George Lucas Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Those Disney+ subscribers going through Star Wars withdrawal won’t have to wait any longer as the streamer has set Aug. 23 for the premiere of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Ahsoka series.

Star Wars: Jedi Survivor has been confirmed to be in the year 9 BBY. That so happened to be the same year that the recent Obi-Wan Kenobi show is set in. 10 years after the events of Revenge Of The Sith and 9 before A New Hope this is pretty uncharted territory for Star Wars canon.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Mark Hamill’s days as Luke Skywalker are basically over. During an interview on CBS News’ “Sunday Morning,” the “Star Wars” icon said the franchise no longer needs the hero who helped make it a worldwide phenomenon. “Well, you never say never, but I just don’t see any reason to,” Hamill said about reprising the role of Luke Skywalker. “Let me put it that way: I mean, they have so many stories to tell, they don’t need Luke anymore. I had my time, and that’s good. But that’s enough.” Hamill was the face of George Lucas’ original “Star Wars” trilogy alongside Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. He returned to the role decades later at the very end of 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” and he was a key character in 2017’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” That film ended with Luke’s death, but Hamill returned as a Force ghost in 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker” and then played a younger Luke via motion capture and de-aging visual effects in “The Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett.”

Harrison Ford has more than just acting skills.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the few Star Wars Disney+ series which pays direct homage to the original George Lucas film canon, versus series such as The Mandalorian which heavily incorporate the animated lore created by Dave Filoni.

Star Wars” was lying crunched up in a plastic bag in a London home.Now fully restored, the iconic gown is going up for public auction for the first time and is expected to fetch at least $2 million.The medieval-style dress worn by Carrie Fisher in 1977’s “Star Wars: A New Hope” is the only Princess Leia outfit from that film which has ever been discovered.“When I was first told about the dress, I simply couldn’t believe it,” props collector Stephen Lane told The Post. “I’ve been collecting for 30 years and I think it’s one of the most exciting finds of my career.”It had been kept by a member of the British crew as a memento, while many of the other costumes from the film were thrown away.

Still a fan of sand? Natalie Portman revealed she’d be interested in reprising her role in the Star Wars universe — but someone has to approach her about it, first.  

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.”).

It was a great night for Disney as Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny had a smash debut in its World Premiere Thursday evening at the Cannes Film Festival where the June 30th release received a warm 5 minute standing ovation, especially for Harrison Ford in his swan song in the title role he started playing 40 + years ago. There noticeably to witness the French love and affection was none other than Disney boss Bob Iger attending his first-ever Cannes Festival (believe it or not) and even taking his own photos during the ovation for the movie. At the Carlton Beach after party I told him Deadline had just been the first to post its review, a rave (from our colleague Stephanie Bunbury) and you could see the absolute relief on his face. “You have made me very happy to hear that, ” he told me, and he meant it. All this came on the same day Disney took another shot at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis by announcing the cancellation of a plan to move several thousand California employees to Florida. The Cannes respite must have been nice.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is a dutifully eager but ultimately rather joyless piece of nostalgic hokum. It’s the fifth installment in the “Indiana Jones” franchise, and though it has its quota of “relentless” action, it rarely tries to match (let alone top) the ingeniously staged kinetic bravura of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” How could it? “Raiders,” whatever one thinks of it as a movie (I always found it a trace impersonal in its ’40s-action-serial-on-steroids excitement), is arguably the most influential blockbuster of the last 45 years, even more so than “Star Wars.” Back in 1977, George Lucas took us through the looking glass of what would become our all-fantasy-all-the-time movie culture. But it was Steven Spielberg, teaming up with Lucas in “Raiders,” who introduced the structural DNA of the one-thing-after-another, action-movie-as-endless-set-piece escapist machine. This means that “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” isn’t just coming after four previous “Indiana Jones” films. It’s coming after four decades of high-priced Hollywood action decadence, from the “Fast and Furious” series to the “Mission: Impossible” and “Terminator” and “Lara Croft” and “Transformers” and latter-day “Bond” films (not to mention the Marvel space operas), all of which owe a boundless debt to the aggro zap of the “Raiders” aesthetic.

