. Good Weather Expected Tomorrow!

Skellig 02Next week’s shoot at Skellig Michael for Star Wars Episode VIII is rapidly approaching… and we’ve got rumored information about the set-up, along with a few behind-the-scenes images of the set-up for filming.

 

 

Before we get into the good stuff, there’s a little headline we missed out on reporting earlier. Irish newspaper Kerry’s Eye mentioned details about the plans for shooting film at the island. (Thanks to The Cantina regular MagnarTheGreat for making the find.)

 

Rian Johnson

A huge production crew for Star Wars VIII – the sequel to the film shot on the World Heritage Site last year – arrived in South Kerry on Tuesday and visited Skellig Michael… The director [Rian Johnson], producer [Ram Bergman], and head of photography [Steve Yedlin] for the blockbuster film – along with up to 30 pre-production crew, were ferried on to the island at around 2.30pm. The crew brought no equipment on board the boats with them, but it is understood that they were walking the island and taking pictures, and spent a number of hours surveying the area.

 

The scouting in question happened roughly ten days ago. Those are some important names for the production of Star Wars Episode VIII, so it appears that, since the crew for The Force Awakens is seemingly absent, there were not any necessary reshoots for that movie in this particular location. There are a few restrictions – but worth noting is that filming at dusk is apparently on the horizon.

 

On to the good stuff. Recent island visitors have visually confirmed that the crew of the movie was there. Furthermore, a reader of ours snapped a few photos of the set-up showing the tents and some of the equipment. The reader – Ronan Nissenbaum – is not a member of the crew, but he and some of his friends managed to get to the island right before it closed for the weekend.

 

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image6Ronan also apparently heard a few things about what will be involved in the shoot. Rumors – and potential mild spoilers – will be listed from this point on.

 

Tents and tarps full of equipment were all over the island completely unguarded apart from one tent which lay on top of a fake sandy coloured rock built for the filming… My guess is Luke will be standing on that tomorrow. Talking to people who I can’t name as they were afraid of getting in trouble, we discovered that there were definitely droids already locked away on the island (presumably BB-8 or R2-D2 or both, but couldn’t confirm because they hadn’t seen any of the movies). Along with the droids were weapons, presumably a lightsaber or two. We also discovered that the set had been described as a “Jedi Monastery”, (although I don’t know the validity of that) and scenes were to have wind and rain machines, which we later discovered and took photos that you can see here.

 

Something we definitely know is that right now, Mark Hamill’s family are in the United Kingdom. Since they were there when he was filming for The Force Awakens – or otherwise hanging out at Pinewood Studios – it can be safe to presume that he will be present at the shoot as well. It is likely that Daisy Ridley will also be there for filming, as she was there the last time footage was shot at Skellig Michael.

 

#VogueLovesLiberty fun night out with mum

A photo posted by chelseahamill (@chelseahamill) on

 

Hamleys. Est. 1760. #toys A photo posted by Nathan Hamill (@nathanhamill) on

 

Stay tuned to Star Wars 7 News as we continue to cover all things related to the Skellig Michael filming this week.

 

 

 

UPDATE 1!

 

Some photos from this morning:

 

   

 

UPDATE 2!

 

Due to bad weather the Episode VIII filming scheduled for Monday has been cancelled:

 

From IrishTimes:

 

High winds around Portmagee and Ballinskelligs saw filming of Star Wars: Episode VIII on the Unesco World heritage site of Skelllig Michael cancelled on Monday morning, with the small boats which service the site refusing to go to sea.

 

UPDATE 3!

 

While the intended start of the shoot on Monday didn’t quite work out, according to one of our sources, Tuesday is apparently going to have more temperate weather and will be a safe bet for filming. The source claims that the cast and crew is made up of 100 people. The statement of the source was also supported by a recent report from an Irish news outlet:

 

Skellig 04

Final preparations are being made in Co Kerry for filming of part of the next Star Wars movie on Skellig Michael, 12km off the coast. Cast and crew members flew into Kerry Airport this morning on a private jet from London. Filming is due to start tomorrow morning.

 

Thanks for Terrence Mulvey for the tip.

 

+ posts

Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

Grant Davis (Pomojema)

Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

120 thoughts on “UPDATE 3! First Pictures & Rumors from the Skellig Michael Set. Good Weather Expected Tomorrow!

