Rumor: Has Star Wars: Episode VIII Filming Been Pushed Back to February? New Asian Actress in Contention?

Episode VIIILast week The Wrap reporter Jeff Sneider shared on the Meet the Movie Press show that Bel Powley is in contention for a role in Episode VIII, as was Gina Rodrigues who was rumored before. Now Sneider revealed that Gina didn’t get the part and mentioned some new interesting bits he’s been told about the Episode VIII production…

 

From Meet the Movie Press:

Last week we mentioned Bel Powely and Gina Rodrigues. Now I heard Gina didn’t get it. Now I am told Episode VIII has been pushed about a month. Rian Johnson is going to do another rewrite, and I heard an Asian actress got the role Bel and Gina were up for. But I don’t know if the Bel Powely thing will work out.

 

I said before there were two young female roles, now I actually heard that the rewrite will make these roles smaller. They want to get to know better the characters they already have. So the new rewrite is shrinking the new roles in order to spend more time with Rey, Poe and so on.

Sneider also mentioned that the Asian actress is from a small agency and she is not very well known. If true, casting an Asian actress in Episode VIII will be a very smart move by Disney. As you know, despite the huge promotion for The Force Awakens in China (including 500 stormtroopers climbing The Great Wall), the movie didn’t perform very well, since the franchise is fairly unknown there, and it just took its first steps in a larger world. An actress from these parts of the world will definitely boost the viewings of Episode VIII in the second largest movie market in the world.

China

 

For those of you who don’t know, Jeff Sneider is a very well know writer for The Wrap. He is very credible but as he said himself, these are some things he heard about the movie, and he doesn’t know if they will pan out. Everything is possible. Episode VIII was expected to begin filming this month, so very soon we will find out if the rumors are true.

 

Another thing worth mentioning is that rewrites are absolutely normal for every movie, and there is no need for any panic. Quite the contrary. The rewrites are what make the movie better.

 

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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.

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Val Trichkov (Viral Hide)

Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

278 thoughts on “Rumor: Has Star Wars: Episode VIII Filming Been Pushed Back to February? New Asian Actress in Contention?

  • January 16, 2016 at 7:14 pm
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    Does anyone know if Rouge One filming is done, if not, when does it end?

  • January 16, 2016 at 7:16 pm
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    Sounds good to me. I want to see lots of Poe, Finn, and Rey, so shrinking the other actress’ role is fine. And casting an Asian actress is very a very smart choice.

    • January 16, 2016 at 7:17 pm
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      Yeah I gotta say I loved the three of them enough to really just want to dwell on them. Well them and Ren.

      • January 18, 2016 at 4:46 am
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        Yes. Focus on new characters we are not invested in would be stupid. We have the TFA 4 (Rey,Ren,Finn,Poe), everyone else who comes aboard should not steal screen time.

  • January 16, 2016 at 7:17 pm
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    That’s good. Never a good thing to rush a script. RJ knows what he’s doing.

  • January 16, 2016 at 7:41 pm
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    This guy, Sneider, also heard Spiderman wouldn’t be white and we know how that turned up. And no, Bryan Cranston is not a villain in Star Trek Beyond. Grain of salt.

  • January 16, 2016 at 8:16 pm
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    Glad to see they want to keep the focus on the three new leads they already established in TFA, although frankly it’s amazing that they were ever considering otherwise. Did they not expect audiences to embrace these new characters as much as they did or something?

    Although at the same time it is a bit concerning that Rian is doing a last minute rewrite on a script that JJ and others already thought was pretty great…

    • January 16, 2016 at 9:10 pm
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      I’m certain it’s quite possible to rewrite and polish some of the script, without changing the substance of it.

      I doubt very much it’s going to be as drastic as the difference between Lucas’ first draft of TPM, and the mess we got onscreen.

    • January 17, 2016 at 1:27 am
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      Well, Empire added in Lando. As for JJ already thinking the script is great, hopefully this makes it even more great.

    • January 18, 2016 at 4:50 am
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      This is a good rewrite. I was so freakin annoyed by all those reports that they are casting new leading female character. WTF? Rey is the lead, that new character is not. Now they are coming to their senses and minimizing new roles.

  • January 16, 2016 at 8:20 pm
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    I don’t agree. Rewrite not always makes a movie better.
    That’s the problem of majority of movies. Rewriting (and 4/6/8 hand scripts).
    I don’t like rewrites.
    If it’s true I will take this news in a different way cause Rian will rewrite HIS script.

    • January 16, 2016 at 8:28 pm
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      Colin Trevorrow probably couldn’t understand Johnson’s vision so they are dumbing it down for him to continue the story when it is his turn.

    • January 16, 2016 at 9:12 pm
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      Bit of a difference between re-writing the script, and rewriting and polishing certain aspects of a script. RJ is a fantastic screenwriter, and I think we should all be quite stoked with him writing both 8 and 9.

      • January 17, 2016 at 12:49 am
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        Yes, of course, And I really really trust in Rian. It’s a relieve he is writing both scripts.
        And would be great if the directing part of both episodes are related with personal visions of the director’s early works, like Brick, Looper and Safety not guaranteed.

        • January 17, 2016 at 1:09 am
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          Well, this is why all 3 directors are working together on the saga. It’s all good things.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:15 am
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            That’s the good part, of course. 😉

    • January 16, 2016 at 9:31 pm
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      Yeah but it is RJ cleaning up his own stuff. Its not like they are bringing in someone else to completely redo it. And it is only a month, so it cant be anything major.

      • January 17, 2016 at 12:40 am
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        Yes, That’s what I said. He will rewrite or polishing his script. Problems are minor that way.

  • January 16, 2016 at 8:25 pm
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    Because of TFA success, they’ve decided to stick to the play it safe format of TFA. By pushing it back a month, they’ll have enou time to take out anything remotely ambitious and replace it with a Empire Strikes Back retread.

    Oh crap, this is me just trolling the vastly superior Star War Fans we have here, the ones who gang up on you if you criticize TFA familiarity. Man, I better have my armor on today.

    Hell, I even liked the PT. That’s a crime around here.

    • January 16, 2016 at 8:27 pm
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      Lol.

    • January 16, 2016 at 8:43 pm
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      How do you know that? Oh yeah, you actually don’t. So please shut up.

      • January 17, 2016 at 12:21 am
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        Thanks for proving my point. Which ironically had little to do with Ep. 8, and everything to do with the Ep. 7 protection club that has formed here.

        • January 17, 2016 at 12:30 am
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          Proving your point? You made an assertion with no real evidence and I pointed this out. Sorry for protecting Episode 7 to my last breath!!

          • January 17, 2016 at 12:38 am
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            Really, no evidence. You mean other than the fact they just played it safe and offered us a pretty damn good play it safe New Hope retread.

            I care little people stick up for the movie, I actually enjoyed it.

            But everytime on this site someone dares point out that they made mistakes, played it safe, went too much familiarity, and mangled some parts, the protection force comes out, but not to stick up for the move, nope, they attack people personally.

            Start calling them trolls, questioning whether they are even Star Wars fans.

            It’s stupid. I have read most of the books, spent thousands on toys, dressed up as characters, etc.

            I can criticize what J.J. Did and still very much love Starwars. No matter what The Ignorant gang wants to say.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:29 am
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            You can criticize it, yes. But you said

            “Because of TFA success, they’ve decided to stick to the play it safe format of TFA. By pushing it back a month, they’ll have enou time to take out anything remotely ambitious and replace it with a Empire Strikes Back retread.”

