Tag: Harrison Ford

NEW FORCE AWAKENS TRAILER IS 90 MINUTES LONG

HOLLYWOOD – The new international trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is over ninety minutes long and features tons of new footage.

The new international trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens dropped on the internet today via Japan. It is ninety minutes long and features entire scenes and much of the story. So far was have had character poster (CLICK HERE) and a shorter trailer from which we already learned 117 things (CLICK HERE).

The new trailer features Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, and John Boyega, but still no Mark Hamill and no Hayden Christensen as yet. J.J. Abrams spoke EXCLUSIVELY to the Studio Exec about the new international trailer:

We began with teasers and just glimpses and everyone got really excited so then we decided to give you basically two thirds of the film. With mainly got music on it and a few other things, but this way there’s only going to be about half an hour of stuff you haven’t seen. It’s going to be marvelous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBT4QxC6eJs

 

For more Star Wars CLICK HERE.

 

NEW FORCE AWAKENS CHARACTER POSTER REVEALS SURPRISE

HOLLYWOOD – Star Wars: The Force Awakens character posters have been released and reveal a surprising inclusion alongside Princess Leia, Han Solo, Rey, Kylo Ren and Finn.

There is no Luke Skywalker, but the Star Wars: The Force Awakens character posters did reveal one surprise inclusion: Anakin Skywalker, played by Hayden Christensen. It seems unlikely that Anakin will appear in the main action in the film but his appearance has led many commentators and bloggers to include that there might well be a substantial flashback section of the film, relating to the early and much loved prequels. Christensen’s inclusion in the cast had already been revealed by the Studio Exec when we published Exclusive images: click HERE. He will join Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, and John Boyega as well as Mark Hamill, presumably. But not Alec Guinness as we learned here. 

Xavier Poulis, owner and commentator of ManyBothansDied.Net, writes:

Hayden Christensen’s inclusion does seem to screw with the timeline and one can only assume that J.J. Abrams is returning to the prequels to try and rectify some plot points. What will be interesting is how this works out with the other stories that we know are taking place and what this back story will mean to the actual action of the film. I think I am not alone in saying that all fans will be pleased to have Hayden Christensen back in any shape or form. He is a class act. I do worry about the story of his inclusion in Rogue One though.

However, some have claimed that the delay in the release of the Hayden Christensen and the slightly different aesthetic might indicate that it is in fact a fake. Perhaps placed by Christensen himself who is still waiting for production to begin on Jumper 2.  This theory was put to rest by an email received last night from J.J. Abrams which said:

Hey, Studio Exec!

Hayden Christensen is definitely in the movie. He has a small but really important part and he is an excellent actor. I think Jumper 2 is going to blow us all away.

Best Wishes

Hay  J.J. Abrams.

Image courtesy of @ThePixelFactor.

For more Star Wars CLICK HERE.

INDIANA JONES CRITICIZED FOR FAILING TO KILL HITLER

BERKLEY – Indiana Jones has come under intense criticism following a biography of the famous archeologist revealed how in the late 1930s Dr. Jones failed to kill the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Esteemed archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones has come under sustained attack today following the publication of extracts from a new biography that claims the noted academician met with Adolf Hitler and failed to take any action whatsoever. “Indiana Jones, I Presume” by Dr. Fathma Nichols is due for publication early in the new year but leaks from the book have already provided historians and the world of adventure archeology that Dr. Jones pioneered with some choice titbits of previously unknown information.

Included in the revelations are the fact that Indiana Jones met the leader of the Nazi Party and then Chancellor of Germany Adolf Hitler and not only failed to take any appropriate action, but also asked for the National Socialist’s autograph.

Dr. Nichols writes:

Although the meeting was inopportune – Dr. Jones was accompanied by his elderly father Dr. Henry Jones and there was a massive crowd of devoted Nazis around them – it can only be regretted that Jones did not leap into action and by doing forestall the Second World War and the Holocaust.

However, Indiana Jones supporters made it clear that the biographer’s charges were unfair:

You have to remember that at this point America was not at war with Germany and that on several occasions Dr. Jones had explicitly said ‘Nazis! I hate these guys’. During the Second World War, Jones was to work for the OSS and was never backward in a punch up with a Nazi, especially if there was scope for some propeller blade action.

However, the Nazi revelation, although the most serious, is not the only one.