  • September 13, 2015 at 9:30 pm
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    I almost feel like we should change our name to Skellig Michael Island News for the week. :B

    – Pomojema

    • September 13, 2015 at 9:38 pm
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      Lol how true..

  • September 13, 2015 at 9:34 pm
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    Skellig Michael, Skellig, Skellig, Skellig, Michael, Michael, Michael…

    • September 13, 2015 at 9:57 pm
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      …Hare Krishna?

      – Pomojema

    • September 14, 2015 at 12:12 am
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      Stelio. Stelio Kontos. Stelio. Stelio Kontos. Stelio. Stelio Kontos.

  • September 13, 2015 at 9:37 pm
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    It’s the start of principal photography on Episode 8. If you’re tired of hearing about it, no one is forcing you to read it.

    • September 13, 2015 at 9:40 pm
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      it could be that money shot lightsaber scene that rian johnson was gushing about. he apparently got it from his dreams

      • September 13, 2015 at 9:44 pm
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        Please tell me more, not heard about this…

      • September 13, 2015 at 9:54 pm
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        I wonder if Yoda’s Force ghost will show up here in VIII.

        • September 14, 2015 at 3:04 am
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          I’m curious about that too. I’m interested to see how this is handled: technically, you’d think Luke would still be in contact with Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin, so perhaps one or more of them will show up in Episode VII, as well.

          • September 14, 2015 at 3:18 am
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            I would hope so, because it make no sense to cut that out. But JJ and company seem to have some suspect ideas, so who knows. Captain Phazma, what a dumb name.

    • September 13, 2015 at 10:00 pm
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      I’m excited!

  • September 13, 2015 at 9:38 pm
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    I think it’s safe to say that Skellig Michael Island is going to play a huge part in the new trilogy. Exciting times we’re living in!

    • September 13, 2015 at 10:20 pm
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      Its such an atmospheric location, you can just imagine what the shots may look like in the movie. There was talk of filming in a large cave somewhere too. Great locations.

      • September 13, 2015 at 10:22 pm
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        The large cave was in Vietnam, IIRC.

        – Pomojema

  • September 13, 2015 at 10:00 pm
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    It’s great to see the Heritage group have taken a break from moaning about endangered pigeons or whatever. This is Star Wars Bi**h!

    • September 13, 2015 at 10:41 pm
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      Local TV, Radio and Printed Papers, all have different opinions, regarding the pro’s and con’s of allowing filming on Skellig Michael. But the heritage group is still very vocal against filming..

      I wish they would make there mind up!
      Do they really want the extra money Disney is spending on filming there, or the extra tourism Star Wars will bring to the area, over the next 10-20 years?
      Or are they really concerned about the welfare of the birds?

      Truthfully, I think they want there cake, and to eat it.
      – The birds have survived hundreds of years, I am confident they will survive a few days of filming…

  • September 13, 2015 at 10:18 pm
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    See? To think some people were worried about the OT crew having minor roles. I think they’ll be just as important as the story calls for. Hard to believe we are only 95 days away… and that R1 is well underway and 8 is just ramping up. CRAZY!

    • September 14, 2015 at 12:23 am
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      I think they will have limited role, but be major players. Ep 8 will be more about Luke passing on his knowledge. Luke’s real story ends after ROTJ. It’s gonna be sad to watch Disney mangle Luke. I had hope for this, but the more we find out, the more I realize that this is a horrible story. Luke, someone stole your daddy’s mask, and are acting very Sith like. But they are not Sith, never mind the red saber, black outfit, and the former Sith mask. “These are not the Sith you’re looking for,” JJ.

  • September 13, 2015 at 10:25 pm
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    So it sounds like Luke, Rey, R2, and BB-8. Luke will be reunited with Anakin’s lightsaber. Will Rey have a lightsaber, or is her primary weapon still the staff? Much looking forward to finding out.

    • September 13, 2015 at 11:46 pm
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      It would cool if her primary weapon is the staff but is equipped with a short light sabre blade that could be deployed from either end of the shaft. Like a longer version of Darth Maul’s lightsabre. But unlike his the shaft has a protective shielding against being cut. It would be something different that a Jedi would use a non traditional weapon. Rather than a standard lightsabre.

      • September 14, 2015 at 12:19 am
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        Oh gosh, I hope not.

  • September 13, 2015 at 10:33 pm
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    top location

  • September 13, 2015 at 11:24 pm
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    I’m friggin’ excited!