Cannes Film Festival, is about the years and the mileage. Then it’s about the years some more because the semi-supernatural twist this time around involves time travel.The film is full of action, stunts and escapes from Nazis, because that’s what “Indiana Jones” movies are. It relies heavily on the charm and charisma of Harrison Ford because of course it does.

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is mostly encouraging. The fifth Harrison Ford-starring Indy flick doesn’t open theatrically until the week of June 30, but Cannes audiences got the first look. “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” debuted at the 2008 Cannes Festival, however, that was days away from its Memorial Day weekend launch.

In what is the modern-day equivalent of a film getting a fancy new special edition DVD prior to a sequel or a remake, Disney will be adding a slew of “Indiana Jones” content to its Disney+ streaming platform in the lead-up to “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” With the fifth Harrison Ford-starring period piece actioner set to premiere in Cannes on May 18 and worldwide on June 30, the platform will host the previous four Steven Spielberg-directed and George Lucas-produced “Indiana Jones” films and the decades-old television episodic beginning May 31.“Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark,” originally titled just “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” will join “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” Alongside those Lucasfilm-produced and Paramount-released blockbusters will be “The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.”Airing on ABC in the mid-1990s, “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” were hour-long episodes showcasing Indy in two stages of his life, as a nine-year-old played by Corey Carrier and a 20-year-old played by Sean Patrick Flanery. The stories concerned Indy making his way through significant moments in history and would be bookended by a 93-year-old Indiana Jones (George Hall).

uttered by a rather minor character named General Dodonna (played by the late actor Alex McCrindle) in the franchise’s first film “Star Wars: A New Hope” in 1977. The memorable line was delivered as members of the Rebel Alliance planned to attack the Galactic Empire’s Death Star battle station at the film’s climax. Since then, the phrase has found its way into different aspects of everyday life.

Leave it to Paul Schrader to keep criticizing his filmmaking peers well into his seventies. IndieWire reports (via Interview Magazine) that Schrader had some choice words about other New Hollywood directors revisiting their previous films, and warned about the “slippery slope” of fooling around with finished products.

regrets editing the guns out of “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and digitally swapping them with walkie-talkies for the 20th anniversary re-release in 2002. “That was a mistake,” a repentant Spielberg said of his misguided attempt to reduce the ending’s peril.

A pre-taped message from Harrison Ford introduced an extended action clip from Lucasfilms’ highly anticipated Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny during Disney’s CinemaCon presentation here in Las Vegas this morning. Said the veteran actor, “Hello CinemaCon! Playing Indiana Jones all these years has meant the world to me. (The movies) have adventure and heart — and for some reason snakes.” In a charming call back to the original Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ford added, “Why did it have to be snakes?”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Steven Spielberg has seen “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the fifth installment in the long-running adventure franchise and, notably, the first entry not to be directed by Spielberg himself. “The Wolverine” and “Ford v Ferrari” director James Mangold took over filmmaking duties on “Dial of Destiny.” Anyone worried a Spielberg-less “Indiana Jones” movie might not deliver the goods can now rest easy, as Spielberg himself loved the latest sequel. “I just had that experience two nights ago,” Spielberg said at the Time 100 Summit when asked what it’s like watching an “Indiana Jones” movie he didn’t direct. “Bob Iger had a screening for a lot of the Disney executives and I came to the screening along with the director James Mangold. Everybody loved the movie. It’s really, really a good Indiana Jones film. I’m really proud of what Jim has done with it.”

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran actor Richard Dreyfuss, best known for his Oscar-winning turn in The Goodbye Girl, has signed with Innovative Artists for representation.

“Killers of the Flower Moon” will screen out-of-competition on May 20, while James Mangold’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the final installment in the franchise begun in 1982 by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, will also screen in an out-of-competition slot.French director and actress Maïwenn will have the opening-night film with “Jeanne du Barry,” which stars Johnny Depp in his first film since his court battle with Amber Heard. And Pedro Almodovar’s short film “Strange Way of Life,” which stars Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, was also confirmed in advance of Thursday’s announcement.Other films screening out of competition include “The Idol,” directed by Sam Levinson and starring The Weeknd, and “Occupied City,” a film about Amsterdam from British director Steve McQueen.The Un Certain Regard section, which is typically devoted to films from less established directors, includes Australian director Warwick Thornton’s “The New Boy,” starring Cate Blanchett.Additional films are typically added to the Cannes lineup in the weeks leading up to the festival.