Others include:

Dr. Jones persistently used unorthodox methods to remove objects from their original locations, and did not do proper surveys of the sites nor did he write complete reports. Although a successful obtainer of rare objects, the destruction that often accompanied his finds meant that proper study was frequently impossible.

Dr. Jones had a girlish fear of snakes.

During the testing of a nuclear weapon in Nevada, Jones hid in an icebox for reasons that are still unclear.

Although hired as a teacher, Dr. Jones record as an educator left a lot to be desired. He would frequently fail to correct course work in a timely fashion and his courses were often abruptly halted as he took an unexplained ‘sabbatical’. In this he was facilitated by his friend and mentor Marcus Brody.

Jones was suspected of being a racist, telling stories of Indian death cults and referring to meals which involved ‘chilled monkey brains’.

Hollywood actor Shia LaBeouf is thought to be his son, but exactly how the dates work has never been fully explained.

Indiana Jones I  Presume, by Dr. Fathma Nichols will be available from Amazon and all good bookshops from January 8, 2016.

THE MAKING OF THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

HOLLYWOOD  – In the latest of our ‘Making of…’ series, we look at Irvin Kershner’s Science Fiction epic The Empire Strikes Back.

The Idea

In 1970 George Lucas wrote a short science fiction novella entitled ‘The Empire Strikes Back’. He gave it to his old film teacher Irvin Kershner to read. The older man was very impressed. He wrote this note to the film school graduate:

Hi George,

Just read your short novel and I have to say it bowled me over. I love the characters and the universe you have created. Princess Leia and Han Solo are particular favorites. And the two robots R2P0 and C3D2, hilarious! I tihnk it works well both as a work of fiction and as a possible treatment for a motion picture. My only worry is that these characters are thrown together in a very random way. I didn’t feel there was much of a build up to the revelation that Luke Skywalker is Darth Vader’s son, and why are such unlikely people like Han and Leia in each other’s company in the first place? I figure you need some more backstory on screen.

Lucas took the admonition so much to heart that he wrote the screenplay of Star Wars as a prequel to his original novel. He found out to his dismay that the studios preferred the prequel to his original darker vision. He wrote to fellow film maker John Milius:

I wanted to make a real adult piece of Science Fiction with real characters who we can understand and feel for but they want the more simplistic gee-whizz stuff so I guess that is the price I’ll have to pay. They even want me to change the names of the robots. Isn’t that stupid?

Milius advised him to shelve his novel and make the film that the studios wanted, but once it was made and was a spectacular success, Lucas returned to his original plan and his original reader as director.

Production

Filming took place in 1979 and included location shooting in Norway and studio work in England, UK. Norway proved as problematic as Tunisia had for the first film and there was a terrible snow storm that made filming almost impossible. Kershner wrote in his autobiography, Kershner Writes Backs:

We were trying to grab shots here and there. We filmed a scene of Harrison Ford from the safety of the hotel with poor Harrison stumbling about in the snow outside. He froze solid and we were worried he might be dead, but eventually he thawed out. However, once George heard about this he started scribbling and changed the script to include the carbonite freezing scene.

The Dagobah set was particularly unpleasant with Mark Hamill complaining that the British crew would often take shits in the swamp ‘as a joke. It was disgusting. The British sense of humor left a lot to be desired, but once I came back from lunch and there was Carrie Fisher dropping heat herself.’

Hamill also found the actor playing Yoda difficult to work with.

‘He was very resentful and would take offence at even the slightest reference to size, or ears, or the color green. People think of him as this wizened old guru, but in reality he was a twisted alcoholic asshole who would reduce the script girl to tears just for kicks.

Reception

Upon its release, The Empire Strikes Back was hailed as a masterpiece. It won a bucket of Oscars as well as critical recognition from all the international film festivals including Locarno, Berlin, Venice and Cannes. Spurred by the success, Lucas went on to write Return of the Jedi. However, his creative powers were in sad declined due to his addiction to bubbly gum which he had succumbed to while filming in England. ‘He was getting through twenty packets a day,’ says Carrie Fisher. ‘At one point he couldn’t talk because he would just keep blowing bubbles. It was around this time he told me that he had actually written some other prequels for Star Wars, but he said they were horrendous and he would only ever contemplate doing them if he became a venal hack with no sense of artistic quality.’

The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980.

For more of The Making of CLICK HERE.

