Tag Archives: Return of the Jedi

Disney+ Announces “The Mandalorian” Spinoff Series “Ahsoka Tano,” Starring Rosario Dawson

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Rosario Dawson is extending her Star Wars run…

The Mandalorian spinoff series Ahsoka Tano is in the works from Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, based on the famed Clone Wars cartoon character brought to life by the 41-year-old Puerto Rican and Cuban American actress this past season on the second season of the Disney+ series.

Ahsoka Tano x Rosario Dawson

Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy announced the spinoff news during Disney Investor Day.

No footage was shared for the series from Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, but the show’s official logo was revealed.

The series, starring Dawson, is set within the timeline of The Mandalorian.

As for what Ahsoka Tano’s arc may be in the series, that remains to be seen. When she made her debut on The Mandalorian, she told Din Djarin she would not train Grogu in the ways of a Jedi.

Ahsoka’s timeline in the post-Return of the Jedi era is unknown, so this series will presumably fill out those details and potentially give Star Wars new territory to play with during the time between and during the events of the new trilogy movies.

Disney+ to Premiere Season 2 of Pedro Pascal’s “The Mandalorian” in October

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Pedro Pascal is heading back to space next month…

Disney+ will launch the second season of The Mandalorian, starring the 45-year-old Chilean actor as the title character, on Friday, October 30.

Pedro Pascal, The Mandalorian

The Mandalorian, set five years after the 1983 Star Wars movie Return of the Jedi, follows a bounty hunter (Pascal), who is protecting a highly coveted Jedi-powered being, simply called The Child, from falling into the hands of the villainous Imperial Empire. The bounty hunter is from the same rogue warrior class as legacy Star Wars character Jango Fett.

In addition to Pascal, the series also stars Gina Carano, Giancarlo Esposito, Carl Weathers, Omid Abtahi and Ming-Na Wen.

New faces for Season 2 include Rosario Dawson, Michael Biehn and a recurring Bill Burr.

Shooting had already wrapped on the second season before the coronavirus-related production shutdown in mid-March. And work is already underway on Season 3.

The series is nominated for 15 Primetime Emmy awards, including outstanding drama series.

Pedro Pascal to Star in Disney+’s Live-Action Star Wars Series “The Mandalorian”

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May the Force be with Pedro Pascal…

The 43-year-old Chilean actor is joining the Jedi universe, portraying the title character in The Mandalorian, the live-action Star Wars series that will be a flagship program for Disney+, the ambitious streaming service launching in 2019.

Pedro Pascal

Pascal is in final negotiations to star in the series, which chronicles the lone-wolf odyssey of a character who hails from the planet Mandalore, which Star Wars fans know as the homeworld of the notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett and Jango Fett.

Pascal memorably portrayed the passionate warrior Oberyn Martell, aka the Red Viper, on the fourth season of the HBO series Game of Thrones. He also played DEA agent Javier Peña on three seasons of Narcos, when the Netflix series centered on the cocaine cartels of Colombia. Pascal also played Agent Whiskey in the Foxfeature film Kingsmen: The Golden Circle in 2017.

The Mandalorian is written and executive produced by Jon Favreau, the director of Jungle Book, Iron Man as well as the upcoming reinterpretation of The Lion King. Favreau’s official description of the show: “After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.”

The events depicted in the series are set after the events of Return of the Jedi, which concluded with the fiery funeral of Darth Vader on the forest moon of Endor.

The first episode of the series will be directed by Dave Filoni (Star Wars: The Clone Wars). Also on board to direct early episodes are Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), Rick Famuyiwa (Dope), Deborah Chow (Jessica Jones) and actress Bryce Dallas Howard, whose previous directorial work has been limited to short films.

Disney Unveils Trailer for Luna’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”

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Diego Luna is going Rogue…

Disney premiered the long-awaited trailer for its first Star Wars spinoff feature, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, starring the 36-year-old Mexican actor, on Good Morning America. 

Diego Luna in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Directed by Gareth Edwards, Rogue One takes place prior to 1977’s Star Wars and revolves around a gang of rebel spies who steal the Death Star plans, which are ultimately uploaded on R2-D2.

Details on the film have been tight, and the teaser comes as a big revelation of what’s to come. Apparently, neither Jedis nor the Force will appear in this movie, although there have been whispers about a Darth Vader cameo.

Oscar nominee Felicity Jones plays chief spy Jyn Erso, while Riz Ahmed and Luna portray resistance fighters assisting in the heist. Ben Mendelsohn portrays a dominant Imperial villain. Forest Whitaker, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen and Mads Mikkelsen also star. In addition, there’s a number of AT-ATs wreaking havoc on a tropical beach. But the cameo that has Star Wars fans giddy this morning is red-haired rebel leader Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), last seen in 1983’s Return of the Jedi and 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. She calls Jones’ Erso “reckless, aggressive and undisciplined”.

Chris Weitz and Gary Whitta wrote the Rogue One screenplay based on an idea by John Knoll. Similar to last year with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Christmas comes early with Rogue One opening on December 16. Force Awakens broke the domestic box office record with $247.97 million on its way to $2 billion worldwide.

The movie marks the first time that the Star Wars story has been told on the big screen outside the confines of its episodic structure.

Isaac to Star in the J.J. Abrams-Helmed “Star Wars: Episode VII”

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May the force be with Oscar Isaac…

The 35-year-old Guatemalan/Cuban actor is among the stars joining the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII.

Oscar Isaac

Though casting rumors have been circulating for months about the upcoming prequel from filmmaker J.J. Abrams, an official cast announcement was made Tuesday on the movie’s official website by Disney and Lucasfilm.

Other newcomers to the Star Wars franchise include John Boyega, Adam Driver, Andy Serkis, Daisy Ridley and Max von Sydow.

Original stars returning for the film include Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca.

“We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII,” Abrams said in a statement. “It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.”

Disney and Lucasfilm did not reveal who the newcomers will be portraying in the film, but Driver and Boyega are reportedly playing the film’s villain, who will be in the vein of Darth Vader, and the lead, respectively.

Episode VII will take place 30 years after Return of the Jedi.

Star Wars: Episode VII is scheduled to open in theaters on December 18, 2015.