Star Wars” villain on the upcoming Disney+ series “Ahsoka,” Lucasfilm announced on Saturday as part of the Star Wars Celebration fan convention in London. Mikkelsen also joined the cast of “Ahsoka” onstage at the end of the panel. Thrawn was originally created by author Timothy Zahn as part of a series of Star Wars novels released in the 1990s that covered the events following 1983’s “Return of the Jedi.” In those books, Thrawn was a cunning and ruthless Grand Admiral in the Empire who takes control of what’s left of the Imperial fleet and mounts a counter-offensive to take down the New Republic.

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny has been revealed – check it out below.The fifth and final film in the series is due to hit cinemas on June 30, and was first teased with a 30-second ad during the 2023 Super Bowl in February.The full trailer sees Harrison Ford’s legendary character tempted out of retirement and sent on a mission alongside his goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge).The synopsis for Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny reads: “Experience the return of legendary hero, Indiana Jones, in the fifth instalment of this beloved swashbuckling series of films. Finding himself in a new era, approaching retirement, Indy wrestles with fitting into a world that seems to have outgrown him.“But as the tentacles of an all-too-familiar evil return in the form of an old rival, Indy must don his hat and pick up his whip once more to make sure an ancient and powerful artefact doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”Watch the trailer below.Directed by James Mangold, Indy’s fifth outing has been described as the final instalment in the series.

the magazine reported. Meanwhile, Kanye “Ye” West, who saw business deals crumble with Adidas, Gap, Balenciaga, JPMorgan Chase, Foot Locker and more following a series of antisemitic comments, reportedly costing him $1.5 billion, was the only star to fall off the list this year.Just 14 entertainment and sports celebrities have worked their way to billionaire status since Forbes started ranking the world’s richest people, with eight of them climbing to those heights in the past three years.That’s a significant change from the first list in 1982, when the only entertainers among the richest Americans were Yoko Ono and Bob Hope.

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” during the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase at the Star Wars Celebration convention in London on Friday.Described as the final film in the franchise, “Indiana Jones 5” finds Harrison Ford reprising his iconic role as the legendary hero archaeologist grapples with a new era (1969) and new characters (Phoebe Waller-Bridge plays his goddaughter Helena Shaw). The globe-trotting trek will take Indy to Morocco and Sicily.

The Cannes Film Festival has confirmed that it will announce the Official Selection for its 76th edition on April 13 in Paris.

Cannes has confirmed that Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny will get its world premiere on May 18 at the festival.

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, has opened the door for a return to the sci-fi franchise after ruling it out in previous interviews.Neeson last played the character during a cameo in Disney+ spin-off series Obi-Wan Kenobi, which was released in 2022, 23 years after his Star Wars debut. He’s since denied rumours of a Qui-Gon standalone show or movie, but when NME recently asked if he’d consider coming back should creator George Lucas be directing, he said: “I would certainly have to think about it.”Neeson went on to describe his dissatisfaction with Disney’s handling of the franchise – Disney bought Lucasfilm, the company behind Star Wars, from Lucas for $4.05 billion in 2012. They have released five Star Wars films and four live-action TV series since, none of which have been helmed by Lucas.“There’s so many spin-offs now.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The crack of a bullwhip may soon echo around the Palais. Fifteen years after opening the Cannes Film Festival, the world’s most famous archeologist is expected to return to the Croisette, and follow in the footsteps of 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick” as this edition’s splashy Hollywood blockbuster premiere. The festival has invited Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and it certainly boasts all the right ingredients to make for a glamorous and memorable moment. Executive produced by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, this installment will reportedly be Harrison Ford’s last time playing the titular character. Ford stars opposite an attractive international cast, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen, among others. James Mangold, the director of “Logan” and “Ford vs. Ferrari,” slides behind the camera on this one. Details of the film’s plot are being kept under wraps that are tighter than those of a mummy, but based on the trailer this one does find Dr. Jones facing off against former Nazis in a flashback sequence that uses de-aging technology to zap Ford back in time.