            You have no proof of this AT ALL, and it makes you sound stupid. Therefore, you should stop saying it.

          • January 17, 2016 at 11:36 am
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            You know what sounds stupid, you thinking that I’ve offered no proof, or at least valid logic behind my statement. What are you, in high school or something. I feel like I’m debating my kid brother. Are you really that concerned about what I say about your precious J.J. Directed Ep. 7.

            Let me see, how would I brake this down for my kid brother so he can understand the critical thinking aspect. Oh, let’s try this:

            1. Ep. 7 wasn’t very ambitious, and they basically copied the story from Ep. 4. You can’t really argue against that, it’s not valid if you do. Especially since those who made the movie pretty much have said they intended to do it.

            2. Said Ep. 7 was hugely successful in every measure those who make movies use to gauge success. Money, critics, nominations to award shows. This movie has done extremely well.

            3. Well, if Disney just hit jackpot by going the not so ambitious route, and it worked, it’s probably a good bet they’d at least be inclined to follow suit with the next installment. Why mess with something so successful.

            4. A week or two before filming for Ep. 8 starts, it comes out they’ve pushed the film back another month so the script could be rewritten.

            And the reasoning, well, because they decided to focus on the characters who made up the reason for the widley panned Ep. 7. Hmm, pretty strong indicator that they are tweaking things back to a play it safe that got them these great characters. Of which all three I LOVED, just in case you were thinking about throwing a high school fit.

            Ok, let’s sum this up. I’ve offered a pretty strong argument hear. Now I could rebuttal and say but J.J. And others said the script was great. Dark, etc.

            And that’s be strong. But now they are rewriting that great script, and those who say they loved it, also lived Ep. 7.

            So do you have any evidence I’m wrong, if not. I’m gonna continue saying it.

          • January 17, 2016 at 4:05 pm
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            My goodness, take a class on logic. Your argument actually argues on why Disney and Lucasfilm should make a ESB rehash. Your argument doesn’t equate to what is happening. You have no proof, just an argument that doesn’t have a conclusion you believe it does.

          • January 17, 2016 at 4:50 pm
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            Exactly.

          • January 20, 2016 at 12:51 am
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            Exactly what! That he stated that I laid out the reason Disney would want to play it safe again.

            Well, yea, exactly. That’s EXACTLY what I was attempting to do, lay out an argument what it is LIKELY Disney will want to do another play it safe retread.

            Never once told you this is PROOF that they are actually doing it, only that these recent moves appear to point to the likIlyhoid of it happening again.

            So EXACTLY.

          • January 20, 2016 at 12:46 am
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            Umm, duh. You realize you just stated what I did. My argument does show why Disney would want to play it safe again, it’s the entire underpinning of my argument. I’m glad you caught that, although I’m not exactly sure why it’s invalid then. No one ever stated I was laying down proof of what is to come! It’s informed speculation, something neither of you have offered. Only fallacies.

            1. Disney found a lot of success with playing it safe.
            2. Disney likely will do it again.
            3. Is there any reason to believe Disney is gonna take risks this time? Is there?

            I welcome one of you two to lay out a valid argument why they would.

            I don’t recall ever saying I had inside information on what they will do, everyone is speculating

            Of course my argument is why they should do it, But not proof as too why they are. I’m laying out the very reason they are likely to do it. “LIKELY”. The word likely is the qualifier here.

            It’s not my fault you two can’t seem to get this.

            No one said they are 100% doing it, I’ve actually stated that to the dude above, but what I’ve said is the growing evidence, script rewrite/delay to add more about current characters, would tend to point to another play it safe movie.

            Problem he has is he is bent out of shape that anyone would suggest such a thing.

            If he went around telling everyone who is speculating on what the next move is, he’d be telling 75% of us to shut up.

            Oh wait, should I say 75%, one of you may come along and tell me I don’t know if it’s 75% or not. Really. Thanks guy!

            I sware, so people really can’t handle anyone saying anything negative about Ep. 7.

          • January 17, 2016 at 4:50 pm
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            That’s not proof, that’s your baseless speculation. Get over yourself.

          • January 17, 2016 at 12:42 am
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            Oh, and I wasn’t exactly talking about you anyways. But telling me to shut up was where you proved my point. People should welcome diverse opinions. Not try to shut them down.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:28 am
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            Well excuse me, but when someone starts blasting off ridiculous statements with no proof, I always advise them to just stop talking. And that goes both ways.

          • January 17, 2016 at 2:47 am
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            Ask yourself, who are you that you’d think I’d even contemplate even listening to you “advisement” or care. And no one blasted off with rediculus statements, it’s just you fans boys can’t deal with some simple truths.

            Episode 7 was anything but ambitious. They stuck with what they know works.

            It’s it really rediculus to surmise they may do this again, considering the level of success they are having. Nope, it would seem to me, they only thing rediculus, is to think it’s unlikely.

            I guess the truth hurts maybe. Denial, a powerful drug.

            By the way Mr. Super duper Starwars fan, I take my earlier statement back. You are exactly the kind of commenter my earlier statement was targeted at.

            Now feel free to rant away, and give me advice that I’ll wholly ignore.

    • January 16, 2016 at 8:51 pm
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      RJ’s original script was probably too “weird”, as Lawrence Kasdan said. The studio and the producers demanded a rewrite to play safe,

      • January 16, 2016 at 8:54 pm
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        Why we’ll probably never see his or Arndt’s.

        • January 16, 2016 at 9:09 pm
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          we did eventually see Frank Darabont’s Indy 4 script and honestly it wasn’t much better if better at all.

          • January 17, 2016 at 12:27 am
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            Yeah, Sadly all these screenwriting legends are long past their prime. Depressing to see. Like Jordan’s last game.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:05 am
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            Can Rian Johnson be our Steph Curry? Or Max Landis (lol)? Or…I guess Aaron Sorkin?

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:07 am
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            Max Landis? Dear god…I just barfed.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:41 am
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            I just hope he’s not the Micheal Arndt.

      • January 17, 2016 at 12:22 am
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        That’s my guess, but I hope not. Disney realizing the play it safe method was hugely successful, probably wouldn’t want to mess with it. Can’t blame them, but don’t like it.

      • January 17, 2016 at 1:13 am
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        TFA probably didn’t take risks at all for some people (which i can disagree in some aspects of the movie). But for my was perfect. I love TFA the way it is. I enjoyed so much.
        And probably i will enjoy EVIII being as good as TFA if they play safe. But i think they have to risk now. It has to be “weird”.
        Play safe it means play like all actual blockbusters, and majority of times don’t work so well.
        My opinion.

    • January 16, 2016 at 9:12 pm
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      No, I actually think they’d try to move away from ESB, because they don’t want the supposed “rehash” backlash to get them next time.

      • January 16, 2016 at 9:15 pm
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        Well, it will certainly be more like ESB in tone. It’s the middle act of a trilogy – it has to be a bit darker than the first act…but of course SOMEONE will call it a rehash regardless, because “It had STAR WARS in the title! Rehash! Ugh!” 😉

      • January 17, 2016 at 12:32 am
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        I won’t mind if the tone takes the same, that’s standard story telling. It’s gonna get darker, because the religious zealots will want to strike back, although what they can do after killing who knows how many millions of people, that is beyond me. It may be they tell the story of what brought them up to this point, while showing the two sides prepairing their next move.

    • January 16, 2016 at 9:20 pm
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      Hey, I liked the PT, too. It isn’t nearly as good as the OT, but still fun films.

