Star Wars Bits: Kathleen Kennedy’s Dream ‘Star Wars’ Writer, Incredible Fan Art, And The Coolest Mobile Game Never Made
Welcome back to Star Wars Bits, your regular catch-all for anything and everythingStar Wars. In today’s edition:
There are countless names to thank for the recent successes ofStar Wars, but if you want to pin it all on a single person, Kathleen Kennedy is your woman. The head of Lucasfilm has been producing great movies for decades and she knows her stuff. Like the best producers, she has great taste in talent. And in a new profile inVanity Fair, she talks about wanting to get the legendary playwright and screenwriterTony Kushnerto write aStar Warsmovie:
“I suppose the thing that I think about every now and then, that I miss, is: I love writers.” In particular she mentioned Tony Kushner, who wrote the play and the screen adaptation ofAngels in America.Kushner also worked with Kennedy onMunichandLincoln.She said, “To sit and talk ideas with Tony—to, you know, explore lots of different areas we could go—it’s such a constant education. That is thrilling. And so the only thing I suppose I can do is attempt to get Tony Kushner to write aStar Warsmovie.” Kennedy laughed. “There are times I think about that.”
Kushner writing aStar Warsmovie sounds like some kind of insane joke, but you know what? If anyone could convince someone of his prestige to join this universe, it would be her. The article even speaks to Kushner himself, who emphasized how Kennedy always pushes talent to go on step further, even when they’re working on something as populist as aStar Warsmovie:
“We had an interesting conversation about how a lot of playwrights start with outlines because it gives you something to hold on to, but that you know the characters are likely to derail the outline once they start doing what they do.” He and Kennedy talked about how “there’s no telling what will happen once you have invented a person. They may be willing to do what the outline says to do, but they may have very different plans in mind.” The sense Kushner got was that Kennedy “was pushing people to be unafraid of being lost for a while. It was good to see her holding the banner of complexity in the middle of this huge enterprise of Star Wars.” The machines, in other words, have not won.
If you happen to likeStar Warsand and electronic dance music, you’re in for an unlikely treat.Star Wars Headspaceis a compilation of original music composed by a variety of respected and emerging names in this particular music scene, all woven together by producerRick Rubin. Here’s how theofficial Star Wars sitedescribes a track:
The album opens with “C-3P0’s Plight” by Kaskade; the track pulsates and builds into a soundscape, iconicStar Warssamples like blaster fire and Wookiee roars enveloping the listener, while C-3P0 laments… “How typical.” It captures the humor ofStar Wars, the melodrama of C-3PO, and is a kinetic, dynamic production that sets the stage for what follows.
Star Wars Headspacewill be available digitally onFebruary 19and in retail stores on March 18. Here’s the complete track listing:
1. C-3P0’s PlightKaskade
2. Help Me!GTA
- ForceTroyBoi
4. Cantina BoysBaauer
5. Jabba Flow: Rick Rubin Re-Work (feat. A-Trak)Shag Kava
6. R2 Knows (feat. Barry Drift)Claude VonStroke
7. NR-G7Rick Rubin
- GhomrassenBonobo
9. Bounty HuntersRöyksopp
10. Sunset Over ManaanATTLAS
11. R2 Where R U?Flying Lotus
12. Druid Caravan of SmokeShlohmo
13. EWOK PUMPPRustie
14. Scruffy-Looking NerfherderGalantis
15. Star TripperBreakbot
A group of artists, most of them working professionals who regularly work in video games, have spent the past few months participating in a competition titledStar Wars: Reimagined. As the name implies, these talented artists had to “re-imagine your favorite character, creature or vehicle from theStar Warsuniverse.” Some of the results so far, collected over atKotaku, have been stunning. You can check them out in the gallery below.
Kotakuhas uncovered screenshots from the canceledStar Wars Outpostmobile game, which would have been a deep strategy game that onlylookedlike aStar Warsre-skin ofFarmVille. It sounds like it would have been one helluva good time:
The game may be dead, but you may gaze over these images and imagine what could have been.
And while you won’t be able to playStar Wars Outpostany time soon, you will soon be able to play as Yoda in theStar Wars: Galaxy of Heroesmobile game, so maybe life is still worth living after all. Check out the new trailer below:
Jedi Bibliothekclaims to have uncovered episode titles for the final stretch ofStar Wars Rebelsseason 2 andStar Wars Underworldhas provided a rough translation of their report. What’s most interesting about this news is the two-part finale, which suggests that both episodes will probably be edited together for one hour-long event. Here are the episode titles:
And with a title like “Twilight of the Apprentice,” you just know that Darth Vader and Ahsoka are finally going to have a little reunion.
You know how you spent way too much money onStar Warstoys last year? Hasbro thanks you. They thank you very much. Their overall revenue thanks you. ViaToy World:
Hasbro’s line-up of toys related to The Force Awakens and the rest of the sci-fi franchise led to a 35% sales increase in boys' toys, helping overall revenue rise 13% to $1.47bn.
Chief executive Brian Goldner said the company’s overall Star Wars business for the year was “very similar” to the near $500m it made in 2005 when Revenge of the Sith was released.
Hasbro is trying to boost sales of its girls' toys division, which reported a 17% slump last year, and is seeking to add more Disney licences geared towards girls.
Speaking of major corporations whose leaders are currently cackling while swimming through Scrooge McDuck-esque vaults of money, Disney exceeded quarterly expectations in every way thanks to the phenomenal success ofStar Wars. According toThe Hollywood Reporter:
Disney posted earnings of $1.63 per share on $15.24 billion in revenue, numbers that beat the forecasts of most Wall Street analysts who expected a profit of $1.45 per share on revenue of $14.7 billion.
The always useful Star Wars Minute YouTube channel has released an episode diving into the history of the Millennium Falcon, namely the legendary ship’s previous owners before it fell into the hands of that scoundrel, Han Solo.
