Welcome, Star Wars fans! We’re back with another edition of the weekly recap. Times have been a little slow for our theory articles, we’re waiting for another major revelation to start theorizing with. Until then, we’ve been digging up some old ideas and revisiting them, and hopefully we’ll have something soon. For today, let’s review some of the latest info.
Leaked Set Photos for Episode IX
This one is way earlier than expected. We’ve already got some leaked photos from shooting, and the film hasn’t been filming for more than a matter of weeks.
Apparently, these images come from The Sun, so kudos to them. There is a definite “Indiana Jones” vibe, as many have pointed out. To me, this seems like a great scene to start the film with. For example, recall the little adventure at the beginning of Star Trek: Into Darkness, with Kirk and Bones out on a little action-packed excursion. These kinds of scenes are a great way to set up a time-jump between films too, by thrusting the viewer into the action, maybe a few lines about a “nest of gundarks” that they have encountered.
There appears to be some horses with some fur coverings and red tape for CGI-additions. So, maybe there will a chase of some sort, riding these animals. There also appears to be some other characters in costume, which might include Naomi Ackie, whose role is still unknown! It certainly looks like she is part of a Resistance-linked team on the ground. Here is some descriptive text from someone on reddit that claims to have some inside info. Take it with a grain of salt.
Greg Grunberg returns as Snap Wexley
This one isn’t too surprising. Greg Grunberg is known to be a good friend of JJ Abrams, and will be returning to play the role of Snap Wexley in this film! OK, so this isn’t major news, but it is cool to have a bit of continuity with TFA.
Keri Russel Shooting
Actress Keri Russel has filmed some scenes for her unknown role in Episode IX, as reported by Deadline. We still have no idea what role she has in the film. It’s anyone’s guess at this point who or what she is playing, but we suspect she is on the side of the Resistance, maybe part of the new allies that have assembled between the films, but who knows? She may surprise us and be part of the First Order. She is also being recognized by an Emmy according to the article, so good for her!
Dominic Monaghan will be in Episode IX
This one comes as a bit of surprise, considering filming has already begun. There are rumors of a re-write, but no confirmation. However, given how recognizable Dominic is from his roles in Lost and Lord of the Rings, we might speculate a bit that he is playing a role where we wouldn’t recognize him, similar to Simon Pegg. But everything is totally up in the air. This is one we’ll be looking at closely for a while.
Interesting “Live CGI” Lucasfilm Patent Info
The link to the USPTO is currently broken for me, but here is the reddit post. The leak is about some new tech to improve live lip-sync with CGI. This kind of tech seems to have the most immediate application to the theme parks. Similar tech has been around for a while, but this must be some newer, faster, flashier iteration. I could also see this applied to Carrie Fisher in Episode IX if they end up going that route. They said they wouldn’t use CGI for Leia, but maybe lipsync is OK?
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