      • January 16, 2016 at 9:22 pm
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        Over the years I’ve learned to accept the PT, but they’ll never be anywhere near the quality of the OT for me, personally.

        I think what makes them tolerable for me, is that at their core the stories are good stories – it was just GL’s execution that tainted them a bit.

        • January 17, 2016 at 1:06 am
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          GL needed…*gasp* a couple re-writes and they would have been fine.

      • January 17, 2016 at 12:26 am
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        I believe the PT it a lot to offer, but had some fundamental flaws, as does Ep. 7. The kiddish direction of the droid army was silly. I liked Jar jar in small doses, but too much was too much.

        I loved the over powered Jedi. I loved the deep connection with explains the political state and how a 10,000 strong army of Jedi were undermined by a few Sith.

        And I think Vaders fall wasn’t as bad as some contend.

        But best of all, it wasn’t a play it safe OT retread.

        It had similarities, but not overwhelmingly.

      • January 17, 2016 at 1:05 am
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        Today I just watched the phantom menace Anti-cheese edit it’s so good
        I love this vershions

        • January 17, 2016 at 6:56 am
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          I tried to watch it. Its definitely better but still couldn’t get through it lol

    • January 16, 2016 at 10:19 pm
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      I love PT.

  • January 16, 2016 at 8:27 pm
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    It used to be taking 3 years to make another SW in OT and PT. A year and a half availability could affect the quality of the film.

    • January 16, 2016 at 8:43 pm
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      Maybe. But you must remember, that’s the time between release. The full production of the ST movies overlap, so each one gets more like 2-3 years of production.

  • January 16, 2016 at 8:53 pm
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    The fact that this film is not doing well in parts of the globe where they did not get the earlier films shows that nostalgia was the major driving factor behind this film, No one would have cared had it not been part of the saga. As for VIII, I’d like to see Mon Mothma and General Madine back seeing as how the actors are both still alive and were higher ups in the Rebellion.

    • January 16, 2016 at 9:08 pm
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      Not. Doing. Well? I’d argue that it has at least met, or exceed expectations actually.

      • January 17, 2016 at 12:54 am
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        In most of the globe but not so much in China, India, and parts of Latin America who have ginormous populations.

        • January 17, 2016 at 1:04 am
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          You’d have to present evidence of comparison with other franchises – that have likely been more active in multiple mediums in those places over the past decade, which would make a comparison useless.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:33 am
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            Transformers, I think it set all kinds of records there for reasons I’ll never know. I think some of the Marvel films too.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:36 am
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            Because it’s a half-Chinese production. That plays a big part.

          • January 17, 2016 at 6:47 am
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            Two franchises that have been highly active since ROTS came out. Transformers and Age of Ultron also specifically targeted Asia, like, blatantly did so.

          • January 17, 2016 at 4:49 pm
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            For real.

            “All of a sudden, we have to race to [insert well-known Asian city here] to stop the bad guys! But we’ll need help from [insert Asian stereotype character here]!!”

          • January 17, 2016 at 11:28 pm
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            Now we know why they are looking for an Asian lead in VIII and shouldn’t be at all surprised if she’s Chinese though to be fair TFA had the most Asians in any of the films even if they didn’t have many lines.

          • January 17, 2016 at 11:31 am
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            Transformers is actually invested by a chinese company so it’s partially a domestic film that is why it can run longer than other foreign films.

          • January 17, 2016 at 11:35 pm
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            Marvel is not though but I have no idea how long they ran for. They are so scared of getting overthrown that the’ll change the rules at the drop of a hat to keep everyone happy. You can’t really fight a billion unhappy people with nothing to lose which is why things have changed so much there with the advent of technology. Like Iran it will topple eventually just a matter of when not if.

        • January 17, 2016 at 1:04 am
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          That is a silly point to make, Just because China has more than a billion people doesn’t mean it all magically equates to more film goers.

          The countries you listed have nowhere near as many cinemas/theatres or IMAX placements as western countries on top of this movies in general are not as popular a form of entertainment as in western countries.

          Its ridiculous to assert that we can compare western countries to China/India or Latin America when the culture and population is vastly different especially in terms of movies.

          TFA is doing incredibly well around the world, just because its not pulling in hundreds of millions of viewers in China because the population is “ginormous” doesn’t mean that it has somehow missed the bar.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:33 am
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            Not as many theaters but in China, There are plenty familiar with the films through pirating and while their culture may be different than the US it’s not as much so in other places where the film is doing far better.

            The last Transformers did gang busters in China I believe so it’s not like they are averse to blockbusters either.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:35 am
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            Well, a large part of WHY the last Transformers did so well in China, is partly due to it actually being a partially domestic film for China…hence it had no restrictions on how many theaters it can play in, or for how long.

            SW is a foreign film in China, hence it has many laws by which it much abide by. Only a limited number of theaters, and a maximum run of 4 weeks.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:43 am
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            I think some of the Marvel films set records which there too which were not domestic but I need to look that up.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:45 am
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            They have, but they are larger, more proven properties in China with a larger following. SW is relatively new to China, so it’s always had a tougher battle to fight and that was expected going into it.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:50 am
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            It’s not a bubble like North Korea though, It’s still very restricted but they have loosened it over the decades to the point where piracy is pretty high and word of mouth spreads. Kind of like grade school kids back in the day who’ve never saw any horror films but their friends would tell them about it or invite them over.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:53 am
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            True, but they still only allow 34 foreign movies to play for a maximum of 4 weeks, by law. That number can be upped to around 45 for some years, but other films have too get bumped, and it has to be approved some time in advance. Thats as of last year.

          • January 17, 2016 at 6:55 am
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            You should check out a passage in Chris Taylor’s book.

            One guy pirated a copy of Star Wars in the late 1990s in a European country and showed up at a protest dressed as Darth Vader – he almost got arrested because nobody knew what the hell he was.

            The Phantom Menace comes out in 1999.

            A couple years later he comes to another protest wearing his Vader suit, and everybody knows who he is.

          • January 17, 2016 at 11:31 pm
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            Was it the Romanian dude?

          • January 17, 2016 at 3:10 am
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            India has an enormous film industry of its own that is one of the biggest in the world: maybe they’re not as interested in foreign films for that reason. If so, it wouldn’t in that respect be much different from the US, where foreign films still represent a rather small market share…

        • January 17, 2016 at 1:06 am
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          And at no time did Disney ever expect the film to be massive in those countries, especially in China where SW is basically a new property.

          It’s actually performed as expected in China. Only dumb ass pundits predicted something massive.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:34 am
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            Yet it may cost the film the top spot since it’s slowed it’s momentum down a bit.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:38 am
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            At this point, I don’t think anyone is actually very concerned about it. The film has pulled in $1.8B, which is nothing to scoff at by any metric, and has broken every single record that possibly can minus 1.

            Pretty sure the Big D and LucasFilm are the happiest fuckers on earth right now.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:46 am
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            I know some people here won’t like that but box office means nothing to me, Empire which is my favorite probably did the least best financially.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:50 am
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            That’s true, mostly because ESB pissed people off to no end when it first came out, and many big critics panned it (for being unoriginal, oddly enough), but most of the young pups don’t realize that. History has been kind to it.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:53 am
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            Inflatio, rising population rates, the creation of home video, and IMAX/3D affect everything too which is why it’s almost impossible to get any hard numbers on tickets sold.

          • January 17, 2016 at 2:06 am
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            Well, that would be an almost useless metric as there are more people with more money going to more theaters.