  • September 14, 2015 at 12:14 am
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    Any news on Mark Hamill almost becoming a force-ghost after nearly falling a long, long way?

    • September 14, 2015 at 12:31 am
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      That happened last year. It even says so in the article.

  • September 14, 2015 at 12:17 am
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    I think Episode 8 will be better than 7, because 8 will clean up the mess that JJ did to 7.

    Hey Luke. What you been doing for 30 years? “Coming to grips with the fact my daddy was a genicidal maniac.”

    What made you come out after so long? “Some jerk from the Knights of Ren decided to steal my daddy’s mask, and almost got his saber too.” “Grrr,”

    Luke why didn’t you rebuild the Jedi after -Return of the Jedi-: “Because I’d rather sit and watch this dead guy from a Sith tomb and remember the days I was just a boy.”

    Luke are the Knights of Ren Sith? “JJ says no, but if it looks like a Sith, and talks like a SITH, well you know.. But now we can have more than too. For Bain’s sake.”

    Luke, can you believe yet another hero from a desert planet is going to save the Galaxy? “Yea, I’m surprised the First order doesn’t just wipe out desert planets.”

    • September 14, 2015 at 1:25 am
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      Erm … Lawrence Kasdan wrote the script. JJ helped. ;P

      • September 14, 2015 at 3:16 am
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        Even so, doesn’t mean the idea I’ve seen so far doesn’t almost remind me too much of the OT.

        And Powerful dark side force users who use black outfits, red sabers, but are not Sith. What! Come on!

        I get there is much to learn, and I’m open to the idea the incomplete picture taints what we have so far.

        But if the story mirrors what appears to be, it’s gonna be quite disappointing.

        Especially the fact Luke is hardly present through most the film. Decades and you want to make us wait even longer to spend quality time with Luke Skywalker.

        It will let slip by a chance to really thrill fans by giving us a future where the boy from Tatooine seem to complete the mission his father failed to do, become a powerful Jedi, and leader, a master.

        30 years is far too long for Luke to be twiddling his thumbs and becoming one with his family roots.

        • September 14, 2015 at 6:34 pm
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          Who is to say that all the Kinights of Ren only have red lightsabers? We have only seen one of them so far haven’t we??

          • September 14, 2015 at 7:04 pm
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            Also, red lightsaber and dark side do not a sith make. Assaj Ventress and the inquisitors (both the old EU kind and the new canon kind) had red sabers and dark side powers but were not sith. I think we will see more and more in this trilogy how the “sith” were a very specific religion. Just because the knights of Ren have similar ideologies (passion = strength etc) dosn’t automatically make them the same religion.

            All that said…I still think andy serkis’ character will be a Sith. All that is confirmed is that Kylo Ren is not (currently) affiliated with the sith religion.

          • September 14, 2015 at 7:53 pm
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            Although I agree, I’ve always thought that was a dumb cop out too. But at least they were affiliated with the Sith. If Kio Ren and the Ren are not, but carry Sith like cloths, sabers, and abilities, it will be quite sill.

            If Snoke (I hope that’s not his real name) is a Sith, it’s would further muck up the story.

            I’m betting they believe the Sith were weak, with the rule of two and all.

            I guess we’ll see, but Ren storyline doesn’t quite anger me as much as the idea that Luke has been one missed opportunity after another. It looks as if his only real attribute will be to get Vader to kill Sidious, and Rey and Fin to beat The Knights of Ren.

            I hope they think hard about what they are doing with Luke. In the E.U., he was done mostly right. I’m not so sure about this new story.

          • September 15, 2015 at 2:31 am
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            Don’t watch the movie if you feel is will suck that bad. You whine more than Luke in A New Hope.

          • September 14, 2015 at 7:46 pm
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            We know for a fact at least one does, and since he has been the center of the entire marketing campaign, it’s safe to say we have a Sith like bad guy who is not a Sith, just a wannabe Sith who mirrors Vader.

      • September 14, 2015 at 5:48 am
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        Nah. Other way around. Kasdan hasn’t made a good movie in 20 years. JJ has never made a good movie.

        • September 14, 2015 at 10:59 am
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          Very subjective.

    • September 14, 2015 at 1:33 am
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      Have you seen the movie already then? Because your acting like you’ve seen it.

      • September 14, 2015 at 3:08 am
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        Nothing I said would indicate that I think I seen the movie. Not one thing. I clearly started my comment by saying, “I think.”

