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Tag: star-wars-episode-ix

  • Adam Driver Pitched a Ben Solo ‘Star Wars’ Pic to Lucasfilm

    (Left) Adam Driver in 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'. Photo: Lucasfilm. (Right) Oscar® nominee Steven Soderbergh arrives on the red carpet of The 93rd Oscars® at Union Station in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday, April 25, 2021. Credit/Provider: Matt Petit / A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.
    (Left) Adam Driver in ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’. Photo: Lucasfilm. (Right) Oscar® nominee Steven Soderbergh arrives on the red carpet of The 93rd Oscars® at Union Station in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday, April 25, 2021. Credit/Provider: Matt Petit / A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.

    Preview:

    • Adam Driver and Steven Soderbergh pitched the idea for a Ben Solo ‘Star Wars’ spin-off.
    • It was to have followed his character after ‘The Rise of Skywalker’.
    • Lucasfilm liked the idea; Disney didn’t want to make it.

    While it has been quite the wait for new ‘Star Wars’ cinematic offerings since 2019’s ‘The Rise of Skywalker’, it’s not for want of Adam Driver and filmmaker Steven Soderbergh trying.

    In a new interview with the AP, Driver revealed that he and his ‘Logan Lucky’ director worked together (alongside writers Scott Z. Burns and Rebecca Blunt) to create ‘Star Wars’ spin-off ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo’.

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    The movie would have been Ben (AKA Kylo Ren) secretly surviving the events of ‘Skywalker’ and going on a quest for redemption.

    Here’s what Driver said about a potential return:

    “I always was interested in doing another ‘Star Wars.’ I had been talking about doing another one since 2021. Kathleen Kennedy had reached out. I always said: ‘With a great director and a great story, I’d be there in a second.’ I loved that character and loved playing him.”

    Related Article: Star Wars: Starfighter’ Adds ‘House of the Dragon’s Matt Smith to Cast

    So, what happened with ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo’?

    (L to R) Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley in 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.' Photo: Lucasfilm.
    (L to R) Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley in ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.’ Photo: Lucasfilm.

    As Driver tells it, he, Soderbergh, Blunt (who helped rough out the story) and Burns (who wrote a draft) came up with the idea –– no word on how Solo survives after seemingly dying in ‘Skywalker,’ but if Palpatine can return, who knows? –– and took it to Kennedy, Dave Filoni and Carrie Beck at Lucasfilm, who all loved the idea.

    But the space-buck doesn’t stop with them, and the group then had to sell Disney on the idea.

    Here’s Driver on how that went:

    “We took it to Bob Iger and Alan Bergman, and they said no. They didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive. And that was that.”

    And this is what Soderbergh told the AP of his regrets for the unmade movie:

    “I really enjoyed making the movie in my head. I’m just sorry the fans won’t get to see it.”

    What’s next for ‘Star Wars’ in theaters?

    (L to R) Grogu and Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) in Lucasfilm's 'The Mandalorian & Grogu'. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm. © 2025 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.
    (L to R) Grogu and Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) in Lucasfilm’s ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm. © 2025 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.

    The actual next film will be ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu,’ which has Jon Favreau in the director’s chair and flies on to screens on May 22 next year.

    That’s followed by ‘Star Wars: Starfighter,’ starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Shawn Levy, due to arrive May 28, 2027.

    (L to R): Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray on the set of 'Star Wars: Starfighter'. Photo: Shawn Levy/Instagram.
    (L to R): Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray on the set of ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’. Photo: Shawn Levy/Instagram.

    List of ‘Star Wars’ Movies and TV Shows:

    Buy ‘Star Wars’ Movies On Amazon

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  • Watch New ‘Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker’ Footage

    Watch New ‘Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker’ Footage

    Lucasfilm

    The “Star Wars” journey nears its ends.

    New footage from “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” the concluding chapter in the three trilogies, debuted this weekend at Disney’s D23 Expo. Now, it’s available online.