            But yeah, in the end it doesn’t really matter much. Besides, I think it;s just awesome that we can sit here, or go anywhere and discuss SW/Comic books movies with impunity. People got their asses kicked for that back in the late 80’s. 🙂

          • January 17, 2016 at 2:16 am
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            Not really all that different from the old vs new athlete debate where the old ones all smoke/drank and had regular jobs in the off season but the new ones have all kinds of trainers and special diets due to it being such a big business. Not so much about talent as it was how they took care of themselves.

            The saga is not going away anytime soon that’s for certain. Especially with Disney owning it now. I just hope they don’t overexpose it like they have with other properties and let it breathe a few years after the trilogy ends rather than have 3-4 films per year.

          • January 17, 2016 at 2:20 am
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            Agreed. For now, I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt with a max of 2 films per year Saga/Story.
            Regardless, I’ll be at the theater with bells and whistles on, as we have since 77. 😉

          • January 17, 2016 at 2:31 am
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            Why I’m looking forward to Rogue One since it’s the first one ever to not star any force users or in other films. They seem to be playing it off low key but almost as much is riding on it as TFA.

          • January 17, 2016 at 2:43 am
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            Yes. I’m very much hoping that it will be the “war” movie and espionage flick that was promised at Celebration. It’s a great premise.

          • January 17, 2016 at 2:49 am
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            I hope the third spinoff is just as completely different as that one or the Solo film, Long as they do something new each time and it’s not like the main saga then audiences won’t get bored.

          • January 17, 2016 at 2:54 am
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            Agreed. It’s such a vast universe, I don’t want to see them get stuck telling useless stories that take us inward. We don’t need a Boba Fett story or anything like that. I’d be up for some KOTOR, Sith Wars, or something whacky like that.

            At least for Rogue One, it’s box office success is all but assured, riding off the success of TFA, but you’re correct in that a lot is also riding on RO to be a good movie.

          • January 17, 2016 at 2:57 am
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            It seems like the first three are all set in the OT era which is where the money is so for the next ones they may take chances and do other eras instead.

          • January 17, 2016 at 2:59 am
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            Good point. Still, an old fanboy can dream.

          • January 17, 2016 at 11:26 pm
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            They probably won’t do any PT ones but I think Clone Wars did a good enough job answering all the questions in that one even if the show was never finished.

          • January 18, 2016 at 12:29 am
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            Agreed.

          • January 18, 2016 at 12:45 am
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            I thnk Obi-Wan will be the third spinoff. The Fett stuff will probably be saved for the live-action TV series someday.

          • January 18, 2016 at 1:02 am
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            That’s the rumor. I know it’s probably not in the cards, but I’d like to see LucasFilm take a risk, and produce an Anthology film based on a completely original concept, or even something loosely based on an EU property…something that’s relatively unfamiliar to the general masses, and even most SW movie fans.

          • January 18, 2016 at 1:21 am
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            They might test it on the TV show first. They’ll probabky throw out all the Lucas scripts he had written for it too even though he didn’t write any of them.

          • January 18, 2016 at 4:58 pm
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            I don’t like Darth Revan. He’s rough, and coarse, and he gets everywhere.”

            I think I’m okay with them trashing his scripts.

          • January 19, 2016 at 1:24 am
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            He’s like Harry Saltzman. Not all his ideas are great but there usually is a good one in ever 10 he has. He would still be working today had he stuck with producing rather than writing or directing.

          • January 18, 2016 at 3:37 am
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            I want to see a trilogy of KOTOR-based films someday. Someday…

          • January 18, 2016 at 5:07 am
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            I wouldn’t be opposed to that. The Sith War/Darth Bane trilogy would be kind of sweet too. It’s my pipe dream.

          • January 17, 2016 at 4:15 pm
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            Empire Strikes Back is the second most “successful” Star Wars film in box office dollars, adjusted for inflation. The Force Awakens has surpassed Phantom Menace and Return of the Jedi in adjusted for inflation dollars meaning more people have gone to see the movie. The Force Awakens is approaching Empire Strikes Back, and will probably surpass the film , but it won’t approach the original Star Wars ’77 1.2 billion adjusted dollars.

          • January 17, 2016 at 11:38 pm
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            The thing is with the mystery box policy, It has less to do with the film’s popularity than the film’s marketing and everyone wanting to see a sequel to Jedi.

          • January 17, 2016 at 4:44 pm
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            When adjusted for inflation, TFA only recently passed Empire’s domestic gross. Just sayin’

          • January 17, 2016 at 11:50 pm
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            TPM also passed Empire but it’s hardly anybody’s favorite. Most if the top 20 grossing films are mostly mediocore Hollywood crap too – Twilight, Avatar, Minions, etc.

          • January 18, 2016 at 4:57 pm
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            Ughh, Minions.

          • January 19, 2016 at 1:21 am
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            Only saw Depicable Me which wasn’t bad but not top 10 material.

    • January 16, 2016 at 9:10 pm
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      The fact that in some areas TFA is not number one doesn’t mean that it’s not doing well there 😉

      • January 17, 2016 at 12:53 am
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        Not according to the money men. I think speculating box office is accurate a science as astrology anyway.

      • January 17, 2016 at 12:30 am
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        We never saw a body like they say in the funny books.

      • January 17, 2016 at 6:51 am
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        I guess we’ll find out in the next few Aftermath books.

    • January 16, 2016 at 10:25 pm
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      Not doing well? 😀 Dayum, A lot of people (including me) didn’t think it would do so great.

      • January 17, 2016 at 12:30 am
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        Not as well as they hoped and not compared to the western nations.

    • January 17, 2016 at 1:04 am
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      Considering we have no original franchises to compare this to, you are making assumptions.

      • January 17, 2016 at 1:38 am
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        Box office aside. The comment section here has stalled a bit since the release of the film too. Unless you count repeat commentators like ourselves. The Rebels season two trailer article is getting more comments and that’s a 3 year old show. I very much doubt VIII or IX will come close to VII in box office but if that means a better film then I’m okay with it.

        • January 17, 2016 at 1:40 am
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          Well of course. With both previous trilogies, the first was always the highest grossing. Unless VIII or IX are out of the park, Best Picture, Oscar-winning successes, they’ll never top TFA’s box office.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:41 am
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            Yeah, TUD brings up a good point. We still have no clue what is in store for us. 8 and/or 9 could surprise everyone, or not. Time will tell.

          • January 17, 2016 at 1:56 am
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            The first one was a true sleeper, TPM was due to no SW films for 16 years straight. This one is the same but 10 years without a new film. More to do with anticipation than anything.

          • January 17, 2016 at 4:43 pm
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            And the fact that it was actually good. Had it been as mixed in reception as TPM was (at least later on) it wouldn’t have nearly the box office it does.

          • January 17, 2016 at 11:43 pm
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            Yes, Later on. TFA started out at 98 percent then dropped to 95 and now it’s at 93 or so on RT in less than a month. It’s in the low 80’s on Metacritic. It’s very common for blockbusters today to have stellar reviews and then drop over time.

          • January 18, 2016 at 3:36 am
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            True. Still, I think when you go element-by-element through TFA, there’s not enough bad stuff in it for it be considered as bad as TPM. In fact, it could possibly get a warmer reception over time, like Empire. We’ll just have to wait a bit and see.

          • January 19, 2016 at 1:14 am
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            It’s really going to be the kids who grew up with it now who mostly determine that. A lot of the PT ones enjoyed it the first time around but changed their minds as they got older.