        I’m basing it off of what we know, which is actually a great deal from the toys and cannon books.

        The only subjective aspect of my post is about the rumors of screen time, and Luke bring at a tomb, again I was clear. What is clear, Ren calls Luke the Last Jedi.

        That seems to strongly point towards no rebuilding of the temple or the order.

        Besides, my sim conversation is partly is gist.

        But partly dead on. They’ve gone to great pains to mirror the OT, and it’s beginning to look as if they’ve gone too far.

        What I believe makes the PT worthwhile is the Jedi.

        Heck, the Jedi is part of the Starwars world. The OT was about bringing them back. ROTJ, was the culmination of the return of the Jedi.

        Who would have thought it was gonna be the return of the Jedi too afraid to rebuild the Jedi.

        • September 14, 2015 at 6:21 am
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          I believe the rumored flashback is said to be about the knights of ren destroying the new Jedi temple and all the Jedi trainees. Luke being the only survivor. Don’t remember where I read that.

          • September 14, 2015 at 8:20 am
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            I am definitely thinking this is the case. Both the supposed stunt training video and the back of the kylo ren costume describing a fight against several force users, this is likely the case. Plus in aftermath/shattered empire Luke is already intent on founding a Jedi academy so I can’t imagine he suddenly changed his mind or that it took him 30 years to do it.

          • September 14, 2015 at 11:26 am
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            If it is, then it’s absolutely a horrible idea. Unless he like trains two Jedi, and they don’t get it going.

            The Sith take a long game plot to bring down the Jedi, and Luke brings them back only to have some Sith wannabe with Vader issues bring it down again.

            So when J.J. was asked who is Luke Skywalker, the answer was an epic failure of a Jedi master. Go gosh, this is horrible.

            I get the idea the Jedi would go back to full strength, and the be and flow of coming back may have speed bumps, but that sounds as if just another horrible Skywalker outcome.

            Why should anyone trust Luke then, he would suck.

          • September 14, 2015 at 6:57 pm
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            I agree that I hate the idea of the jedi being hunted down and killed AGAIN, but personally for me its better then the alternative. Either luke’s first start at an academy failed, or he just never bothered to start one at all, which would require some darn good character moments to make me buy.

            Since it does appear that there is not an abundance of Jedi, my thought is maybe Luke let his public “jedi academy” fall to make the knights of ren think they won and stop hunting them so luke could train his jedi in secret. Image an army of awesome jedi coming out of nowhere?! It would be like the army of the dead scene from LotR except more awesome.

          • September 14, 2015 at 7:44 pm
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            I am beginning to believe that is the choice, it’s one of one two. Either way, the answer to J.J. Answering who is Luke Skywalker would be guy who couldn’t train a team of Jedi, but somehow will be able to do it for Rey, who will accomplish what Luke couldn’t. I’m not sure that is in any way preferable.

          • September 14, 2015 at 11:21 am
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            I don’t recall seeing that at all. But that would be even worse. Luke rebuilds the temple only to have the Knights of Ren bring it down.

            And what, the Rey and Fin will somehow have the strength to do what Luke and the New Jedi Order couldn’t.

            That is pretty frightening, I certainly don’t think it could get much worse.

      • September 14, 2015 at 3:51 am
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        I get the feeling that some people would actually prefer it if Episode VII turned out to be awful, just so that they can criticize JJ Abrams/Disney etc for the rest of their lives.

        We won’t know until we’ve seen it, but I am quietly optimistic that it’s going to be awesome 🙂 And if it is, I bet JJ Abrams is too classy to come out and criticize all the people who wrote him off even before the film started shooting.

        • September 14, 2015 at 10:23 pm
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          I don’t know anyone who wants Ep. 7 to be bad. I was the most excited I could be that J.J. Was chosen, especially when the rumor was he nixed the idea of moving on from the OT hero quickly.now it appears they tried a middle ground where Luke was a main part of the film, without actually being a main part of the film. It’s almost as if they want to make Luke suck, so fans will want to see them move on.

    • September 14, 2015 at 12:31 am
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      That incident occurred last year.

    • September 14, 2015 at 5:16 pm
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      It happened last year. He lost his globe that day, that’s why we see the mech arm in the trailer.

  • September 14, 2015 at 12:26 am
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    An Irish song for you all……
    “Are you right there, Michael, are ye right?
    Do you think that you’ll be home before it’s light?”
    “Tis all dependin’ whether
    The old engine holds together—
    And it might now, Michael, so it might!
    And it might, now, Michael, so it might.”