    Half of the teaser is comprised of clips from the previous chapters, from “A New Hope” to “The Last Jedi.” The “Episode IX” footage includes the first look at a climactic duel between Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), on a ship buffeted by stormy seas.

    There are also brief glimpses of C-3PO with red eyes, Finn (John Boyega) and new character Jannah (Naomi Ackie) in a cockpit, and Leia (the late Carrie Fisher).

    But most intriguingly, we see Rey wearing a dark hood and holding a double-sided, red lightsaber. Is she going over to the dark side?

    Also returning for the final film in the saga are Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, and Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor.

    During the D23 presentation, director J.J. Abrams said, “Of course, we can’t talk about the cast without talking about Carrie Fisher. And the character of Leia is really in a way the heart of this story. We could not tell the end of these 9 films without Leia. And we realized that we had footage from episode 7 that we realized we could use in a new way. So Carrie, as Leia, gets to be in the film.”

    “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”

    For more coverage from the D23 Expo 2019, click here!

  • New Photos, Details About ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ Revealed

    Lucasfilm

    Tantalizing new details about “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” have emerged in Vanity Fair’s massive cover story about the movie, which includes a suite of stunning photos by Annie Leibovitz (which you can see below) and extensive interviews with director J.J. Abrams and cast members.

    Here are five things we learned from Vanity Fair:

    The Knights of Ren are back! After their introduction in “The Force Awakens,” the badass masked fighters return in Episode IX.

    Kylo Ren’s arc was planned from the beginning of the new trilogy. Adam Driver says, “I knew little bits from my first meeting with J.J. An overall arc was very, not vague, the opposite, it was very clear—[there was] an end in sight even from the very beginning. The details obviously hadn’t been worked out, but we had talked about the very thing that we’d been working towards with this last one.”

    “Star Wars” newcomers Keri Russell and Richard E. Grant finally get identities. They both feature in Leibovitz’s photos. Russell plays “the masked scoundrel Zorri Bliss, seen in the Thieves’ Quarter of the snow-dusted world Kijimi.” Meanwhile Grant is pictured with the First Order’s General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) as Allegiant General Pryde.”

    Billie Lourd refused to let Abrams cut her scenes with her late mother, Carrie Fisher. “I want to be in scenes with her. I want it for my children when I have kids. I want them to see.”

    Using footage of Fisher from “The Force Awakens” to include Leia in “Rise of Skywalker” was a bit “bizarre” for Abrams. “It’s hard to even talk about it without sounding like I’m being some kind of cosmic spiritual goofball, but it felt like we suddenly had found the impossible answer to the impossible question. It was a bizarre kind of left side/right side of the brain sort of Venn diagram thing, of figuring out how to create the puzzle based on the pieces we had.”

  • John Boyega Doesn’t Think He’ll Ever Play Finn Again After ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’

    John Boyega Doesn’t Think He’ll Ever Play Finn Again After ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’

    Lucasfilm

    The end of the “Star Wars” saga may also be the end of John Boyega’s journey in the galaxy far, far away.

    At least, that’s what the actor recently told MTV News when asked if he might ever play stormtrooper-turned-resistance fighter Finn again after December’s “The Rise of Skywalker.”

    “Honestly, the bottom of my heart, I don’t think that I am [going to play Finn again],” he admitted.

    Boyega added, “This really is that movie. I think everyone doesn’t believe it but this is that war that just ends everything.”

    That had better not mean Finn dies!

    Of course, Boyega simply may not know about future plans for his character. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has said that some new trilogy characters may be seen again in future projects.

    “There’s no question that there’s certain characters that we’ve created, certainly in the last three movies, that we may very well wanna see down the line in the future,” she noted.

    “We also have huge opportunities with Disney+ now to be able to look at that space and find perhaps even smaller stories, grittier stories.”