          • January 20, 2016 at 2:33 am
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            True, true.

          • January 21, 2016 at 3:55 am
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            Not many PT characters really caught on but Queen Amidala and Darth Maul are still pretty popular. I think Rey and Kylo Ren will be the two characters from this one everyone remembers much like Leia and Vader in ANH. The main villain and the hot chick are always the ones everyone loves.

          • January 17, 2016 at 8:47 am
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            You say that now, let’s see how much movie tickets cost by 2020. :/

          • January 17, 2016 at 4:42 pm
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            Even 5 years of inflation can’t compensate for lower attendance rates for a movie.

        • January 17, 2016 at 2:41 am
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          well in terms of comment traffic i think part of that is we nothing really new to talk about with the films right now. VII has been dissected to death and we’ve gotten nothing juicy to talk about with the next to films yet. rebels, on the other hand, is in the middle of its second season and has plenty coming down the pike. but once we get a rogue one teaser, or ep VIII title, people will start going bananas again. 🙂

          • January 17, 2016 at 2:53 am
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            I don’t think we’ll really know till the trilogy is long over much like we didn’t with the PT too. The Matrix, Pirates, and Avatar made lots of money as well and were very popular for their time but no one really seems to care about them anymore. The saga is forever but until the generation who grew up with the ST is grown, It will be hard to tell it’s impact.

          • January 17, 2016 at 4:42 pm
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            Considering how iconic TFA alone already is, my bet is that the ST will be remembered for a VERY long time.

          • January 17, 2016 at 11:47 pm
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            You can’t really gauge something as iconic only a month into it. One of the problems is that by reusing most of the OT vehicle designs they’ll never be able to be as remembered as the original designs since there were only a handful in the film that were completely new and weren’t just repaints with a few modifacations added on.

          • January 18, 2016 at 4:57 pm
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            How can i not judge that? Lines like “There has been an awakening” are already popular, at least within the fandom.

          • January 19, 2016 at 1:19 am
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            A good barometer is when they start using them in sitcoms or parodying it in other films. Ironically, As terrible as the PT was “I hate sand” is nearly as iconic as any lines in the OT even if it’s taking the piss out of it,

          • January 20, 2016 at 2:33 am
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            True. I feel like like we’ll soon be getting a lot of “There has been an awakening…in my pants.” jokes.

          • January 20, 2016 at 3:17 am
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            I only seen it twice so I don’t have all the lines memorized yet, Probably due to them not having done a comic adaptation yet either but there are probably a done of double entendres I missed.

    • January 18, 2016 at 12:59 am
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      What if….Rey IS “The Force?”

      • January 18, 2016 at 1:19 am
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        “Rey, I am your Grandson!”

  • January 16, 2016 at 9:06 pm
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    Maybe the reduction of the new roles but not the removal of the roles shows that they are no longer needed. I believe one was to be a romantic interest for Finn and the other a jedi tie to the past. My guess is they did not expect rey to be as big of a hit as she has been, and poe was supposed to die.

    Since she is a hit they don’t need more girl power and can expand on her romantic ties with either with fin or poe. Then with poe him not dieing they need to give him more screen time.

    • January 16, 2016 at 9:07 pm
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      That sounds possible.

    • January 16, 2016 at 10:46 pm
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      I don’t know about the Rey thing. She was absolutely the main character of this film. So I imagine they were moving forward with her being a big hit with audiences. I think the idea was, since these characters are separated, to introduce other females in the universe and a potential down the line love interest/triangle for Finn/Rey/New girl or same thing in this film with Finn/Poe/New Girl. In addition to having other non-love interest female present. As a strong female character with no love story or attachment to a male character seems like something Kennedy would want to do.

    • January 17, 2016 at 4:17 am
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      Only Poe, there is no or

      • January 18, 2016 at 4:54 am
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        Yes, Finn and Poe considering goo-goo eyes, lip biting and “Forget me not” jacket passing.

    • January 18, 2016 at 4:52 am
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      “can expand on her romantic ties with either with fin or poe. ”

      No.WTF is with people who want Rey and Poe? That’s so boring. They are just a variation of Finn and Rey, 2 goody-2-shoes guys vying for a goody-2-shoes girl, only one is younger and the other is older. Blech. Moreover, Poe didn’t even speak to her or look at her direction. They were in the same scene for about 3 seconds without registering one another. After Hulktasha flop I wouldn’t go there (means hooking up characters with zero foundation).

  • January 16, 2016 at 9:48 pm
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    My sources are confirming Finn is a cyborg in episode 8. Rumors are he is looking great and it’s his characterś role growing and taking the place of another as well as Poe.

    • January 16, 2016 at 9:54 pm
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      Poor Finn. The only way to survive friendzone is with cybernetic implants…

      • January 18, 2016 at 5:07 am
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        What friendzone? Poe didn’t friendzone him. he gave him his jacket that smells like Poe. So Finn could always carry Poe’s smell with him.

    • January 16, 2016 at 10:17 pm
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      Sliced in the back; emasculated in the front. Poor Finn. :'(

    • January 17, 2016 at 1:19 am
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      Where did you get your sources from? Just curious. Or were you joking? 😛

      • January 17, 2016 at 1:33 am
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        He has none. He’s messing with you, with 100% pure fan speculation.

  • January 16, 2016 at 9:52 pm
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    I wonder if they just decided to go the whole “Finn & Poe = Gay Lovers” route, hence reducing the female love interest roles significantly? I don’t think Disney has the stones to do that though.

    • January 16, 2016 at 10:43 pm
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      While the lifestyle is thankfully more accepted then it once was, there are huge segments of the population that will avoid the film altogether if that is the case. However unfortunate that is, its still reality in 2016.

    • January 16, 2016 at 11:02 pm
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      Both Oscar Isaac and John Boyega have confirmed that their characters aren’t gay. Disney has introduced a few homosexual characters into the books, though.

      – Pomojema

    • January 17, 2016 at 1:30 am
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      It’s actually implied in the script and novel that Poe and Rey have a spark. 😉

      • January 17, 2016 at 4:15 am
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        poe and rey make a perfect couple

        • January 17, 2016 at 8:44 am
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          But do they, actually? Hmm…

          • January 17, 2016 at 9:41 am
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            100%

          • January 18, 2016 at 7:06 am
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            no evidence, though am fine with it

          • January 18, 2016 at 4:36 am
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            It’s the troof, nigga

  • January 16, 2016 at 10:09 pm
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    I don’t buy the rumors.

    • January 16, 2016 at 10:26 pm
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      Huh? They have plenty of time and they could always delay.

      • January 17, 2016 at 5:21 pm
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        Yeah. December 2017 would still be a great release date.

  • January 16, 2016 at 10:39 pm
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    Delayed release date announcement is incoming if these rumors are correct. Sucks though, since this one was set for release with anniversary of A New Hope. I say take the time, if needed, and get it right. I don’t want to hear about rewrites on set. I know that happens, but not usually on a big scale unless its a troubled production. Rumor had it JJ and company were thankful for extra time when Ford got injured. Makes me interested on how much of a re-write they did during that time.

    • January 17, 2016 at 12:08 am
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      Probably won’t effect it that much. Besides, pre-production, VFX, and 2nd Unit photography can still do their work unabated.

      This sort of thing is actually much more common than most realize. I wouldn’t worry about it much.

  • January 16, 2016 at 11:45 pm
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    I think the asians are racists and because of that the movie was not that succesful. And so the next episodes

    • January 17, 2016 at 12:17 am
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      They all saw Furious 7.