  • September 14, 2015 at 12:30 am
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    I think Luke is Plagueis. Tan robes = Sithsyder.

  • September 14, 2015 at 12:41 am
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    good god that last photo is beautiful – lovely location, can’t wait to see it in the films

  • September 14, 2015 at 2:13 am
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    I am a million times more excited to see a Rian Johnson Star Wars than I am excited to see any Colin Trevorrow movie. Its obvious he was out of depth of Jurassic World. I don’t see how he fixes that by jumping onto an even picture and more important movie.

    • September 14, 2015 at 3:12 am
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      Like Empire, The second film will probably be the best in this new trilogy. That sure wasn’t true of Attack Of The Clones though. lol.

    • September 14, 2015 at 5:04 am
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      See I disagree. The best part of Jurassic World were the action sequences. My issue with Jurassic World was the paper thin plot. You don’t have to worry about that with Star Wars due to the fact that the story group has a definitive idea of the story that they want to tell. So I am less worried than most.

      • September 14, 2015 at 5:12 pm
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        Action is far to be the most important thing in Star Wars. It’s about characters. Besides the action sequences in this movies depend more on the stunt team and ILM than the director himself. Who designed Maul’s fight? Stunt team. Who designed the moto-jet chase in Endor? ILM.

        • September 14, 2015 at 7:45 pm
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          The characters are basically the responsibility of the story group, no? They tell the story and situations these characters are going through. I think they picked a director while has his weaknesses, have the storygroup to pick up the slack of what he specifically lacks if that makes sense.

          • September 14, 2015 at 8:54 pm
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            No, the story group don’t actually have a say in the film stories themselves outside of helping with continuity issues and such. While they may be called the Lucasfilm STORY Group, their job is NOT actually to come up with stories at all, but to make sure stories that other writers come up with fit into continuity. They do have more power when it comes to the other media, like the books and comics, but have little to no say at all in the films other than an advisory role. Kathleen Kennedy and J.J. Abrams are the main two people overseeing the sequel trilogy, along with a few other producers, and each film’s director, who have a lot of freedom in developing the story for their film. If you don’t like Abrams, Johnson, or Trevorrow, then there is a good chance you won’t like their respective Episode either. Sorry.

          • September 16, 2015 at 2:23 am
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            Big arks are responsibility of the story group, but directors need to understand characters and own them in order to help the actors throughout the process. Look at how something as typical as a kiss is developed inside the Falcon with Leia and Han in Empire, and then take the scene in the lake from Attack of the Clones where Anakin kisses Padme (zero development, all through stupid dialog). See what I mean?

        • September 15, 2015 at 10:12 am
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          exactly! there still needs to be someone in charge of those people to reign them in- Trevorrow obviously didn’t take any control of the action scenes/ CGI and it showed. It takes a director to make those scenes work by creating tension around them. He failed to do so in incredible ways.

      • September 14, 2015 at 10:29 pm
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        Everything about JW is terrible. Trevorrow let the digital storyboard artist control him and make video game like shots with cameras zooming around. Robert Zemeckis talks about how its easy to be controlled by those artist on an episode of the directors chair. JP was grounded and felt real- JW felt like a bigger budget version of JP3. It simply lacked vision.

        • September 14, 2015 at 11:44 pm
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          I wasn’t arguing that it was a good movie, but it the action sequences were fun. The over reliance on CGI killed the movie for me. Nothing was real and nothing felt real.

          • September 15, 2015 at 2:38 am
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            That over reliance on CGI made the actions scenes not fun for me! haha. Also, I couldn’t buy into the action with how absurd the setup for the action is.

    • September 14, 2015 at 5:47 am
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      He’ll certainly do a better job than JJ Abrams. That guy hasn’t made one film anybody could remotely call excellent or groundbreaking.

      • September 14, 2015 at 2:58 pm
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        I definitely think that’ll change with TFA. I trust Abrams, not Trevorrow.

      • September 14, 2015 at 10:30 pm
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        I assume you are talking about Johnson and not Trevorrow. Trevorrow hasn’t even made something that I would call good let alone reaching the thought of being groundbreaking.

    • September 15, 2015 at 2:18 am
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      If you are talking about the “depth” of Jurassic World, I don’t think he wrote the movie/script, he just directed it… There is some hope.

