Hello there, Star Wars fans! It’s time for another round of the Weekly Star Wars Recap. Hard to believe, but this is our 40th week doing this, so we’re approaching one year pretty quickly. It’s actually been a pretty intense week for leaks and rumors on the latest Star Wars feature film projects. As usual, spoilers ahead, so stop reading if you want to avoid them! So, without further adieu, let’s get to it!
1. You may have heard of an alleged leak of the title for Episode VIII, but don’t bet on it. Here is the video.
However, this could have easily been filmed in someone’s basement. Nothing to prove it is in a convention center. Not only that, Celebration Europe hasn’t started yet, so why is it up and why is there a noisy crowd? On top of that, Pablo tweeted that it is probably not the real thing:
Revenge of the Sith is the only Internet-era title that got out before its announce. It’s the only one with a final title during production.
— Pablo Hidalgo (@pablohidalgo) May 19, 2016
So put this one in the “highly unlikely” bin.
davestrrr: Here is one that came and went. Not that believable (maybe for a second) and one of many fake title leaks.
mazlow01: We won’t know a title until right before the First trailer. Just a guess. Also I doubt its been decided yet.
2. Next we had a ton of reports of a fight scenes between the Knights of Ren/Kylo vs Luke/Rey. Making Star Wars brings us all the details. First, there is a report of a kneeling scene before the fight. Next, there is a list of details about the fights. Here are some photos of the set. We also ran an article on this scene. and here is an artists rendition of the fight:
davestrrr: So much cool stuff here. As I said in my previous article (link above) I think this takes place toward the beginning of the film. At least the first half. That’s because there are reports of Luke being filmed in the Dubrovnik scenes, and Force-pushing people there. That said, I don’t know if there is direct evidence (photo, video) that Hammil was at those shots, so could be someone else. It was at least suggested it was Luke by some stunt-work there. Since our heroes start off on Ahch-To, I would think they will leave that planet to move the story forward. Therefore, this may be at the beginning, assuming they don’t come back to it. This is very speculative on my part though. I’d love to hear some other opinions on this in the comments!
mazlow01: I’m in agreement with you, this takes place in the first half of the film. I think Kylo possibly says something that makes Luke and Rey realize the time to stay hidden is over. Perhaps a line of dialog that implies that The First Order is going to get Leia and Finn for their parts in the destruction of Starkiller. Either way we get badass Luke and Rey vs Ben part 2. I’m guessing we get part 3 in Episode 3 with some Luke vs Snoke thrown in there too.
3. There was a rumor that Rey looses her arm based on a trusted source’s view with binoculars, but no image proof:
davestrrr: Kind of a cool idea and believable. They could make it work. If Rey did have her arm in a green-sleeve, then I would think that her losing an arm is the only logical possibility. Although this scene wouldn’t be unexpected, it is tough to jump to believe this report without the image evidence. I understand this wasn’t possible because of the photo-restrictions placed on the area, but I still would like a little more evidence.
mazlow01: I really hope that this isn’t true. I want everyone to make it through this trilogy with all appendages attached. Having Luke lose his hand was needed and we knew Anakin was going to lose limbs but I just don’t see why Rey would need to lose a hand to learn a lesson.
4. Jason Ward from Making Star Wars tweeted an image from Skellig Michael that suggests that the rock formation next to Luke was still there, and thus likely a natural formation:
FYI Rock in Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a natural occurrence & not a tombstone. Our friend took this yesterday. pic.twitter.com/Un4myJ8Mfo
— Jason Ward (@MakingStarWars) May 20, 2016
davestrrr: A sound conclusion from the photo. I have gone back and forth on this tombstone theory, and I have posted it with reservation as one possibility. Now it seems really unlikely as a tombstone. For that matter, come to think of it, don’t they burn bodies in the GFFA?
mazlow01: Its just a rock! Honestly even if it was a grave it didn’t have to be someone important. I think any of the suggestions otherwise were more fan wishing Mara Jade than anything else.
5. In case you missed it, there is a huge dump of Rogue One material posted to the web. Check out Jedi News’ article here. People were quick to debate the exact wording of the droid’s name (Alan Tudyk’s character). Is it K-2S0 or is it K-250?
davestrrr: So much cool stuff here. The two CGI characters flanking the good guys are neat looking especially the one on the left. The one on the right looks like his mouth is wide open. Wonder what the heck his story is. This is a nice clean shot of K-2S0. Looks kind of Iron Giant, but without the lower jaw, which makes him more distinct. Nowhere near as tall. I can see this guy being sort of a “Groot” character for this film. He is the muscle, with few words, and also can possibly interface Imperial networks to gain access to move the plot forward. Looking forward for more video of this guy!
mazlow01: This was a really cool leak from what is obviously early in the process of making this book. I did like to clear looks at certain characters and like Dave said I can’t wait to see more of K-2So.
6. One more, there were some new leaked set photos of the Millennium Falcon and other shots!
davestrrr: Nice shots. I’m glad these guys were wearing masks, otherwise they’d be toast. Well, maybe. Cool to see the detail of the Falcon there. Very nice that they go to the trouble of adding all those wires and pipes. With these kind of set pieces it makes you wonder why not CGI? Does this mean there will be some greater-than-normal interaction with the Falcon, like have Chewie on top of it fixing something, like ESB?
mazlow01: Wow these guys are very lucky/brave. They basically got up and personal with the set pics we saw two weeks ago, looks awesome but not much to learn. I do wonder about that set that looks like a visitor center though… I have no frame of reference for it in the movie. It might be the most interesting thing we’ve seen.
Stay tuned to @spoiledbluemilk for updates MWF