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Archived News-July 2005
Week 3
| Friday July 22, 2005 | |
| Homing Beacon #141 | |
The latest Homing Beacon has arrived and today we learn more about Comic-Con. From July 13 to 17th, San Diego, California continued its tradition as host of the biggest celebration of the popular arts -- Comic-Con International. Starwars.com was there, providing the most thorough online Star Wars coverage of the event. With so much news coming out of Comic-Con, it's hard keeping up with all the new developments; here's a round-up of some of the bigger stories. Members of Hyperspace: The Official Star Wars Fan Club will want to check out exclusive content from the show including images of future products, the full audio of several Star Wars panels (including the Star Wars Spectacular) and exclusive video, including the brand new two-part documentary "The Journey". Star Wars Animation Begins. The theme for this year's Comic-Con was Star Wars is Forever. Lucasfilm's Head of Fan Relations, Steve Sansweet, revealed that Lucas Animation will be carrying on the spirit of adventure and excitement through a new animated Star Wars series set to debut in the Fall of 2007. Production has begun, and Sansweet announced several of the talented people behind the new endeavor, including Catherine Winder, Dave Filoni, Chris Kubsch, and Henry Gilroy. Lucasfilm is Hiring. With Lucas Animation and LucasArts ramping up to produce new Star Wars and non-Star Wars series, features and games, now is the time to prepare that resumé and send it over. The next generation of talented digital artists is needed, and fans that have the skills are invited to apply at lucasfilm.com. Episode III DVD On Its Way. The Summer of Sith is not over yet, but already there's more Episode III to look forward to at the end of '05. Though exact release dates and feature-specs have yet to be revealed, Sansweet did preview some of what was to come. Like the DVDs for Episodes I and II, the Episode III DVD will contain completed deleted scenes -- with score, sound and visual effects -- as bonus material. He even screened one of these lost scenes exclusively to the Comic-Con audience: the first clandestine meeting of concerned Senators Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, Padmé Amidala and others to forge an Alliance to restore the Republic. Not a Decoy! Natalie Portman Drops By. For the first time ever, Natalie Portman attended Comic-Con to help promote her upcoming film, V for Vendetta. Not forgetting her Star Wars roots, she paid a surprise visit to the massive Star Wars pavilion on the exhibit floor. In the interests of security, her appearance was kept to a whisper. Fans in line to buy products from the StarWarsShop.com store were randomly selected and asked to return at a specific time for a surprise. When they did, they found themselves greeted by Portman and posed for a keepsake Polaroid with the actress. Dark Horse Comics. The 20th anniversary of Dark Horse Comics is just around the corner, and to celebrate, they are revamping their entire line of Star Wars comics. Several long-running series are drawing to a close, to be replaced by several new exciting titles. Dark Horse editors only revealed upcoming developments that start the year 2006 -- there's much more on the way. But to start, the biggest and most welcomed surprise is a return to the ancient Star Wars-past with the launch of an ongoing Knights of the Old Republic series. And Much More... Editors and authors at LucasBooks previewed upcoming titles, many of them amazingly detailed high-end art books. Hasbro showed upcoming Saga packaging and unveiled their smaller-scale Unleashed line. Sideshow Toys announced that they're taking over production of the 12" action figure line. Many other licensees showcased upcoming products and convention exclusives. To catch up on all the news, sights and sounds from Comic-Con, click here for starwars.com's multi-page coverage of the event, including a slideshow of over 100 images from the show. |
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| Thursday July 21, 2005 | |
| Five Reasons Star Wars Galaxies is not Worth Your Time | |
TheForce.net has an interesting article about why you might not want to waste your time getting or playing Star Wars Galaxies. It has been 2 years since Galaxies came out and there have been 2 expansion packs to date. Is there a future for this game? Be sure to read the full article! I don't currently own the game, but I am not sure I want to at this point. |
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| Tuesday July 19, 2005 | |
| More New Fan Art | |
Jon Alan sent in five more new fan art pictures. They feature Aayla, Mace, Obi-Wan, Vader, and Yoda. Thanks Jon! These pictures and others can be found over at the Fan Art section. Enjoy!
