STAR WATCH
Star Wars: Episode VIII has a name, and it’s… Space Bear. Okay, it’s just a working title, a 21st century Blue Harvest ( revealed by Carrie Fisher’s dog, Gary, on Twitter), but it’s a start – fingers crossed it doesn’t mean an invasion of E woks.
One thing we do know is that Luke Skywalker and the still- surnameless Rey will pick up where they left off on that remote island. How? We’ve seen new writer/ director Rian Johnson at work on the Irish island of Skellig Michael in Lucasfilm’s official start-ofproduction teaser, while star Daisy Ridley told MTV, “When we went back to Skellig to do the opening of Episode VIII, it was so crazy doing the same scene with a different crew of people. Me and Mark [ Hamill] have been rehearsing a lot. He’s amazing to rehearse with, and I’m very excited to be doing the rest of the stuff. It’s such a good story. Seriously. Luke is so cool in this one.” So we may actually get to see some proper Skywalker action this time. Who knows, he may even get a trip to the beautiful Croatian city of Dubrovnik out of it – the regular Game Of Thrones location is strongly rumoured to feature in Episode VIII.
It also looks like the forcefield of secrecy on the Johnson’s movie may be a little lighter than it was under JJ Abrams. In another interview, this time with Entertainment Tonight, Ridley hinted her new boss will be more of a tease: “I think Rian actually wants to be a bit cheekier with the little tidbits of information that are going out, which is fun.”
Elsewhere, / Film reported that footage from the non- saga Rogue One was revealed at a recent Disney presentation. Their source appeared to confirm rumours that it’s set directly before A New Hope, features blacksuited Stormtroopers, and has a real A New Hope vibe. With a December release date locked in, it can’t be long before we see a trailer – those Death Star plans won’t steal themselves…