Eight New 'Forces of Destiny' Episodes Released

By: Dominic Jones

The latest series of episodes in the animated mico-series Star Wars: Forces of Destiny were released online on the official Disney YouTube channel today.  The episodes feature characters from across all Star Wars time periods, including Padme Amidala, Ahsoka Tano, Sabine Wren, Hera Syndulla, Jyn Erso, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Maz Kanata, Rose Tico, and Rey.  They also feature many of the characters' original actors reprising their roles for the series, including Daisy Ridley, Kelly Marie Tran, John Boyega, Ashley Eckstein, Tiya Sircar, Lupita Nyong'o, and Mark Hamill.  You can see all eight episodes below,

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Lupita Nyong'o Doesn't Know Yet If She Will Be In 'Episode IX'

By: Dominic Jones

One character who a major role in The Force Awakens, but didn't factor into The Last Jedi as much was Maz Kanata.  Maz was key to Rey and Finn's stories in The  Force Awakens, but in the sequel her role was reduced to a glorified cameo passing on information to Finn, Poe, and Rose about how to fin the master code breaker. With Maz's creator, director JJ Abrams, being back for Episode IX, some have speculated that we will see her play a more important role in that film.

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Josh Gad Tries To Get 'The Last Jedi' Spoilers From Lupita Nyong'o

By: Dominic Jones

After trying, and trying, and trying, and trying again to get Star Wars: The Last Jedi spoilers from Daisy Ridley while shooting Murder On The Orient Express, Josh Gad has set his sights on another Star Wars star he's currently shooting a movie with. Gad released a new video on his social media this morning from the set of Little Monsters where he invites Nyong'o to his trailer under the pretense of wanting to rehearse a scene, only to barrage her with questions about The Last Jedi--even calling in some adorable backup.  Check out the video below,

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Report: Maz Kanata's Role in 'The Last Jedi' Revealed

By: Dominic Jones

One of the many questions that fans have about Star Wars: The Last Jedi is what role will Maz Kanata play in the new film.  Maz was a key player in The Force Awakens, giving Rey her first significant lesson in the Force.  However, now that Rey will be training with Luke, the question is what is Maz's part in the story of the new film.  We know that Maz is definitely back, director Rian Johnson spoke briefly about working with Lupita Nyong'o in the recent Entertainment Weekly story, but did state that her role in the film is smaller than her role in The Force Awakens.

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Forces of Destiny: BB-8 Bandits

By: Dominic Jones

Lucasfilm and Disney have released the second episode of the new animated micro series Star Wars: Forces of Destiny.  The series shines the spotlight on the heroines of the Star Wars galaxy, with each 2-3 minute episode shining the spotlight on a different female hero.  The second epiosde, titled "BB-8 Bandits," tells the story of what happened to Rey and BB-8 on their journey to Niima Outpost during The Force Awakens.  "BB-8 Bandits" sees Daisy Ridley return to voice Rey and also features an introductory voice over from Lupita Nyong'o as Maz Kanata.  Check out the episode below, 

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Forces of Destiny: Sands of Jakku

By: Dominic Jones

Lucasfilm and Disney have released the first episode of the new animated micro series Star Wars: Forces of Destiny.  The series shines the spotlight on the heroines of the Star Wars galaxy, with each 2-3 minute episode shining the spotlight on a different female hero.  The first episode, titled "Sands of Jakku," focuses on Rey in the moments after her fateful first meeting with BB-8 in The Force Awakens.  "Sands of Jakku" sees Daisy Ridley return to voice Rey and also features an introductory voice over from Lupita Nyong'o as Maz Kanata.  Check out the episode below,

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Lupita Nyong'o Says She Loves Keeping 'Star Wars' Secrets

By: Dominic Jones

With the frankly ludicrous amount of secrecy surrounding Star Wars projects these days, you might think it would be stressful for those involved to keep secrets that so many people want to know about.  While some struggle with secrecy, Maz Kanata actress Lupita Nyong'o relishes them.  While out promoting the home media release of her film Queen of Katwe, Nyong'o was asked about keeping Star Wars secrets by Cinemablend.  Nyong'o replied,

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Lupita Nyong'o Says She Actually Has Shot Her Scenes for 'Episode VIII'

By: Dominic Jones

Last week, Maz Kanata actress Lupita Nyong'o made headlines when she spoke at the Toronto International Film Festival and said that she had not yet shot her scenes for Star Wars Episode VIII.  Well, now she's backpedaling on that remark.  The actress appeared on Ellen to promote her role in the film Queen of Katwe and addressed the rumors that she was not in the film at all, saying, “I don’t know where this rumor came from!  I have no idea. It hurt my feelings.”  You can see her response in the video below (the Star Wars talk starts at around 2:06),

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Lupita Nyong'o Says She Hasn't Shot Her 'Episode VIII' Scenes Yet

By: Dominic Jones

Maz Kanata actor Lupita Nyong'o appeared at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend, where she was promoting her role in the upcoming film Queen of Katwe (which also stars Star Wars Rebels voice actor David Oyelowo).  The topic of Star Wars Episode VIII came up when she spoke with Collider and she revealed that she had yet to shoot her scenes for the film, despite the fact that principle photography has already wrapped.  When asked about working with director Rian Johnson, Nyong'o said, "Rian! I haven’t worked with him yet; I’ve yet to shoot. That’s in my future."

