‘Empire Strips Back’ review: ‘Star Wars’ burlesque is a strange nerd fantasy

With the announcement of three new Star Wars movies being made coming from Celebration, Fans are asking the big questions. When it was said that Rey would be getting another movie for her story many were surprised. With how much the Sequels divided the fandom it seemed like a low blow by Disney to add more wood to that fire.

On today’s episode of Crew Call we talk with The Mandalorian EP and director of season 3 episodes one, seven and eight, Rick Famuyiwa.

Mark Hamill is a legend and Bert Kreischer knows it.  At the premiere of his new movie, "The Machine," Kreischer gushed about the "Star Wars" star playing his father in the film. "It’s crazy to have Mark Hamill as my dad," he told Fox News Digital.  And of course, Kreischer did what any "Star Wars" fan would do: ask a million questions of the one and only Luke Skywalker.

Angelique Jackson After nabbing a lead role in “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew,” Ravi Cabot-Conyers has joined the cast of “Beneath the Grass,” a drama about the criminal justice system and marijuana incarceration rates. Cabot-Conyers (“#BlackAF,” “Encanto”) joins Mía Maestro, Quincy Isaiah and Jeff Kober in the film, which begins production next month in New Jersey, directed by Will Bermudez and Sam Friedman. Paradigm is representing worldwide sales for the title, which launched at the Cannes Film Festival. “Beneath the Grass” is set in 2008 and explores both the economic recession and the inequities of incarceration rates of the era. The film follows Leo, an inquisitive and sensitive Latino boy (Cabot-Conyers) who puts his single mother’s (Maestro) illegal marijuana business at risk when he befriends the new neighbors, a young white boy and his police officer grandfather (Kober).

Back in early April, during the fan-focused Star Wars Celebration, many folks were expecting clarity regarding the future of the “Star Wars” franchise on the big screen. For years prior, there were reports of films that were in development, but then we’d get other news about drama behind the scenes, directors coming and going, and general disarray at Lucasfilm.

felt a great disturbance in the force on a special “Star Wars”-themed “Wheel of Fortune” Tuesday night.Contestants were light-years away from solving a rather self-explanatory puzzle in the category of “fun and games” during the Galactic Celebration episode.Word smithers Christopher, Kate and Adura all lacked the wisdom of Master Yoda when it came time to guess the proper response of “camping outside a movie theater” — despite almost every word in the puzzle being nearly spelled out already, according to The Sun.Audra — sporting a bounty hunter style jacket — wrongly guessed it as “gaming outside the movie theater” in a bigger tragedy than that of Darth Plagueis the Wise.“What an interesting group,” Sajak said during the new, hopeless episode.Eventually, it was the Princess Leia bun-wearing Kate who brought balance to the force by correctly solving the puzzle.Regardless, the Internet blasted Audra for missing a mark wider than Beggar’s Canyon.“Adura is having one of those episodes.

Harrison Ford has more than just acting skills.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor Since she was a child, Ming-Na Wen has been a “Star Wars” fan. “To this day, whenever I get on a plane,” she says, “I still pray to God, Buddha and The Force.” And while might be cliché to open a profile of Wen by saying The Force is strong with her — when Lucasfilm’s own Dave Filoni invokes the phrase, it would be wrong not to do so.  Long before Wen was playing bounty hunter Fennec Shand on “The Mandalorian” or its spinoff “The Book of Boba Fett,” she and Filoni attended the same high school in a Pittsburgh suburb. And he says both have always loved “Star Wars.” Says Filoni, “Working with Ming-Na Wen has been full of surprises. The Force is definitely strong with her. Always has been.”

“It was a contributor to the specialty box office, and I hope it will be again,” says Laemmle CEO Greg Laemmle of MoviePass, the subscription service that unsurprisingly went bankrupt in early 2020 after offering a movie a day for ten bucks a month.

Mark Hamill is opening up about his Star Wars experience.

The ceremonial dress was last worn almost half a century ago in 1977 by Carrie as she played Princess Leia in the closing scenes of the film and has spent the better part of the last 45 years scrunched up in a plastic bag in a London homeowner by a member of the films crew. 