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| Monday July 18, 2005 | |
| Triple Zero | |
Fans of hard-hitting specialty-clone military literary action have reason to cheer as author Karen Traviss is set to continue the Republic Commando adventures (inspired by LucasArts' Star Wars Republic Commando video game) in a new mass market paperback due for release in spring 2006. Star Wars Republic Commando: Triple Zero - the sequel to Star Wars Republic Commando: Hard Contact - is set a year after the battle of Geonosis, and follows the continuing missions of Omega Squad. As the Clone Wars casualties mount, the commandos find themselves deployed on increasingly dangerous missions that take them beyond the battlefield and further into sabotage and intelligence operations in the heart of Separatist territory. Newly-promoted Jedi Generals Etain Tur-Mukan and Bardan Jusik are also catapulted into front line combat roles and find themselves identifying strongly with the clone soldiers under their command, who turn out to be anything but predictable cannon fodder. Omega Squad survives a close brush with disaster to end up in the most potentially dangerous hot spot in the galaxy - pursuing a Separatist terror group in the skylanes and underworld of Coruscant itself, known as Triple Zero in the Grand Army's slang because its galactic chart co-ordinates are 000. And, as any soldier knows, urban operations on your own turf can be the most deadly of all. So it's just as well that Omega Squad find themselves working with Delta Squad, and teamed up again with Etain and Jusik - as well as their legendary training sergeant Kal Skirata, and his secret military intelligence unit of "Null" ARC troopers, the black ops team that even the Kaminoans thought were too dangerous to unleash. It's a critical mission unlike anything any of them have ever tackled - and it tests their friendship and courage to the limit. If you haven't read the first book, Hard Contact, you should...it was really great and really gives you a look inside the minds of what it is like to be a Clone Trooper, a Commando anyway, lol! Karen is a very talented writer, and I for one look forward to reading her work again- as well as the continued adventures of Etain, who in the first novel was just comming into her own as a Jedi. |
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| Monday July 18, 2005 | |
| May the Burger King Be With You | |
USATODAY reports that one day after a record-shattering weekend for Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, an advocacy group is asking Burger King to stop the tie-in of its Kids Meals with the film because it is rated PG-13. The same group, Dove Foundation, got McDonald's 13 years ago to apologize for "confusion" from its promotion of PG-13 Batman Returns with Happy Meals. Now, it's going after BK's latest Kids Meal promotion — targeted at kids ages 4 to 9. The meals feature characters from Sith or other Star Wars films. "When Burger King puts that in a Kids Meal, there's an implicit endorsement of the movie," says Dick Rolfe, chairman of Dove Foundation. This is no small matter. Product licensing and promotion is a $100 million annual business. Since the first Star Wars was released in 1977, the six films have racked up almost $9 billion in merchandise sales and product promotions. For Burger King, the stakes are huge. The No. 2 burger chain is in the 16th month of a major rebound. The Star Wars promotion, dubbed "Choose Your Destiny," is the 50-year-old chain's first global promotion. Burger King officials insist the promotion isn't specific to the latest film (the others are rated PG), but one that relates to the chain's long-term relationship with the Star Wars franchise. Executives point out that only four of the 31 Kids Meal toys are specific to Sith. The toys "clearly celebrate not just one film but the entire Star Wars saga," says Edna Johnson, a Burger King spokeswoman. "The reception at our restaurants and from our customers has been overwhelmingly positive." But Rolfe says "the tie-in is very specific to this film." Wrappers around Kids Meal toys all promote Sith, he notes. Dove Foundation, a non-sectarian family advocacy group, sent an overnight letter to Burger King last Thursday requesting the promotion be stopped. It also conducted a national phone survey of 889 adults and says 83% felt the promotion was not appropriate for kids. Another critic says the fault isn't that of Burger King but Star Wars creator George Lucas. "It's irresponsible of George Lucas to OK the marketing around this PG-13 movie to young children," says Susan Linn, a Harvard psychologist and author of Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood. "Star Wars is broader than a single movie," says Lynn Fox, a LucasFilm spokeswoman. "Parents know that Star Wars has been a positive influence." |
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| Monday July 18, 2005 | |
| Fan Fiction-SHADOW BOUNTY | |
Today we have added a fan fiction story from Jeremy Shelton to the Fan Fiction section. Here are the facts: Title: SHADOW
BOUNTY |
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| Monday July 18, 2005 | |
| New Fan Art | |
Joel Christian, and Jade Jedi sent in some new fan art creations. Thank you both for your contributions. These pieces and others can be found over at the Fan Art section. Enjoy!
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