Interesting that this dropped before May the 4th, it's so close I would have expected them to hold it a few more days.

So now I'm wondering what they could announce on the 4th? The title? How soon before release did we get the title of The Phantom Menace?

If you can't use the Force for condom-free birth control, then why even bother?

They gave Peter Mayhew a special credit on a Clone Wars animated episode that used no contributions from Mayhew whatsoever. I've read that Baker's credits on the prequels (or at least II/III) was a similar honorary credit and that they weren't still cramming him into an R2-D2 prop.

This plotline is already better than Episode I.

About 8 months before.

Maybe Serkis will be Yoda's kid.

It actually would be kind of cool if Yoda trained Luke, and then Luke trained Yoda's kid.

Or maybe we could finally see what a dark side Yoda would be like if Yoda's kid is evil.

I heard they hired Serkis as a backup; in the event anything happens with Carrie Fisher (OD, mental breakdown etc.) he'll play Leia using Fisher's likeness via mocap.

Only if they add a Yoda sex scene.

"Like it that way you do!"

You say that as a joke, but I would actually go see a special edition of Episode 1 where they redid all the Jar Jar scenes with Serkis.

I'd go with Kiera Knightley, myself.

I thought that was von Sydow between Hamill and Gleeson, though it's a hard to tell for sure.

Bingo... though some understandably see Portman and Knightley as interchangeable.

Since there were more humans than creatures in the OT, I would'nt be suprised if Serkis was spared of mocap this time around. I would, however, love to see him in heavy makeup at least (ala Bib Fortuna)

Von Sydow isn't in the group picture; that person is Anthony Daniels according to the caption:

Jar Jar Binks gets possessed by the force ghost of the emperor and in the final scene of the third movie Max von Sydow's does an exorcism.

I assume that, like spaceship technology, droid tech gets more clunky and less advanced as time progresses.

Abrams posted this picture in November of a practical R2 that some fans created or that fans assisted in creating. I think it's safe to say it won't be totally CG.

I just watched that not long ago and I believe there's an extra where they show Mayhew moving around a soundstage so the animators could reference his body frame. So, not exactly "no contribution", but more like doing something to honor his contribution to the role.

I've also read that there is at least one scene in each movie where it's Baker in the suit so that he could get the credit.

I can't think of a single instance of a spacecraft in the PT that seems more technologically advanced than it's OT counterpart. There's absolutely an aesthetic difference but one with a real-world precedent.

I have no problem accepting that function over form became the norm under the Empire.

You have all sorts of goofy stuff like Count Dooku's ship that uses a solar sail but it doesn't seem to get you from point A to B any better than the stuff in the OT. Then you have stuff like the Jedi starfighters that rely on detachable hyperdrives which are on-board on pretty much every ship in the OT.

No Luke wife? So no Luke kids or wife dead already?

Imagine the homophobic fanboy shitstorm that would erupt if they made Luke Skywalker a space gay.

Hey, Luke already kissed his sister. Might as well break down some more boundaries while we're at it.

Game of Jedis!

Rebels trailer will came out May 4th! Looking foward to that.

I don't expect them to reveal anything at SW Weekends though Hamill will be there in June. But what info should we get at SDCC? Character names?

It may sound dumb, but I really like the fact that that photo is in B&W. Really reminds me of the behind the scenes photos we've all seen for decades for the OT.

Because only married people have kids. Nope, unmarried people can fuck all they want and never get pregnant.