      • September 15, 2015 at 2:36 am
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        in fact he is one of the 5 credited story/ script writers, but beyond that I know when I am a producer/ director on a project, it doesn’t go in front of the lens before I approve the script.

        • September 15, 2015 at 2:42 am
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          Good point, I guess we have to just wait and see.

  • September 14, 2015 at 6:17 am
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    I am just glad they started filming.

    • September 14, 2015 at 12:08 pm
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      After they wrap up on the island, there will probably be a long hiatus before they resume filming. Skellig Michael can only be filmed at certain times of the year.

      – Pomojema

  • September 14, 2015 at 8:10 am
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    Thrilling. I feel we’re being spoiled.

  • September 14, 2015 at 8:24 am
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    So excited! I wonder if we will find out the name of episode 8 before rogue one comes out

    • September 14, 2015 at 12:09 pm
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      Given that Episode VIII comes out five months after Rogue One, most definitely.

      – Pomojema

  • September 14, 2015 at 10:57 am
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    Mark’s daughter is very pretty!

    • September 14, 2015 at 11:30 am
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      I also noticed that 🙂

    • September 14, 2015 at 6:49 pm
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      She cooks a mean breakfast as well.

  • September 14, 2015 at 11:09 am
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    Why are they making a fake rock when there seem to be plenty of real ones lying around?

    Perhaps Luke and/or Rey will be Force-levitating it at some point?

    • September 14, 2015 at 11:29 am
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      I don’t think the film crew are allowed to move things around too much. It sounds like they had to agree to a lot of things just to be allowed to film there

  • September 14, 2015 at 11:16 am
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    A sand colored rock? On that island?

  • September 14, 2015 at 11:44 am
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    Luke is gonna be pissed when he finds out what Kylo did to his buddy

    • September 15, 2015 at 3:47 pm
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      See. Now that’s what I was thinking. Luke is a HUMAN BEING! Jeez. I highly recommend that the movie should at least be viewed first before such harsh critique is made. Luke will break Kylo’s ass down if he has too.

  • September 14, 2015 at 2:02 pm
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    I think JJA is not to be envied – writing the first paragraph of anything always sucks. If I have any hope for E7, it’s that he doesn’t try and leave his eternal stamp on the universe – like needlessly killing off characters, or giving the story a direction that cannot be reversed. (Like, say, explicitely stating that some of core EU events didn’t happen.)

    I am more worried about the story group itself, to tell the truth: The old EU/SW universe was not flawless, but it was quite good. What we’ve seen from the SG so far, quite plainly not entirely convincing yet. Not that the material would incoherent; it’s that it appears as if it wasn’t very inspired.

    • September 14, 2015 at 5:29 pm
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      Chewie being in the movie already deletes a core EU event. It’s going to happen whether it’s intentional or not. Two different stories, they’re not going to match up. I’m more inclined to dislike any undoing of the PT or TCW–that would rankle!!!

      • September 15, 2015 at 1:00 am
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        What “The MacGuffin Guy” said: It’s not about the existence of change, it’s about its quality. I am not particularly clingy to the old, and often convoluted, “Legends”-EU. – But the new stuff so far has not added anything particularly remarkable since the story group took over. (In 2014?) The question whether they’re doing a good job so far, or not, has to have a certain legitimacy.

    • September 14, 2015 at 7:24 pm
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      I am not very happy with the new cannon so far, I feel like their already chasing their tail. And it seems like they have really taken away a exciting powerful, enspiring Luke Skywalkers, and replaced him with a epic mess-up. Someone who just doesn’t cut it as a Jedi Master. At least not in his first 30 years of being a Jedi.

    • September 14, 2015 at 7:53 pm
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      He already left his stamp on the universe. New look stormtroopers, new cross guard lightsaber, etc etc. I think you need to let go of the old EU and embrace the new canon. The old stuff isn’t coming back and much as you’d like it to.

      • September 14, 2015 at 8:26 pm
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        Agreed, but I think the point he’s making is that the cosmetic appearance of stormtoopers or the villain’s lightsaber design is not nearly as impactful on the ovarall canon. Ryan johnson could easily introduce new ST armor or have kylo build a new saber in episode 8. Decisions like saying luke never founded a jedi academy, or Han Solo dies, or that there never was an admiral named “Thrawn” in the empire. Those decisions are immutable changes that forever shape GFFA.