      • January 17, 2016 at 1:59 am
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        The director of Furious 7 is James Wan and he is Asian. That’s why they all saw it. Its understood that Asians don’t like black films or actors and John Boyega had a prominent role.

        • January 17, 2016 at 11:22 am
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          Actually i think is because they like pointless action movies. Just as long as there is alot of fx effects, they’ll come and YES. China is actually quite racist. They don’t like different skin color folks especially the black fellows.

    • January 17, 2016 at 1:53 am
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      I watch collider movie talk the host, John Campea said, they made Finn’s appearance on the TFN poster smaller (Chinese poster) because the Chinese don’t like black films or actors which to me was shocking!

      • January 17, 2016 at 1:54 am
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        That’s not uncommon throughout parts of Asia. Hell, many Asians are racist against other Asians too, so it’s not just black actors.

        It is what it is.

        • January 19, 2016 at 12:51 am
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          a czech miss finalists was beated in a Beijing club with her boyfriend for no reasons – they were the only white around and 20 angry chinese “heroes” beated shit out of them, even outside the club, with police just looking and doing nothing….

    • January 17, 2016 at 2:49 am
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      Only a racist would make a statement such as “I think Asians are racist,” unless of course you are Asian and being sarcastic, to which, I may feel wholly foolish.

      • January 17, 2016 at 4:39 pm
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        Asians as in people who are from/born in Asia. Which is (in general) true, by the way.

      • January 19, 2016 at 12:49 am
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        a really stupid comment, if ment not as a bad joke…

    • January 18, 2016 at 7:04 am
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      It is well known, one would hope, that most Asian countries, particularly Japan, are among the most racist in the world. There is near 0 multiculturalism, and near 0 racial diversity. I am not surprised people here do not know that, as too many drink Brawndo the thirst mutilator.

  • January 17, 2016 at 12:49 am
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    I surmise that if they are rewriting it, that they really probably do want more Rey, Fin, and Poe. And they may even be gonna had a twist, with Poe and fin turning out to be the real love interest. Wouldn’t that shock more than a few people.

    • January 17, 2016 at 4:13 am
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      poe will have rey

      • January 17, 2016 at 5:54 pm
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        That would be worse than Hulktasha.

        • January 18, 2016 at 4:36 am
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          His last name is Hogan, not tasha

          • January 18, 2016 at 4:45 am
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            And you are trying way too hard to make Rape-o (that’s what Reypoe ship sounds) happen in the movies.

          • January 19, 2016 at 9:24 am
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            It will happen

          • January 19, 2016 at 1:52 pm
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            In your headcanon.

          • January 20, 2016 at 6:35 am
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            In reality

          • January 20, 2016 at 2:14 pm
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            In reality Poe is totally gay for Finn. That jacket thingy is so Brokeback Mountain. But I guess you have a problem with that.

          • January 21, 2016 at 2:01 am
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            You are wrong. Poe is hetero and will have Rey.

          • January 21, 2016 at 5:00 am
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            Nope. He’s totally gay. Rey can only beard him up.

          • January 27, 2016 at 11:23 am
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            You wish he was gay. He is straight and will be up in Rey’s guts.

          • January 27, 2016 at 1:15 pm
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            Nope, he’s gay.

          • January 30, 2016 at 3:22 pm
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            He is NOT gay. You are, tho

          • January 30, 2016 at 3:52 pm
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            He’s so gay and that’s so great. Are you homophobic? Sounds like it.

          • January 31, 2016 at 11:50 am
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            He is heterosexual. He will make out with Rey, then penetrate her all night long.

          • January 31, 2016 at 3:32 pm
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            Sure, on Star Wars, that’s so gonna happen. You are obviously a troll.

      • January 18, 2016 at 10:09 pm
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        dude… Poe is 32 and Rey is 19 years old. they will not be getting together. he is waaaaaay too old. plus they have had zero interaction in the film. and they only had a brief conversation in the novelization

        • January 19, 2016 at 12:48 am
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          Leia was 19 and Han was….I don´t know, Ford was 34 at that time….

        • January 19, 2016 at 9:23 am
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          Han was 34 and Leia was 19. Poe will do her in every possible sexual position. And in the novelization it said she liked him.

        • January 31, 2016 at 5:50 pm
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          While Disney made this film, your saccharine view of what leads two people to being attracted to each other is something they have clearly abandoned.

      • January 31, 2016 at 5:49 pm
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        You mean Rey might take Poe and teach him who’s in charge? Show him what’s it’s like to stand on the cliff of the dark side?

        • February 1, 2016 at 12:19 pm
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          Nope, Rey will take Poe to the bedroom, strip for him, then Poe will kiss all up on every inch of her perfect body. Then have sex with her.

  • January 17, 2016 at 1:10 am
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    *groan*… Hopefully this rewrite is not because Rian wrote a knockoff of ESB…

  • January 17, 2016 at 1:22 am
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    Rewriting scripts (even during filming) is pretty common in this business. TFA also had countless rewrites. However the original script Rian wrote was very good allegedly. He probably had good reason why those characters had that that much weight. I really hope Disney wont ruin this. Writing an asian character just because it has to fit the need of a foreign market is not really a good sign. Story always should be no 1. Hopefully Rian can handle this.

    • January 17, 2016 at 1:56 am
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      “Writing an asian character just because it has to fit the need of a foreign market…” That’s not what captures a foreign market. Having production in said foreign markets, is what helps secure it. Think the last Transformers film.

      • January 17, 2016 at 2:09 am
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        Foreign actors also can help securing it. What else would be the reason behind that change? Tfa isnt doing very well in China so they needed to do something. I really hope the story wont suffer it…

        • January 17, 2016 at 2:15 am
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          Asians are the culture the less showed in Star Wars. it seems legit for me to have an important character played by Asian people. if the actor good and his role too, i don’t see why the story would suffer

          • January 17, 2016 at 2:26 am
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            Not just that tho. But also reducing the role of the new characters might not be that good idea. Rian had probably very good reason behind the weight of his new characters.

          • January 19, 2016 at 12:46 am
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            My chilhood hero was Bruce Lee and I love Jackie Chan and Hong Kong movies. Nut I´d love to see more black lead characters in Star Wars, just for the pleasure the racists (and asians among them) explode from anger 🙂

      • January 17, 2016 at 4:38 pm
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        That too. but having an Asian actor (especially a popular one) can still help a movie’s Asian box office. I think Rogue One will show that.

        • January 19, 2016 at 12:44 am
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          and having a black man hero is still not helpful in asian market. For those who still don´t understand – short time ago czech miss finalist was in peking (Beijing) disckotheque with her boyfriend. She discovered a paper tissue in her drink. They went to dance and all around were looking at them with enemy face. They were the only white persons in that club. People start pushing them and they were asked to leave the place. The boyfriend protested and then came the first punch. Now 20 furious chinese around beating them, taking them out of the club and beating them again. Around police officers doing NOTHING. And the ambulance guy told asked for money otherwise he won´t move. The asians are racists. Not all of them, of course. But the chances are pretty high…

  • January 17, 2016 at 1:54 am
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    “…now I actually heard that the rewrite will make these roles smaller.
    They want to get to know better the characters they already have.”

    i can only ask, why wasn’t this the thinking already? we had pretty large cast in the TFA, and only one main character was killed off(to be replaced at the end by luke), so adding two new female roles and benicio del toro seems like a lot to juggle. the focus needs to stay tightly on rey, finn, poe, and kylo. i hope rian is up to the challenge.