HARRISON FORD CRASH LANDS HELICOPTER ON TENNIS COURT

CALIFORNIA – Star Wars and Indiana Jones star Harrison Ford crashed landed his private helicopter on a tennis court this morning, interrupting a game of mixed doubles.

The Blade Runner star was uninjured and was able to walk away from the crash scene. Billy Sidegrup and his wife Mandy had been playing against the junior partner in Billy’s law firm Oregon Stymes and his girlfriend Stella. Oregon had been putting the hurt on Billy and Mandy with his powerful backhand and Stella was proving just as athletic and lithe as she looked.

Billy told the Studio Exec EXCLUSIVELY:

We were getting hammered – about to lose the second straight set when we heard this awful mechanical sound and this shadow suddenly descended on the court. We fled just in time because the helicopter came down pretty fast and busted one of its rails. Luckily the pilot managed to cut the engine and so the blades stopped moving and there was no explosion or anything, much to my wife’s stupid disappointment.

An ambulance and police car rushed to the scene but the 73 year old actor had apparently walked away from the scene. The Los Angeles Police Department have opened an investigation as it was revealed that Harrison Ford had crashed landed on a golf course a year earlier.

A spokesperson for the LAPD told the Exec:

Though we’re not treating this as suspicious per se, we do have some questions for Mr. Ford to answer. There is a theory that Harrison Ford is deliberately targeting sports based locations. This could be simply coincidence but we’ll be monitoring Mr. Ford’s flight paths from now on and if he were say to emergency land in a swimming pool or hang glide onto a basketball court then that would have to be game over.

Harrison Ford was unavailable for comment.

J.J. ABRAMS DECAPITATED MAKING FORCE AWAKENS

HOLLYWOOD – During an in-depth interview with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show, J.J. Abrams revealed that he was decapitated during the shooting of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The making of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was not easy. Secrecy surrounded the set, Harrison Ford broke his left leg and now we know that director J.J. Abrams had his head severed from his body during a bizarre on set accident. In a ten minute interview with Daily Show host Jon Stewart, the ardent Star Wars fan asked Abrams about the shoot and got this surprising answer:

When Harrison was hurt, a piece of the set had fallen on his I was the nearest to him so I leaped forward to rescue him, or see how he was, because it looked bad when it happened, I can tell you. I didn’t see Adam Driver was playing with his light sabre and he was still in character. As I ran forward, he swept an arc with the laser sword and unfortunately I ran straight into it and it took my head from my shoulders in one fell swoop.

A shocked Stewart asks how he could have survived.

As you know, we were shooting in Britain and I have to say socialized medicine is the best. One of our grips stuck some gaffer tape on and we rode to the hospital with my hand on the top my head trying to keep it balanced, though those roads in England … bumpy. But I have to say the NHS doctors and nurses are wow. And they’re British so they’re all Monty Python on my ass. ‘T’is but a scratch.’ They sewed it back on in no time, used a bit of glue and I had these staples. No football for two weeks and I was as good as new.

Star Wars: The Force will be released in December.

HIDDEN GEMS: 9. BLADE RUNNER

Hidden Gems brings to light little known film gems which have somehow slipped through the collective cinematic consciousness. This week, Blade Runner.

Following his success as Indiana Jones and Han Solo, Harrison Ford decided to try his hand at the old hard-boiled detective genre, but with a twist – setting it in the future! The oddball result was Blade Runner, a critical and commercial disaster which famously provoked Roger Ebert to do his first review where he stuck both thumbs up his ass to signal his contempt.

Ford plays Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter tasked with finding and killing escaped Replicants who have fled the off-world colonies and have come to Los Angeles to meet their dad. However, the Replicants – led by the enigmatic Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) – are both deadly and disconcertingly human, so much so that Deckard finds himself emotional involved with one, the femme fatale Rachel (Sean Young).

Although it’s difficult to get a copy, do try and hunt out an old VHS if you can. Ridley Scott – famous for White Squall and Someone to Watch Over Me – disowned the cinematic version and then his own director’s cut and then his own final cut, and now refuses to talk about the film, having gone on record saying that it ‘is way worse than Prometheus and Prometheus is a shit sandwich.’  The sci-fi noir is a dark compelling and occasionally violent drama. Ford has never been better, nor has Rutger Hauer, or Sean Young, or Daryl Hannah. Nor Ridley Scott. Scott seems utterly unconcerned with genre as such – this is possibly the least camp Science Fiction film available – giving the world he creates a grubby realism of flickering lights and dirty interiors as well as a grandiose dystopian breadth. With or without unicorns, voice over and happy ending, Blade Runner is a strange new world gone old; the last big budget science fiction film made exclusively for grown ups. At least its obscurity means that no one will be dumb enough to try and make a sequel.