Natalie Portman is tackling fan-asked questions and sharing some fascinating tidbits about her career — including some key questions about her role in the franchise.The actress recently sat down for the video segment «Actually Me,» in which she went onto various online forums and fielded fan questions with official, candid answers.One moment that has drawn a lot of interest came when someone on Reddit asked if her character from the prequels, Padme, might ever return to the franchise in some future film.«I have no information on this. No one's ever asked me to return,» Portman revealed, before adding the hopeful addendum, «but I'm open to it.»While Portman's Queen Padme Amidala starred in George Lucas' prequel trilogy — and served as a key character who was both a love interest for Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and the mother of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia — she died after giving birth at the end of Her character's death meant she wasn't involved in the sequel trilogy.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Natalie Portman told GQ magazine that she’s open to returning to the “Star Wars” franchise, 18 years after “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” served as her exit from the long-running space saga. Portman starred in all three of George Lucas’ prequel films as Padmé Amidala, who wins the heart of Anakin Skywalker. “I have no information on this,” Portman said when a fan floated the idea of her coming back to the franchise. “No one’s ever asked me to return, but I’m open to it.” Portman’s Padmé died in labor after giving birth to Luke and Leia in “Revenge of the Sith,” but the “Star Wars” franchise has a history of bringing back long-presumed dead characters (see “Phantom Menace” villain Darth Maul popping back up in “Solo.”).

HBO’s The Idol have sparked controversy among critics, with many criticising the overtly sexual nature of the series.The episodes were shown for the first time at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (May 22), making it the first show to have its official debut at the prestigious cinema event.It stars both Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd — who is working under his real name Abel Tesfaye — and follows the story of a world-famous pop star (Depp), whose relationship with sleazy mentor (Tesfaye) highlights the dark underbelly of the showbiz world.Following the first two episodes of the long-awaited series, the show — which is directed by Euphoria creator Sam Levinson — received a five-minute standing ovation from the audience. Critics, however, have taken a different approach – with many being quick to criticise the series for its explicit content and “regressive” narrative.A review by Variety proclaimed the series to play “like a sordid male fantasy” which “perpetuates the myth that pop stars are corporate puppets with no say in their own image-making”.

K.J. Yossman Less than eighteen months after Disney opened its first “Star Wars” themed hotel in Orlando, Fla. to much fanfare, the company has confirmed Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is set to cease operations. “Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is one of our most creative projects ever and has been praised by our guests and recognized for setting a new bar for innovation and immersive entertainment,” said a spokesperson for Disney, according to CNBC. “This premium experience gave us the opportunity to try new things on a smaller scale of 100 rooms, and we will take what we’ve learned to create future experiences that can reach more of our guests and fans.”

Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is closing.

About four years after it was announced by then chairman of Walt Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Bob Chapek and about a year after it officially opened, Disney revealed today that it would be closing the pricey (for guests, anyway) Star Wars themed Galactic Starcruiser experience in September. The news came on the same morning that Parks and Resorts boss Josh D’Amaro sent a note to Disney Parks, Experiences & Products employees confirming that Disney is abandoning its plan to move around 2,000 staffers and their families to central Florida from California.

Lucasfilm, has announced a new trading card game, Star Wars: Unlimited.Star Wars: Unlimited is set to release in 2024 described as a fast-paced, dynamic game that is easy to learn, but strategically deep. The trading card game will feature iconic heroes from the Star Wars universe, including already confirmed heroes like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia Organa and more; as well as villains like Darth Vader.Players can also expect ships and settings seen across the franchise – including from the various television series, comic books and video games, as well as the films.Announcing STAR WARS: Unlimited, a trading card game of unlimited possibilities!Join the clash between heroes and villains from across the STAR WARS galaxy! Learn more: https://t.co/Uc7UBwL0dN pic.twitter.com/Rhx0ktQmEN— Star Wars: Unlimited by FFG (@UnlimitedFFG) May 9, 2023“Ensuring this game was accessible to all players was key for us, so whether you are a casual player, competitor, or collector, there’s something for everyone in this game,” said Jim Cartwright, product strategy director.

For many years now Daniel Lopatin, a.k.a. Oneohtrix Point Never, has been involved in the world of TV and movie music, notably scoring the Safdie brothers' movies Good Time and Uncut Gems. Now he can add Star Wars to his resume.

The Force is strong with Carrie Fisher's family, friends and fans. On Thursday, May 4 – also known as "Star Wars Day" ("May the Fourth"), the late actress who played the iconic Princess Leia in the beloved film saga was honored with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her daughter, Billie Lourd, was in attendance and spoke about how much the honor would have meant to her mother.  "I'd like to say thank you so much to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for this incredible honor.