    • January 17, 2016 at 2:01 am
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      Perhaps because RJ is writing the scripts for both Ep VIII and IX, so maybe he just wants to juggle a few things to better serve the overall story?

      Sometimes the better ideas come after others have seen the scripts and outlines. It’s all part of the process and I think too many people are making a big deal out of nothing – something that is common in all big films/film franchises.

      • January 17, 2016 at 2:09 am
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        i’m not freaking out by any stretch, just a small concern dating back to TFA. i mean, we already didn’t get enough poe and phasma because of time, and now three more people come in? but who knows, maybe VIII and IX will be the greatest ensemble pieces of all time.

        • January 17, 2016 at 2:14 am
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          Never meant to imply that YOU were freaking out…just folks in general.

          I’m not too worried because we got more Poe than initially expected, and knew already for a while that Phasma wouldn’t play a large role in TFA, and that it was a setup for her character as the saga moved forward.

    • January 17, 2016 at 2:14 am
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      Rian Johnson is not stupid. He probably had very good reason why those characters had that much weight. The script was very good allegedly, now they’re changing it… This isnt really a good sign

    • January 17, 2016 at 5:03 am
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      Probably they were waiting to watch TFA in the theaters, which things were working well and what was not so well, in their opinion and the audience opinion. I am sure in Disney they read what people says in forums like this one.
      The China thing seems to fit in that idea.

      • January 17, 2016 at 4:37 pm
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        Oh yeah. I’m sure Disney is listening to criticism; they’ll want 8 to be even better. I wouldn’t be surprised if the rewrite also goes out of its way to not be an Episode V rehash.

        • January 17, 2016 at 10:44 pm
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          Well, I dont think First Order is as strong as the Empire was after the first Death Star destruction.
          What all people is expecting is Luke training Rey like Yoda did, but her first task was to find Luke and bring him back to the Resistance, I believe. So may be could be some surprises there, both being part of the Resistance in some mission and not many Jedi training. That would bring more space for other characters.
          I am sure there will be some plot twists like “Luke I am your father” and Han freezed and we cannot imagine them yet, because if we could they would not be plot twists :)))

  • January 17, 2016 at 2:36 am
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    Concentrating on TFA new characters is a gd idea. The audience won’t be able to get invested if there so many new characters to be introduced and there is only so much time in a movie screening. Pls don’t bombard us with too many new characters in VIII.

  • January 17, 2016 at 5:47 am
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    Quite honestly, another female character would only sacrifice the progression of TFA female characteres. We didn’t have enough time for Leia , Phasma, Maz in TFA.

    • January 17, 2016 at 6:48 am
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      Not sure Leia or Maz have anywhere to go. A female Lando character tagging along on the Poe and Finn Adventures could be cool, but we still have Kylo and Rey to follow around.

      • January 17, 2016 at 6:57 am
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        My assumption regarding Maz is deeply connected with Mythology of Force. She is to tell the mystery and history of the Force like Father of Morthis in The Clone Wars TV series.

        • January 18, 2016 at 5:11 am
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          maz needs to stay the f*** away from this movie. Ruined TFA’s second act.

          • January 18, 2016 at 4:55 pm
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            Made it AWESOME you mean.

          • January 18, 2016 at 4:58 pm
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            Nope. Didn’t work for me.

          • January 18, 2016 at 5:01 pm
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            Emphasis on FOR YOU. Everyone else was okay, so maybe you, sir, are the real problem.

          • January 18, 2016 at 5:17 pm
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            Nope, the character got mostly meh reception. definitively not one of standouts. They should have just dressed the actress like a fortuneteller or something. Would have been more effective cause voice work was good.

          • January 20, 2016 at 2:30 am
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            Mmmm…no.

          • January 20, 2016 at 5:43 am
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            Mmmm yes.

          • January 18, 2016 at 6:34 pm
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            She was in it for like 8 minutes.

          • January 18, 2016 at 6:51 pm
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            But those were looooooong minutes. 🙂

        • January 18, 2016 at 11:38 am
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          Maz is probably a Whill.

      • January 18, 2016 at 5:11 am
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        I guess there will be three way split – we follow Rey training with Luke, Kylo training with Snoke, Finn and Poe doing their thang with new girl tagging along. then they all have an action scene together at the end or whatever.

    • January 17, 2016 at 10:14 am
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      Why would a new female character automatically take away screen time from the other female characters? There are male characters, too.

      • January 17, 2016 at 11:17 am
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        Because there is only so much time in a movie. I don’t wanna spend half of the time to read up with the novels.

        • January 18, 2016 at 6:58 pm
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          That doesn’t answer my question, I’m not talking about placing too many characters in one film in general but rather I’m asking how adding a new female character automatically takes away from the other female characters specifically?

          Each new Star Wars film has always added one to several new characters.

          • January 18, 2016 at 8:19 pm
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            Like i said i think the time spent on each character can only enhance the plot of the character. In TFA, the characters already did not have enough time to establish the background of the character. I’m sure you notice that TFA is a very busy movie. If the new characters in VIII are meaningful, i won’t mind one bit. However if these are just meaningless characters just to fill in a few blanks then no thank you.

          • January 19, 2016 at 1:08 am
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            Of course.

      • January 18, 2016 at 11:26 am
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        Because a new male character would do the same thing. Female characters in Star Wars are like a Darth Bane Rule of Two thing….too many of them in a war-oriented movie, and they lose their impact.

        • January 18, 2016 at 6:56 pm
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          Why would adding female characters automatically take away from the established female ones rather than the established characters in general?

  • January 17, 2016 at 5:58 am
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    I think it will prove to be a good move to not put too much focus on even more new characters. TFA has a very simple and straight forward story and because of that it is much more character based and driven. The movie introduces tons of new characters and re-introduces old ones. Now that the characters are all introduced and are all complete home runs I think episode 8 will be much more mythology and lore driven. TFA kind of introduced a lot of stuff like Maz and the Knights of Ren that werent really explored because it would have taken away from the characters. And again I think that because now the characters are all set up so well RJ has a prime opportunity to explore the nuggets JJ introduced a lot more and I am kind of giddy about that.

    • January 18, 2016 at 5:05 am
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      Oh God please don’t let Maz come back! Awful character, awful design, just ugh. Most boring sequence since those tentacle monsters too. It’s bad enough that Snoke must come back, oy!

      • January 18, 2016 at 7:29 am
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        Wow I disagree! I like Snoke and Maz more every time I watch the movie! Maz is certainly no Yoda but I think Snoke is already as interesting as the emporer, so I personally want to see more of them both.

        P.S. I like the tentacle monsters…..

        • January 18, 2016 at 1:17 pm
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          Ewwww

        • January 18, 2016 at 4:54 pm
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          Who doesn’t like tentacle monsters? [insert joke about Japanese people here].
          Anyway, Snoke is about equal to the Emperor in V.

        • January 18, 2016 at 10:43 pm
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          Snoke Snoke Snoke Snoke Snoke Snook Snook Snookums Supreme Leader Snookie-Woogums.
          .
          Saw the film a second time yesterday, and while many of the little things bothered me less, every time the name “Snoke” is uttered, it’s physically painful to sit through.