For more Hidden Gems Click Here.

HIDDEN GEMS: 7. STAR WARS

 Hidden Gems is a series bringing to light little known filmic gems and rarities that have somehow managed to slip hrough the collective cinematic consciousness. You’re welcome. This week: Star Wars.

In 1977, a brilliant directorial talent filmed an action packed adventure film that appealed to young and old alike, winning plaudits from critics and proving a massive success with the wider public. But aside from Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, there was another film released in 1977 called Star Wars.
Star Wars was a small independent art house film, written and directed by an auteur called George Lucas. It told the beguilingly simple tale of two gay robots facilitating a communist rebellion against an evil empire and inadvertently encouraging incest in the process. Mark Hamill played Luke Skywalker, the farm boy who takes off on a wonderful adventure with the gay robots, a Samurai knight of the round table, a cowboy and his dog to rescue Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher). As Luke becomes increasingly indoctrinated into the political ideology of resistance, he fails to notice the apparent contradictions of Red rebellion being lead by a member of the royal family and employing terrorist techniques. Only in the finale, and with the Empire apparently defeated, does he realizes in that chilling final shot. The heroes stand with fixed grins as slowly the realization dawns that they are in the middle of a massive Nazi rally.  Although there were talks of possible sequels, George Lucas – arguing that he was a serious artist and not wishing to repeat himself –  went on to make some of the most challenging and beautiful American cinema of the next three decades.

FIRST LOOK AT HAN SOLO ANTHOLOGY STAR

HOLLYWOOD – For the umpteenth time, the Studio Exec brings an EXCLUSIVE preview of the new Han Solo who is to star in the upcoming Star Wars Anthology movie to be directed by Chris Miller and Phil Lord.

Very little is known about the young actor and we don’t even have his name but he will play Han Solo in the new movie and as you can see the costume is on traditional lines, with the trademark blaster and holster.

Han Solo has been everybody’s favorite Star Wars character, except for director Terrence Malick who – due to idiosyncrasy – prefers Jabba the Hutt.

A source close to the team that brought us Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street said that the boys were extremely excited about landing the job.

Chris and Phil are both huge geeks as can be evidenced from the many in jokes, throughout their films. I think this is a perfect fit for them and I know they already have a lot of ideas about where to take the new movie and especially the look it ought to have. They really want to get back to that physical universe of the 1970s. You know a blocky aesthetic.

There is very little about the plot that we know yet, though rumor has it the new film will trace the early adventures of Han Solo as a smuggler and his first meeting with Chewbacca. The character was first made famous by an actor called Harrison Ford who will also be appearing in a later Han Solo film called Never Say Never Again.

Han Solo: Cloudy With a Chance of Wookie will be released in 2017.

SCRIPT LEAK: THE FORCE AWAKENS

HOLLYWOOD – The script for the new episode of Star Wars: The Force Awakens leaked onto the internet today and we are publishing an EXCLUSIVE extract.

INT. MILLENNIUM FALCON – DAY

Chewbacca and Han Solo enter the Millennium Falcon.

     HAN SOLO

Chewie, we’re home!

     CHEWBACCA

MWAARHHH!

     HAN SOLO

I’ll put the kettle on. Have we got biscuits?

INT. MILLENNIUM FALCON KITCHENETTE – DAY

Han Solo hunts for biscuits. They’re in the bottom cupboard.

     HAN SOLO

It’s so good that we’re done with the adventures and all that.  No Death Star to blow up. No Empire to defeat.  I’ve got a good feeling about this.

Chewbacca puts his slippers on.

     CHEWBACCA

MWARRRAAAHOOOHH.

     HAN SOLO

You can say that again buddy.

INT. MILLENNIUM FALCON LOUNGE – DAY

Chewbacca and Han Solo recline on La-Z-Boys sipping cocoa and nibbling on ginger snaps.

     HAN SOLO

I mean adventures, shooting storm troopers, getting frozen in carbon, captured by Ewoks. How are your English lessons coming on?

     CHEWBACCA

Splendid.