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Rian Johnson Posts Another Behind the Scenes Picture From 'Episode VIII' on Tumblr

By: Dominic Jones

Despite the immense secrecy surrounding Star Wars Episode VIII, director Rian Johnson has been surprisingly willing to share content from the set on social media.  So far during the filming, Johnson has tweeted a picture from the set on the first day of production and posted picture of cinematographer Steve Yedlin on the Millennium Falcon set to his Tumblr. Today he posted another picture to his Tumblr, showing Lupita Nyong'o doing her motion capture performance for Maz Kanata. Check out the image below,

http://rcjohnso.tumblr.com/post/142244762595

It's cool to see anything from the set and it's nice to the director of the film being so willing to share what's going on during the production.  Obviously, none of Johnson's tweets have been ground breaking.  They mostly just confirm stuff we already knew (like Maz would be back, the Falcon would be in the film, etc.).

Star Wars Episode VIII hits theatres on December 15th, 2017

Source: Rian Johnson (Tumblr)

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New 'The Force Awakens' Blu-ray Preview Focuses on the Creation of Maz Kanata

By: Dominic Jones

In anticipation of the upcoming release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on home media, Maz Kanata actress Lupita Nyong'o posted a special preview of the bonus features on her Facebook Page.  The video is a clip which focuses on the behind the scenes process of creating the character through motion capture.  The video features behind the scenes shots of Nyong'o on set (including some where she's working with motion capture veteran and Supreme Leader Snoke actor Andy Serkis) and interviews with director JJ Abrams and visual effects supervisor Ben Morris.  Check it out below,

Happy #MazMonday! Star Wars #TheForceAwakens
Posted by Lupita Nyong'o on Monday, March 21, 2016

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released digitally on April 1st and on blu-ray and DVD on April 5th.

Source: Lupita Nyong'o (Facebook)

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'The Force Awakens' Nominated for 11 MTV Movie Awards

By: Dominic Jones 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens may have been shut out at The Oscars, but there are plenty of other Awards shows where the film has a chance to win big.  MTV announced the nominees for the 2016 MTV Movie Awards and The Force Awakens picked up eleven nods, the most of any film.  The Force Awakens is nominated in the following categories,

• Movie of the Year
• Best Female Performance (Daisy Ridley)
• Breakthrough Performance (Daisy Ridley)
• Best Action Performance (Daisy Ridley and John Boyega)
• Best Hero (Daisy Ridley)
• Best Villain (Adam Driver)
• Best Virtual Performance (Andy Serkis and Lupita Nyong'o)
• Ensemble Cast
• Best Fight (Rey vs. Kylo Ren)

The MTV Movie Awards will take place April 10th at 8pm ET, and will be hosted by Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson.

Source: Variety

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'The Force Awakens' Garners 15 Saturn Award Nominations

By: Benjamin Hart

As award season rolls on Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens is continuing to pick up awards and nominations from various institutions. Today it appears that The Force Awakens has gained it's largest amount of nominations yet at this year's Saturn Awards. Episode VII earned nods in almost all the film categories, including best writing, best editing, best music and more. Fiften nominations in total! Also, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Lupita Nyong’o were all nominated in their respective acting categories. You can read the full list of nominations below:

Best Science Fiction Film Release - Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Actor - Harrison Ford

Best Actress - Daisy Ridley

Best Supporting Actor - John Boyega, Adam Driver

Best Supporting Actress - Carrie Fisher, Lupita Nyong’o

Best Film Director - J.J. Abrams

Best Film Writing - Lawrence Kasdan, J.J. Abrams, Michael Arndt

Best Film Editing - Maryann Brandon, Mary Jo Markey

Best Film Production Design - Rick Carter, Darren Gilford

Best Film Music - John Williams

Best Film Costume Design - Michael Kaplan

Best Film Make-Up - Neal Scanlan

Best Film Special / Visual Effects - Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach,
Neal Scanlan, Chris Corbould

All of the nominations were announced on YouTube in the video below:



Congratulations to all the nominees for these much deserved recognition! The awards ceremony will reportedly take place in June.

Source: The Wrap

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New 'The Force Awakens' VFX Featurette From Wired

By: Benjamin Hart

Back in the 70's A New Hope paved the way for modern special effects in film, and today the Star Wars saga remains on the cutting edge cutting edge of filmmaking techniques with The Force Awakens. The Visual Effects of Episode VII were especially impressive due to the many CGI ships, environments and characters that were created by the incredibly talented artists at Industrial Light & Magic. Wired has released a brand new featurette focused on the VFX of The Force Awakens, in which they take a behind the scenes look at ILM's Oscar nominated work. Watch the video below for comparisons of scenes with and without CGI, as well as a look at the motion capture process that brought Maz Kanata and other characters to life onscreen.