    Marvel is doing that very thing with “Avengers” spinoffs on Disney+ (including series featuring Falcon and Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch and Vision, and Loki).

    So, it’s in the realm of possibility that Disney+ rolls out a Finn/Poe Dameron bromantic dramedy where they fly X-wings and dispense space justice across the galaxy. We can dream!

  • ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ Trailer Is Here, Official Title Revealed

    ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ Trailer Is Here, Official Title Revealed

    Lucasfilm

    The first teaser trailer for “Star Wars: Episode IX” just dropped at Star Wars Celebration and so did our jaws.

    It begins with Rey (Daisy Ridley) breathing heavily as she prepares to face  down a TIE fighter single-handedly in the desert.

    We also see glimpses of Kylo Ren (not shirtless, sorry!), Rey hugging Leia (the late Carrie Fisher), and the return of Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams).

    Not to mention Poe (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) in their new Resistance outfits, as they discussed during the panel preceding the trailer reveal. And new duck-like droid D-0.

    Oh, and the small matter of the title? Although Episode 9 has been called the end of the Skywalker saga, the official title is “The Rise of Skywalker.”

    As director J.J. Abrams explained, the film finds most of the heroes back together. Some time has passed since “The Last Jedi,” so it does not pick up immediately where the last film left off.

    Lucasfilm

    “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” opens December 20, 2019.

  • Rian Johnson Says He’s As In the Dark About ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ As We Are

    Rian Johnson Says He’s As In the Dark About ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ As We Are

    Lucasfilm

    Rian Johnson, who busy “chugging away” on his next “Star Wars” films, claims he doesn’t know much about “Star Wars: Episode IX,” which J.J. Abrams is directing.

    When asked by MTV News at CinemaCon if he’d seen a cut of “Episode IX” yet or read a script, Johnson answered, “I’ve had a couple of conversations with [Abrams], but I’ve actually really enjoyed sitting back, waiting to get my popcorn opening day and see how the thing turns out.”

    Is Johnson, who directed “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” really that out of the loop? And is he actually going to have to wait for opening day to see the next “Star Wars” movie? Sounds unlikely, but it’s a good way to dodge spoilers.

    When asked specifically whether he’d mind if Abrams “retcons” Rey’s parentage (that is, upgrading them from mere nobodies), Johnson simply said, “I want to let go of all my expectations. I want to sit back. I want to be entertained. I want to be surprised. I want to be thrilled. I want him to do stuff that I wasn’t expecting him to do and just go along for the ride.”

    As for his own upcoming “Star Wars” projects, he says he’s “excited” and “can’t wait to get back into it,” but gave no specifics.

    He also gave a thumbs-up whatever “Game of Thrones” showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss do with their own “Star Wars” movies. “I’m friends with Dan and David, so to see two people like them just be given the reins to go out and show us what ‘Star Wars’ is to them… for me, the most exciting stuff is pushing the limits of stuff that we haven’t seen before in ‘Star Wars.’”

    So, space dragons?

    “Star Wars: Episode IX” opens December 20. We’ll likely find out more — maybe even the official full title — at Star Wars Celebration next week.

    Meanwhile, Johnson’s next film, the star-studded mystery thriller “Knives Out,” opens this Thanksgiving.

  • ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’: Keri Russell Says She Has ‘The Coolest Costume’

    ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’: Keri Russell Says She Has ‘The Coolest Costume’

    Late Show still
    The Late Show with Stephen Colbert/YouTube

    The cast of “Star Wars: Episode IX” is under strict orders to be careful about what information they share, and Keri Russell showed just that while on “The Late Show” on March 26.

    As a guest on the show, Russell was there to promote her first Broadway play, the revival of “Burn This.” She also faced a lot of questioning from host Stephen Colbert about her mystery character in “Star Wars: Episode IX.” She stayed strong, though, only revealing that her character has “the coolest costume.”

