STAR WARS Holonet Weekly: Dates, Disney+,and Triple XP!

Dates for the Rogue One series, Bob Iger’s thoughts on Disney+, and news about Episode XI. Let’s dive in!

It’s been great the last few weeks getting casting news for the Rogue One series; however, it’s left us wondering: when will they start production? This week, Production Weekly confirmed that filming will begin in October 2019 with a possible release date in 2020. The series still has no title, but appears to be on the same schedule as The Mandalorian, with production on that series starting in October for a 2019 release. This will roughly coincide with the launch of Disney+.

Speaking of Disney+, you have to wonder if it will be worth paying for an extra streaming service to add to the current collection you may have. Apparently, Bob Iger has been doing his homework regarding content on this type of platform and has spoken out to convince future subscribers that Disney has their best interests in mind and wants to be better. He first states the price of Disney+ will be “substantially” lower than Netflix. He then goes on to say this about how Disney plans to focus their content:

Almost every movie the studio makes is a $100 million-plus movie, and we’re not looking to make movies at that level for the service. We’re looking to invest significantly in television series on a per-episode business, and we’re looking to make movies that are higher budget, but nothing like that. We wouldn’t make a Star Wars movie for this platform. When everybody goes out on the weekend and you have a movie that opens to $200 million, there’s a buzz that creates that enhances value. We like that. And eventually the movies we’re making are going to [end up on] the service.

So, it seems he realizes that shows tend to do better on the streaming platform (not that there aren’t some good original movies out there) and wants Disney+ to follow without alienating the movie fans. Plus, this could be good for those fans of that other big Disney franchise….

Last week we were reminded of the sad pain we all endured two years ago with the loss of Carrie Fisher. We were also reminded that she will be in Episode IX using footage previously filmed and not used in The Last Jedi. Carrie Fisher’s brother, Todd Fisher, stated during an interview for GoodMorningAmerica.com that the footage is not just outtakes, but “unused, new content that could be woven into the story line. That’s what’s going to give everybody such a great kick. It’s going to look like it was meant to be, like it was shot yesterday.” He then added they are “not allowed to talk about the details of anything, but we’re thrilled at what’s been done.” Now, we can’t promise we won’t be misty eyed a little bit at the first scene with Fisher in Episode IX but it does sound like that we will be happy with her final performance as General Organa.

Once again, rumors are swirling over the return of Darth Vader in Episode IX. Shortly before Christmas, editor of Slashfilm, Peter Sciretta, posted up on his Twitter, “If you want some hints about Star Wars Episode 9, you might want to revisit some of the early concept art from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. ;)” Of course, fans went crazy looking back through the concept art and sending Sciretta screenshots of their guesses. He later replied to his post stating that most of the guesses were wrong and it isn’t a big twist of Anakin being alive, more the smaller ideas and locations. Now notice he mentioned Anakin and not Vader, plus not alive, so Force Ghost? Though that would be Anakin, not Vader. So many possibilities to keep us up at night till December…

If you want some hints about Star Wars Episode 9, you might want to revisit some of the early concept art from Star Wars The Force Awakens. 😉

— /Film (@slashfilm) December 27, 2018

Finally, for those fans who decide to take a break from deciphering rumors on Episode IX, the EA Star Wars Facebook account announced their first events for the year for Star Wars Battlefront II. During the month of January there will be three Triple XP events. Those dates are January 4-6, January 11-13, and January 18-20.

That’s all we got this week for the Holonet. Take care, Crumbers, and start your countdowns to the return of Salacious Crumbs!