Source: Wired(YouTube)

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New 'The Force Awakens' Featurette With Gwendoline Christie and Lupita Nyong'o

By: Dominic Jones 

IMAX has released a new behind the scenes featurette about Star Wars: The Force Awakens featuring two of the films stars, Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma) and Lupita Nyong'o (Maz Kanata) talking about their characters and experiences working on the film.  Check it out below,

Source: IMAX (YouTube)

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EW Unveils Official Stills Of Maz Kanata & Supreme Leader Snoke In 'The Force Awakens' (Updated!)

By: Benjamin Hart

Let's face it; it's been two weeks since the release of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. Everyone's had plenty of time to see it in theaters, so now we can talking spoilers a bit more freely. Apparently Lucasfilm agrees because they just they just revealed two of The Force Awakens' most closely guarded secrets to the world. Entertainment Weekly just revealed two new stills from The Force Awakens, under Lucasfilm's authority, which feature looks at the mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke and the wise pirate Maz Kanata, portrayed via motion capture by Andy Serkis and Lupita Nyong’o, respectively. Both characters were kept under heavy wraps until the film premiered, but now it appears the powers that be are now willing to let the Lothcat out of the bag. The photos include two different looks at Snoke, along with a clear look at Maz. You can check them out above and below!

EW also spoke with Andy Serkis and Lupita Nyong’o about the roles, which you should definitely check out here!

Update: EW has revealed another image of Snoke:

Source: EW

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'The Force Awakens' Cast Sings A Capella Tribute to Star Wars With The Roots on 'The Tonight Show'

By: Dominic Jones

We've seen A Capella tributes to Star Wars, and we've seen the cast of The Force Awakens singing the main theme, but The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon just outdid all of that.  NBC just released a clip of various cast members from the film singing an A Capella rendition of various Star Wars films along with Fallon and members of The Roots band.  Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie, Lupita Nyong'o, Carrie Fisher, and even Harrison Ford got in on the fun.  Check it out below,

Jimmy Fallon, The Roots & "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Cast ...
Jimmy and The Roots join Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie, Lupita Nyong'o, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford for an a cappella tribute to "Star Wars."
Posted by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday, December 15, 2015

That was amazing!  The cast and The Roots could give Pentatonix a run for their money!

Just one day to go!

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'The Force Awakens' Cast Sings the Star Wars Main Theme

By: Dominic Jones

With just three days to go before Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in theaters, the cast is still making the rounds doing interviews to promote the film.  The YouTube channel MadeinHollywoodTV had the chance to interview the cast and had Harrison Ford (Han Solo) Lupita Nyong'o (Maz Kanata), John Boyega (Finn), Daisy Ridley (Rey), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma) and director JJ Abrams sing portions of the Main Star Wars Theme.  Check it out below,

Just three days to go!

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Lupita Nyong'o Talks Maz Kanata on 'LIVE With Kelly & Michael'

Photo Credit: David Russell, Disney/ABC Home Entertainment and TV Distribution

By: Dominic Jones

Lupita Nyong'o appeared on LIVE With Kelly & Michael this morning to promote Star Wars: The Force Awakens and talk about her character Maz Kanata.  She spoke about portraying a motion capture character, her memories of seeing Star Wars while growing up in Kenya.   She also took part in a Wookiee Speak Contest with hosts Kelly Rippa and Michael Straham.   Check it out below,

Just six days to go....

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Lupita Nyong'o Talks Maz Kanata With People Magazine

By: Dominic Jones

One of the big mysteries surrounding Star Wars: The Force Awakens is Maz Kanata.  Little is known about the 1000 year old space pirate, played through motion capture by Lupita Nyong'o.  Nyong'o, for her part, likes it that way.  She recently sat down with People Magazine to discuss keeping the film's secret, motion capture, and her memories of Star Wars.

Via People,

Much in common have Yoda and Maz Kanata, a new character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Both are very short, very old, very wise, very powerful and very CGI (we're talking prequel Yoda, not puppet Yoda).

Playing Maz, a little orange pirate with a big castle, seems like a surprising career move for Lupita Nyong'o, the actress who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for 2013's 12 Years a Slave. Yet as she told PEOPLE in the new Star Wars special issue, "I had been wanting to work in motion capture. When [Maz] was offered to me, I was so excited. I've always loved the work, like Andy Serkis and then Zoë Saldana in Avatar. And of course I got to work with [director] J.J. Abrams."

And the Kenyan-raised Nyong'o, 32, has a special emotional bond with the original Star Wars. "In Kenya they would play Star Wars during public holidays," she says. "So it was something I could look forward to. I watched it five or six years in a row."

Much of Maz is still secret. The goggled character is only seen in the background of the official movie poster. In one trailer, a little orange hand gives a lightsaber to someone who appears to be Princess-turned-General Leia. "I love keeping the secret," Nyong'o says, "knowing something no one else knows!"

But recently, Nyong'o and Abrams let slip to Entertainment Weekly that Maz's eyes hold a secret power. Nyong'o even said they are "the means to her magic as a motion-capture character." Watch out you must.

Just seven days to go....

Source: People Magazine

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