    Although Colbert didn’t get much out of her, he made a valiant effort. He peppered the actress with some absurd and funny guesses about her role in the film. Watch below; they talk Star Wars starting at 2:45.

    Russell stars in “Star Wars: Episode IX” alongside her “Burn This” co-star Adam Driver. Other actors starring in the film include Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Billy Dee Williams, and the late Carrie Fisher, among others.

    “Star Wars: Episode IX” hits theaters Dec. 20.

  • Oscar Isaac Says His Scenes With Carrie Fisher Are a Key Part of ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’

    Oscar Isaac Says His Scenes With Carrie Fisher Are a Key Part of ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’

    Lucasfilm

    We now know that those extra scenes of Carrie Fisher that weren’t used in “The Force Awakens” — but will be in “Star Wars: Episode IX” — will involve Leia’s relationship with Poe Dameron.

    Oscar Isaac, who plays rebel Poe, told Sirius XM Insight’s John Fugelsang in a new interview that the relationship between the hotshot pilot and the older, wiser general, is a big part of the film.

    He says he’s glad that the scenes, which were shot before Fisher’s death in 2016, will be seen.

    “I wasn’t surprised because … [Fisher] and I worked together so much. We would talk about the scenes, and we got very tight during the shooting of that. So it was a beautiful thing to see, and it gets carried over into the new film as well.”

    He added, “It was definitely an unusual thing, but I also think it was right to engage with her character, and not just let it be something that fades away.”

    We’re just glad that the footage exists and that we’ll get to have some more time with Leia.

    Isaac, who is currently costarring in the Netflix action thriller “Triple  Frontier,” says that ‘Episode IX’ will give Fisher and Leia “a proper place of honor.”

    Director J.J. Abrams, who directed both “Star Wars” films, secured the blessing of Fisher’s family and daughter Billie Lourd before using the footage. He had previously stated that he would never recast the role or use CGI to bring Leia back, as was done with the late Peter Cushing‘s Grand Moff Tarkin character in “Rogue One.”

    Todd Fisher, Carrie’s brother, recently told “Good Morning America” that the footage is definitely not just outtakes: “This is unused, new content that could be woven into the storyline. That’s what’s going to give everybody such a great kick. It’s going to look like it was meant to be. Like it was shot yesterday… we’re thrilled at what’s been done.”

    ‘Episode IX,’ which doesn’t yet have a full title, opens December 20.

    [Via EW, Indiewire]

  • ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ Wraps Filming, J.J. Abrams Posts Emotional Cast Photo

    ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ Wraps Filming, J.J. Abrams Posts Emotional Cast Photo

    Lucasfilm

    It’s a wrap on “Star Wars: Episode IX” — break out the tissues.

    Principal photography on the film has concluded, and to mark the occasion, director J.J. Abrams posted an emotional photo of the three lead actors: Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), and Oscar Isaac (Poe).

    They’re embracing on a desert set, with crew members seen in the background:

    Boyega also posted the photo, tweeting, “That’s a wrap on Star Wars episode 9 and the end to a chapter of my life that I couldn’t be more thankful for. What a process! It really has been a joy to be in these movies surrounded by amazing people. JJ thank you for making my dreams come true.”

    It’s a rare and precious moment, as the trio has shared very little screen time, reuniting only in the final moments of “The Last Jedi.”

    The photo should spark some theorizing online among “Star Wars” fans. What planet is this desert located on? Maybe Rey has returned to Jakku? Or perhaps they are on Tattooine?

    Of course, “Episode IX” still has a long way to go. The film will still have to complete post-production and likely some reshoots before its December 20 release date.

    And it doesn’t even have an official title yet (TELL US, ALREADY).

  • 2019 Movie Preview: 29 Movies You Need to See This Year, From ‘Avengers: Endgame’ to ‘Star Wars’

    2019 Movie Preview: 29 Movies You Need to See This Year, From ‘Avengers: Endgame’ to ‘Star Wars’

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