        The EU is totally dead to the movies, but more heavily drawn upon by the non-movie canon sources. Starships, droids and aliens from the EU appear heavily in new videogames and books but seem totally absent from the new movies. Dark Troopers, Chiss, deathtroopers, Z-95 Headhunters, etc. Have all been folded back into new canon… But I doubt we will ever see heavy hitters like Mara Jade, Thrawn, the solo twins ever again.

        • September 14, 2015 at 8:54 pm
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          I guess you don’t subscribe to the theory that Rey and Kylo Ren are the Solo twins. 🙂

          • September 15, 2015 at 1:50 am
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            While it is a possibility that they may be brother and sister, it doesn’t necessarily make them twins if they are. Furthermore, if they did have twins, they likely wouldn’t be named the same as in the EU.

    • September 14, 2015 at 11:40 pm
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      So I am, Pinto.

  • September 14, 2015 at 3:41 pm
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    We are not informed what extent the story group influence on the overall story line. Big characters like Luke , Han will be taken care by Johnson, Trrevow.
    But fate of the less important character like Boba or Maul would be handled by story group.

    • September 14, 2015 at 8:12 pm
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      I am sure Finn and Kylo Ren will be involved in overall storyline as well.

  • September 14, 2015 at 5:05 pm
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    I think they need bigger boats.

  • September 14, 2015 at 7:48 pm
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    damn that sucks.too bad they cant use the natural weather for the movie

    • September 14, 2015 at 8:58 pm
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      yeh i just thought that too . But you know, its a dangerous place to be even without the wind.

  • September 14, 2015 at 8:05 pm
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    I can just see it now, those damn film crews probably ravaged that poor island. Smh.

    Skellig Michael = now at one with the force

  • September 15, 2015 at 12:49 am
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    Glad to see they’ll be back at it tomorrow! Episode 8 filming will finally commence!

    Only thing i’m not too happy about is that the actors who will be there kind of confirm all of the rumors of Luke’s reveal at the end of Ep 7. Very little screen time in TFA is going to upset a lot of people. It’s times like these that i’m glad I read spoilers because I would be disappointed to find out that he’s only in the last scene. On the bright side, here’s to hoping for a lot of Luke in Episode 8!

    • September 15, 2015 at 2:10 am
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      If your Disney / JJ and you’ve got an enthusiastic Mark Hamil on contract the easiest thing you could do is use him… a lot. Thats the first impulse. But it seems they have gone with a story that builds anticipation for an enigmatic, mysterious, wise Luke skywalker that’s got some war storys to tell. If they get that right man it could be amazing.

      Im still hoping hes a bit unstable like those early rumors suggested. And since he recorded that menacing echo for the dialogue in the second teaser there is still a chance i hope. Maybe he’s tortured by dark spirits and its all gone to shit, and he needed a hand to pick himself up.

    • September 15, 2015 at 2:34 am
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      I don’t think it necessarily confirms Luke only appears at the end. It looks like this place is Luke’s home, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t leave his home during the movie to help out his friends/the galaxy.

      • September 15, 2015 at 2:44 am
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        I think Luke originally only appeared in a brief flashback and at end, and old Luke only at end. Above I’ll explain my theory at lest.

    • September 15, 2015 at 2:44 am
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      they are filming episode 8 Tomorrow?

  • September 15, 2015 at 2:59 am
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    I think (In my no more informed opinion than anyone else, gee) originally Luke only appeared towards end, besides brief flashbacks, but then they got word fans would want their heads, so they’ve added him some more.

    1. How could they even make such a mistake (I’ll actually post why I think they could be so dense at first, and over all after this list).

    2. Even though they may add some more Luke, they will have to be throw ins, with him not doing a whole bunch.

    3. Han and Luke will be together, but barely at the end.

    4. Lea is unlikely to see either of them much.

    5. Even if Luke had attempted to build the Jedi order again, and failed, it only makes it less plausible that Rey and Fin could logically be the keys to making it happen the second time around.

    HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED, DIDNT THEY REALIZE THAT LUKE IS KEY, AND WE’VE ALREADY WAITED SO LONG.

    I think the answe to that is that they spent so much time finding ways to correct past mistakes, that they hadn’t actually put themselves in our shoes.

    Because they know basically how the new trilogy ends, they thought just imagine how crazy fans will be when they are presented with Luke after so much mystery. A crazy unstable Luke would shock fans and have them clambering for answers.