     HAN SOLO
You should speak English more.

     CHEWBACCA

And forget my Wookie heritage? No thank  you.

HAN SOLO
Fair Point.

A hologram of Princess Leia appears on the table.

PRINCESS LEIA

Help me Han Solo. You’re my only hope.

HAN SOLO

Oh hey Leia.

PRINCESS LEIA

Can you pick up the kids? I know I’d said I’d go but …

HAN SOLO
Must I do everything myself? Why can’t their Uncle Luke go?

PRINCESS LEIA

And you know how Luke has the Force, his father had it, his mother had it, his sister (that’s me) has it… Anyway, loads of us have it.

HAN SOLO

Okay!?

PRINCESS LEIA

Well, you know how the Force sometimes goes to sleep?

HAN SOLO
First I’ve heard about it.

PRINCESS LEIA

Well, the force is asleep basically so I can’t pick the kids up, neither can Luke, Dad can’t because he’s … well… dead.

HAN SOLO

Okay, so I’ll go and pick them up because I don’t have the Force.

PRINCESS LEIA

Right.

HAN SOLO

And this is like all this week?

PRINCESS LEIA

Until the Force awakens, yep. A week tops.

Princess Leia hangs up.

HAN SOLO

Okay Chewie, looks like we’re doing the school run.

CHEWBACCA

MWAAARRRRAAHHAHH!

HAN SOLO

You’re right. It does suck balls.

THE END

INTERNATIONAL NOT GIVE A SH*T ABOUT STAR WARS DAY

HOLLYWOOD – Today sees worldwide celebrations for the International Not Give a Sh*t About Star Wars Day and Studio Exec went around the world to see how this special occasion was celebrate in different countries.

International Not Give a Sh*t About Star Wars Day will see no Star Wars news released for the first time in six years. There will be no teaser trailers, character shots, speculation, interviews, speculation, merchandising release dates, leaks, Easter eggs, gossip or rumors. J.J. Abrams is going to spend the whole day in bed and Harrison Ford is taking off time from crashing airplanes into golf courses to do some work around the wood shop. There’s a bird feeder he’s been meaning to finish for some time.

In the United Kingdom, normally avid Star Wars fans are watching Star Trek and everyone else is despairing about the recent election result or sitting with their heads in their hands hissing through gritted teeth, ‘What have I done?! What have I DONE?’ In Greece, politicians have finally turned their attention away from the political maneuvering of C-3PO and towards the debt crisis. Mexico saw law enforcement officials abandoning their mad obsession with costing the construction of a real Death Star and deciding to confront the drug cartels. ISIS are – for one day – going to cease writing erotic Jar Jar Binks fan fiction and are going to redouble their efforts to destroy all vestiges of ancient civilization and throw homosexuals from towers. Environmental scientists are putting away their Ewok action figures and instead are glancing with increasing anxiety at the latest forecasts for climate change which, despite the meretricious effect of Kurt Russell’s Mustache, make for worrying reading.

Tomorrow normal service will be resumed.  

RYAN GOSLING’S BLADE RUNNER 2 ROLE REVEALED

HOLLYWOOD – The news that Ryan Gosling is to star in Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2 rocked the internet this week, but only the Studio Exec can reveal via a leaked email the details of Gosling’s role.

The following email was sent from Denis Villeneuve to Ryan Gosling cc-ing Ridley Scott and (accidentally)  me.

SUBJECT: Blade Runner 2?

From: Denis Villeneuve

To: Ryan Gosling

Hey Ryan,

First of all congratulations on Gangster Squad! What a film! It was like LA Confidential but without the tiresome need to think, or follow the story, or be particularly interested. And you made some brave choices. That squeaky high pitched voice you put on. At first I was ‘What the f*ck?’ then I thought ‘no. It’s brilliant.’ I can’t tell you why it was brilliant but it reminded me of Elisha Cook. OK. Enough ass kissing, right? Blade Runner 2. Larry said I should fill you in more before you make your final decision. I think the money business is all clear. Your request to be paid in macrobiotic restaurants is fine but health and safety tell me the Mariachi band you requested in your trailer for the whole of the shoot might be a problem. I’m sure we can resolve it but there are some laws about human slavery that we might be infringing. But to the story that Harrison Ford has called ‘the best screenplay he’s ever read’.