          • January 19, 2016 at 8:31 am
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            Better than Sheev

        • January 19, 2016 at 12:33 am
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          I´ve seen the movie 5 times already, and generally I love it. But I don´t like the cgi rathcars – it´s too cartoonish, too not-starwarish. I don´t like the bad cgi Snoke. Still don´t understand why they didn´t use a real actor. And I don´t like Maz Kanata, her design, her voice (I love Lupita), and how she suddently dissapears from the movie….I didn´t like her character and her lines….

          • January 19, 2016 at 8:31 am
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            I agree the Rathtars dont feel super Star Wars-y but I think it is a fun scene and I think they actually look really good. Snoke and Maz are obvious but I think they both look quite good. And I thought the same thing about Snoke at first but they recently said that his appearence wasn’t finalized while shooting so they did motion capture so that they could continue to work on the appearence.

  • January 17, 2016 at 8:41 am
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    As long as they don’t take the “Iron Man 3” tactic with the asian actress, it’s cool. Hopefully this isn’t a tokenism thing, but an actual legitimate character, more in line with Avengers 2, whose doctor woman was actually a good character — shame they killed her off so unceremoniously, WTH hollywood? You make a minority character that isn’t a stereotype that actually contributes to the plot and THEN you kill them off? Not cool ]:|

    Or, you know, they could just treat her like an actual character and do something with this undisclosed player in the new film, but that may be asking for too much. :/

    • January 17, 2016 at 10:11 am
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      The Asian doctor in Avengers 2 lived. You see an Avenger awaken her, and she’s among the S.H.I.E.L.D. members at the end of the film.

      • January 17, 2016 at 3:06 pm
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        Really? I assumed when Cap woke her, she was in her last breathes. But if she survived then okay, cool.

    • January 17, 2016 at 4:34 pm
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      I agree. But considering that the Asian actress’ role was also up to be played by a white, Latina, or black girl (possibly), i don’t think she’ll be too much of a token character.

      • January 18, 2016 at 2:57 am
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        That’s good,

    • January 18, 2016 at 4:58 am
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      The role is color blind so they cast who has the best chemistry with Boyega cause that was the requirement. All of them had chemistry reading with him. Doesn’t mean there’s going to be full-blown romance but she’ll probably have scenes with him. Rey’s training with Luke for better part of the movie I guess, Ren is training with Snoke, Finn is meeting people at the Rebel base so he, Poe and new girl are likely going on a mission or something. BTW, there’s already Asian female pilot in Poe’s squad.

      • January 18, 2016 at 4:26 pm
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        Oh yeah, and she didn’t die, I don’t think.
        +1 point.

        • January 18, 2016 at 4:58 pm
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          She definitely lived.

      • January 18, 2016 at 10:40 pm
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        “Rey’s training with Luke for better part of the movie I guess, Ren is training with Snoke, Finn is meeting people at the Rebel base…”
        .
        People Milling About Aimlessly: The Motion Picture!

        • January 18, 2016 at 11:58 pm
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          LOL!

    • January 18, 2016 at 11:11 am
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      Hers wasn’t an ‘unceremonious’ killing. Did you even see the film, Samuel? Do you even know how unceremonious most killings in Marvel films are?

      • January 18, 2016 at 4:22 pm
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        I did see it, in fact, I enjoyed it more than most audiences did. The issues of the movie didn’t really bother me because — yeah it had issues, but Whedon juggled them like a champ and still put out a cohesive movie, as far as “Amazing Spiderman 2”-sized disasters, Age of Ultron was by far the least disastrous.
        I also saw Iron Man 3, and yes, it was disturbing.
        The scientist woman in Ultron was, far and away, more of an actual character in the film as opposed to, say, a glitch in the matrix like Iron Man 3’s asian doctor woman.
        I thought her death/mauling/what the heck happened to her anyways, she got shot be an energy blast and she’s still talking, wth?/ was rather lazy.
        Maybe I’m weird, but those little characters stick with me. That one geeky shield worker guy who refused Hydra orders in Captain A 2, and fumbled with terminology in Age of Ultron’s evacuation/rescue montage has grown to be one of my favorite characters. An f###ing extra. I’m weird. My point is, I disagree with the concept of cannon fodder, especially against woman doctor characters who DON’T SUCK.
        That chick’s a super-genius who co-invented the magic/metal/bio-android, DUDE. Where’s HER iron-suit?!
        Why can’t extras do cool stuff like “not die” too?

  • January 17, 2016 at 1:06 pm
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    Star Wars Episode VIII.

    Director: Rian Johnson

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2527336/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

    Daisy Ridley – Rey
    Adam Driver – Kylo Ren
    Carrie Fisher – Leia
    Oscar Isaac – Poe Dameron
    Mark Hamill – Luke Skywalker
    Domhnall Gleeson- General Hux
    Harrison Ford- Han Solo (life or cameo)
    John Boyega – Finn
    Gwendoline Christie – Captain Phasma
    Lupita Nyong’o – Maz Kanata
    Benicio Del Toro – ¿?
    Andy Serkis – Supreme Leader Snoke
    Anthony Daniels – C-3PO
    Jimmy Vee – R2-D2
    BB-8
    chewbacca

  • January 18, 2016 at 1:05 am
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    Translation: JJ Abrams rewriting the story in the editing room hosed most of Rian Johnson’s script.

    • January 18, 2016 at 7:54 am
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      Well maybe, but don’t you think Abrams and Kasdan collaborated with Johnson more closely than that? You don’t do things like “Surprise! Here’s how my movie turned out, now figure out how to continue”. They have those things figured out. The rewrite is mostly because of casting and just refining things.

      • January 18, 2016 at 4:20 pm
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        They have things figured out, but not well thought out. I’m happy for TFA’s success but wish they’d gone for a simpler storyline like the Original Trilogy.

        • January 18, 2016 at 4:53 pm
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          But not TOO simple. I don’t want another Star Wars movie as simple as ANH; movies just aren’t that linear anymore.

          • January 19, 2016 at 3:48 pm
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            Great storytelling always has, and always will be simple. TFA was written for the adhd generation, and it succeeded.

          • January 19, 2016 at 3:55 pm
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            Though I doubt the heroes and villains will be as black and white as ANH, if that’s what you mean.

          • January 20, 2016 at 2:29 am
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            I do mean that, but still. When I simple, I don’t mean “quiet” or “slow”, I mean that ANH had a very linear story that went simple plot point by simple plot point through the very basic story. TFA, on the other hand, has a bit more going on.

  • January 18, 2016 at 11:09 am
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    Uh-oh. Star Wars is discriminating against Latina actresses now.

  • January 18, 2016 at 11:32 pm
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    B-B-But wait. I thought the trilogy was carefully mapped out? Saw Force Awakens for the third and final time. They really did rush that thing. So many missed opportunities there. Feels like they left a lot of money on the table (that’s a saying for the ignorant folks out there).

  • January 19, 2016 at 2:34 am
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    I can’t say I’m not at all surprised by any of this. Disney is dying to get every cent they can put of EpVII-EpIX because they are the only films that will be connected in anything close to an organic way to the OT.

    JJ & KK setting up Rey to be more skilled, daring, and wise than Yoda by the time TFA ended wasn’t a huge surprise.

    Given the performance of TFA in China and SE Asia, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Asian actor who played a Resistance officer (sorry, can’t remember his name) has a bigger part than Luke in Ep VIII.

    This is what happens when you put things in the hands of untalented greed mongers with no creativity, like JJ & KK, and the idiots at Disney.

    I shudder to think what the Marvel films would be like if they didn’t have KF, but had some hack like KK who is more interested in Mary Sue and international draw characters than ones that are developed and unique.

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