Ahmed Best is getting a shot at redemption by returning to the Star Wars universe as a Jedi in The Mandalorian.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Bernardo Rondeau, senior director of film programs for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, is exiting to take a similar job as curator of film programs at the under-construction Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in downtown Los Angeles. Tuesday night’s screening of “Lawrence of Arabia” was the final film he introduced as head of film programs, and Rondeau will start his new position on Monday. However, Rondeau, who started at the Academy Museum in 2014, will return this summer to present his final program with the Summer of Music series, which will encompass concert films from 1959-2020. He previously served as assistant curator for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and has been an associate programmer at AFI Fest.

After having explored George Lucas, David Lynch, Hitchcock, and even William Friedkin in previous documentaries, Alexandre O. Phillippe turns his attention towards an unlikely subject, William Shatner, in his newest film, “You Can Call Me Bill.” Framed around a free-associative conversation with the famed actor, Phillipe’s new documentary might be catnip for any Trekkie but also represents something of a regression after the filmmaker’s probing “Lynch/Oz” last year.  Continue reading ‘You Can Call Me Bill’ Review: Alexandre O.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic “You Can Call Me Bill” is the latest documentary from director Alexandre O. Philippe, who specializes in plucking tasty subjects out of the pop cosmos and doing deep-dive meditations on them. Philippe often leans into horror (“Memory: The Origins of Alien,” “Doc of the Dead,” and his greatest film, “78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene”), but even with other subjects (“The People vs. George Lucas,” “Lynch/Oz”), what he’s always looking for is the heady ineffable curveball insight. So if you go into his new movie, which is all about William Shatner, presuming that it’s going to be something other than a conventional portrait of William Shatner, you’d be quite correct. The movie is built around an interview with the legendary 91-year-old actor, still vigorous and voluble, with a seize-the-day cornball glow to him. In “You Can Call Me Bill,” Shatner sits under the hot lights, with the camera close to his face, talking, talking, and talking — about life, death, acting, fame, love, desolation, and trees.

Bruce Willis's wife has asked paparazzi to "keep your space" and not yell at the actor, who was recently diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). In an Instagram video, Emma Heming Willis said members of the press attempted to speak to her husband when he was getting coffee with friends. "If you are someone that is looking after someone with dementia, you know how difficult and stressful it can be to get someone out into the world and just to navigate them safely, even just to get a cup of coffee," she said.

Bruce Willis's wife has asked paparazzi to "keep your space" and not yell at the actor, who was recently diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). In an Instagram video, Emma Heming Willis said members of the press attempted to speak to her husband when he was getting coffee with friends. "If you are someone that is looking after someone with dementia, you know how difficult and stressful it can be to get someone out into the world and just to navigate them safely, even just to get a cup of coffee," she said.

ABBA’s heading across the world!

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor ABBA’s ‘Voyage’ virtual concert — which opened in a specially built London arena last May and has sold more than 1 million tickets — will go on a global tour, Universal Music Group chairman Lucian Grainge confirmed during the company’s earnings call on Thursday. “Plans are now in development to take ‘ABBA Voyage’ around the world,” Grainge said on the call. Presumably, that means the show will be playing in specially modified arenas in major cities across the globe. Contacted by Variety, reps for ABBA and Universal, the group’s label, did not immediately have further information. While details are slim and the news is not a shock, it is the first official confirmation that the show — a multi-multi-million-dollar project, nearly six years in the making, that saw George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic using motion-capture technology to create “ABBA-tars” of the group as they looked in 1979 playing a 90-minute concert of their most-loved songs — will play somewhere besides the London theater. While technically not a hologram show, “Voyage” represents a new peak in that type of technology — the four bandmembers, who are now in their seventies, spent many hours performing for the motion-capture cameras to appear as lifelike as possible. It has received rave reviews nearly across the board.