The year is 2056. Los Angeles. Timmy Deckard is a young Blade Runner, a maverick who doesn’t play by the rules but gets results. (We wrote it the other way round at first, but although original it just didn’t make much sense.)  He gets a hard job. There’s an old renegade replicant living in the wastelands (West Hollywood as we now call it).This guy is building an army of escaped replicants and is planning on wiping out the Blade Runners and taking over the running of the city. Timmy has to hunt him down and retire him. But when he finds him, guess what? The old replicant turns out to be Rick Deckard, Timmy’s long lost father! Captured by the replicant army, Timmy’s dad tells him that Timmy was conceived when he and Rachel ran away. They were fugitive for years with their little replicant/human baby. But in a twist it turns out that Rachel wasn’t a replicant after all. She was just very emotional distant because she was played by Sean Young. Rick was the replicant. So she had Timmy and died soon after of plot convenience and contractual hassles. Now the hunted instead of the hunter, Timmy must decide whether to join forces with  his old man, or bury his past and finish the job.

What do you think Ryan? Screenplay is in the attachment.

Best

Denis

SUBJECT: RE: Blade Runner 2

From: Ryan Gosling

To: Denis Villeneuve

Hi Denis,

The Mariachi band is a deal breaker.

Ryan

 Blade Runner 2 will be released in 2016.

SNEAK PEAK OF TAYLOR LAUTNER AS THE YOUNG HAN SOLO

HOLLYWOOD – The Star Wars stand alone movie dealing with the young Han Solo has its star in Taylor Lautner, fresh from his success a few years ago in the Twilight series.

The news broke following the excitement of the new Force Awakens trailer and the internet went crazy. Taylor said that he is keen to hear his first fans talk about Team Han, rather than Team Jacob: ‘It’ll make a nice change.’

We asked Taylor, how he felt about the original Star Wars films:

Well, I thought the first three weren’t very good, but as soon as Han Solo and Luke Skywalker turned up they really improved. 

What have you done to prepare for the role?

I’ve worn a waistcoat and it feels quite comfortable, but I’m going to insist that at some point I take my shirt off. Otherwise, I can’t really, you know, act. Properly.  

Have you spoken to Harrison Ford and what was his reaction to the news?

Harrison’s great. He’s been real supportive. I remember my first conversation with him. He said ‘I’m just glad it ain’t that goddamn Shia LaBeouf!’ I don’t think an actor can hear more encouraging words than those.

Han Begins will be released in 2016.

5 FACTS WE LEARNED FROM THE NEW FORCE AWAKENS TRAILER

HOLLYWOOD – Here are 5 five things we learned from the new Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens Trailer.

The Studio Exec FACT squad has been on red alert all day watching the new The Force Awakens trailer on a loop and we have detected a disturbance in the FACTS. We’ve turned off our targeting computers and can now safely say: may the FACTS be with you.

1. It looks almost certain that Harrison Ford is going to participate in the new Star Wars film. How they kept this a secret is still a mystery, but brilliantly done J.J. Abrams! Now, there has been some discussion as to who Harrison Ford will play, with some thinking him a shoo-in for his old role of Han Solo, but there’s always a chance that Mark Hamill will play Solo and Harrison Ford will play Luke Skywalker – just like the switcheroo in the last Abrams’ directed Star Trek film.

2. Harrison Ford is definitely not playing Chewbacca, who you can see in the final shot standing right next to him. It looks like Chewbacca will be entirely CGI this time round, which will come as a relief to all of us who thought there were far too many real people in the Prequels. Carrie Fisher has been CGI for the last five years in preparation for the role.

3. There will be light sabres. A bit of a shocker here. Given this film is set some years on from the end of Return of the Jedi, many of us were hoping that the old fashioned weaponry of the Jedi would have been updated to something more fancy. Rather than a light sword, what about a light gun?

4. R2D2 is now a father. His son is a cheeky little devil and I imagine the inspiration comes from the old Scooby and Scrappy cartoon which George Lucas has gone on record as calling the ‘fountainhead of everything I do’. Along with Joseph Campbell.

5. Everyone Luke Skywalker knows is strong in the force. As his voice over states, ‘The Force runs strong in my family. My father had it, I have it, my sister has it, you have it…’ The you is obviously me, because I was watching the trailer when he said it and there was no one else there, so I’ll be turning off my targeting computer and destroying Death Stars before you can say ‘Those are not the FACTS we were looking for.’

 For more FACTS click HERE.