    They know the answers, they don’t feel what it’s like to wait decades to see a Luke again, especially aft killing the EU.

    I agreed with the move on EU, because it would have made telling the story difficult. But for Jedi sake please to not turn look into an epic failure who eventually stumbles into helping a new set of heroes.

    We don’t know who the Knights of Ren are, but we know what they are not, or at least by name. Whatever, not all dark side users have to be Sith, but the main bad guy shouldn’t look, sound, act, and share a Sith like dedication to killing the Jedi.

    But that would be a minor blip to the mistake of forcing us to wait until 2019 to really get some quality screen time with Luke Skywalker.

    Or making look into a complete loser. Spending 30 years contemplating his own shortcomings.

    No wonder the empire survives. The rebels and the last Jedi had no stones.

    A BETTER STORY WOULD HAVE BEEN:

    Luke and the entire New Jedi Order had to go in hiding because of some unfortunate rouge Jedi going to the dark side.

    Just don’t have Luke being a total wash!

    • September 15, 2015 at 6:19 am
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      It’s hard to know without context, but I completely agree with you as to why Luke has limited screen time. I’m not saying they should shove him in there for nostalgia purposes, but I think they were so focused on the build up of mystery for a big reveal that they didn’t consider that people would rather just have him earlier. After the shock of the reveal is done then we are just left wondering what took so long. I draw a connection to the recent Godzilla film. They spent so much time building up the mystery and Godzilla’s opponent, trying to correct the mistakes of past films that by the end Godzilla was barely in his own movie.

      My BIGGEST fear is that this film will undercut RotJ. I know jedi are hard to train and empires don’t fall in a day, but if the “Resistance” is STILL the underdog and there are STILL no Jedi then really what did our heroes even DO?! Basically just kill one dictator and replace him with another. That’s just depressing.

      • September 15, 2015 at 8:27 am
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        I completely agree. I hadn’t thought about it like that, but it does seem like they are almost making ROTJ hardly a major event. Two Sith died that day, and that should of opened up some room for at least rebuilding the Jedi. It really worries me. I was hoping for something that took the good parts of PT, the good parts of OT, and melded together something exciting and engaging.

  • September 15, 2015 at 3:48 am
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    Holding out hope that the guys on the ground get the new Rey outfit if she has a suit change between movies. Hope she is looking all Jedi Knight in 8.

    • September 15, 2015 at 5:24 am
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      I hope Jedi Knights aren’t all in boring robes again. -_-

      Let them dress according to their own individual style and/or character theme.

      • September 15, 2015 at 8:33 am
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        Yeah she’s got to have a black shaolin monk space suit or something.

      • September 15, 2015 at 9:39 am
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        I agree… All those years as a kid wondering what the Jedi would look like? Thinking they’d be super cool space battle warrior suits and all it ends up being is a boring robe? I guess uncle Owen must have been a Jedi too… If you want to keep a low profile, probably not a good idea to head into Mos Eisley wearing a robe.

        • September 15, 2015 at 1:13 pm
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          watched something once on this subject …. obi wan in hiding adopts clothes for terrain and ability to conceal his identity ……. turns out he was wearing his uniform all along and is actually crap at hiding and concealing his identity

        • September 15, 2015 at 7:28 pm
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          me too. i always liked how luke went from light to darker clothing when he advanced as a jedi. in IV hes wearing white in ESB its grey and ROTJ its black. the black suit and cloak looked awesome. i hope hes not always in robes in TFA

      • September 15, 2015 at 3:02 pm
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        Oh yeah by Jedi Knight outfit I hope it is not the infamous bath robes. The coolest Jedi look to me in any of the films is Luke’s ESB suit. I know that is technically a flight suit but always thought it looked boss. Hopefully Rey will wear something inspired by that.

  • September 15, 2015 at 7:58 am
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    @band crew

  • September 15, 2015 at 3:16 pm
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    Looks like they have a bit of a problem with Mynocks

  • September 15, 2015 at 4:31 pm
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    Look’s like a a beautiful day on the Island today… 🙂

  • September 15, 2015 at 7:25 pm
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    i bet JJ is happy to be done with all this

  • September 16, 2015 at 6:44 pm
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    I might sound old-fashioned, but I really don’t fancy seeing any grass in Star Wars.

    • September 17, 2015 at 2:31 pm
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      Just reminds me of the battle of Naboo

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