Movie and TV News
The latest Ahsoka episode should delight any fan of The Clone Wars. And fans of Anakin Skywalker / Hayden Christensen will also get their fill this time, actually we get Hayden Christensen’s best scenes in Disney Star Wars yet, much better than what Obi-Wan Kenobi gave us, Hayden gets substantial screentime in this episode. But then there are also space whales… a lot of them! Either way there is much to talk about again, so please click through to read my spoiler review for Shadow Warrior and let’s discuss the grand return of Anakin Skywalker (again)!
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I am very busy with Starfield but I did set apart some time today for Ahsoka of course. Fallen Jedi is the Ahsoka episode that will get people talking. The episode was light on plot and favored action over dialogue this time, which absolutely is a positive in this case. Baylan finally gets more screentime too and we learn a few things about him or at least what his mindset is, but of course there’s the one big thing that has people talking… so click through to read my spoiler review so we can all talk about that big thing!
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It’s already been a full week since the Ahsoka premiere… on to episode 3 then! Which was extremely short, only 29 minutes excluding the recap and credits. Still, there are quite a few things to talk about. Including what could be the Star Wars version of “jumping the shark”. So click through for my review of Time to Fly and lets discuss the latest Ahsoka episode!
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Pre-orders are now open for The Mandalorian Season One & Two Steelbook versions in both Blu-ray and 4K UHD. Click below for pre-order links!
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Dave Filoni’s first own live action series premiered last night! So how is Ahsoka, the series about Dave Filoni’s character he co-created with George Lucas all those many years ago? Also, does anyone who never watched a single Rebels episode even get what the series is all about? If you never liked Rebels, never cared for Rebels, or maybe watched a few episodes and hated it… chances are you may not want to bother with Ahsoka, it is a proper sequel to Rebels, even if you can watch Ahsoka without knowing too much about past events, you will only miss some context and background info and may not understand who this Ezra Bridger is and why everyone is searching for him.
And if you liked Rebels? Does Ahsoka deliver? Well…. how do I put it… we have to talk about a few things! So click through for my review of the first two episodes of Ahsoka!
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Ahsoka gets a two-episode premiere on August 23. Click through to check out the latest trailer and poster!
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Some stories are so incredible, you have a hard time believing them when you first hear them. Actor Jim Caviezel, who you may have seen in things like The Passion of the Christ or the tv series Person of Interest, is the main star of the small indie movie Sound of Freedom (about a former US government agent who rescues children from sex traffickers in Colombia), produced by a studio few will know, Angel Studios, and the movie only cost $14,500,000 to make. In interviews (on podcasts etc) Caviezel complained bitterly about mainstream Hollywood and how they try to sabotage the movie, by convincing theaters not to pick the movie up etc. In the same interviews Caviezel also said that the movie is tracking better than Indiana Jones in the theaters that picked up the movie, something I found very hard to believe. But… in fact, Sound of Freedom only plays in 2,600 theaters in the US, compared to the 4,600 that show Indiana Jones And The Dial of Destiny.
And now the punchline: Sound of Freedom opened on July 4th and immediately climbed to the top of the US box office, beating the $300 million (plus marketing) behemoth Indiana Jones And the Dial Of Destiny with a box office of $14.2 million vs $11.7 million. And this even though Sound of Freedom only plays in the aforementioned 2,600 theaters, 2,000 less than Indiana Jones. Sound of Freedom made $5,407 per theater, Indiana Jones just $2,543. So Caviezel was 100% correct when he said the movie is tracking better in the theaters that show both movies. Certainly a triumph for Caviezel and a major embarrassment for Lucasfilm and mainstream Hollywood that a smalltime indie movie with a miniscule budget about a topic that may be hard to swallow for some is beating Indiana Jones which just released a few days ago and earns more than twice the money in the theaters that show both.
The #1 movie at the domestic box office, beating Indiana Jones on day 4 of its release
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The box office numbers for Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny are in, and the opening weekend is the expected disaster. Indiana Jones earned just 60 million USD at the domestic box office. And overseas markets added another $70 million. Now the numbers are still preliminary, the final numbers could be off by +/- 1 or 2 million. Tracking numbers released yesterday said the movie would earn just $58.5 million domestic. Either way, this is the lowest end of the early box office projections.
So what does that mean for Disney and Lucasfilm? Will it mean anything? Head over to Chuck’s article if you want to discuss the movie itself. Here I want to focus on its financial performance and especially if the movie should lead to any personnel changes at Lucasfilm. This is not about whether the movie is good or bad, this is purely about its expected massive financial loss and what results that could have. So click through for a discussion!
Indiana Jones and the Bottle of Booze
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It’s not Star Wars, but definitely related to the fanbase (and Star Wars news is slow right now…). So let’s discuss the latest Indiana Jones release: The Dial of Destiny. Click through for a spoiler discussion. How did you like it? How did Old Indy hold up? How did young Indy hold up? After seeing it last night I thought it was a nice improvement over The Kindom of the Crystal Skull in both story and effects (the CGI in Crystal Skull was pretty bad), and de-aging tech has come leaps and bounds from even from the recent The Book of Boba Fett Luke Skywalker.
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It’s a weekend, not much going on… but maybe you all want to have a fun time reading the latest crazy Star Wars rumors! We did this previously, where we discussed the rumor that Disney wants to sell Lucasfilm or is at least considering it (verdict was: extremely unlikely), but the rumor mill keeps on spinning and there are all new rumors making the rounds, and they are just as entertaining! So click through to enter the Star Wars Rumor Zone… this week mostly about The Acolyte!
You are about the enter the Star Wars Rumor Zone!
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You can’t make this up… at least one recently announced Star Wars movie is already delayed and has been pushed back!
Now, to be fair, one reason could be the writers strike, which has currently halted many productions. Another reason may be James Cameron’s schedule and how much time he needs to finish his 100 Avatar sequels. Disney has shuffled around almost all of the upcoming Disney, Marvel, Avatar and Star Wars movies! Click through to find out more!
Coming to a galaxy near you somewhat later…
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Even though this is not Star Wars, I feel that many Star Wars fans also grew up with Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones and love at least the three classic movies from the 1980s. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was met with a much more lukewarm reaction 15 years ago, but it ultimately almost made $800 million worldwide, which means it was a success and made money. But now industry analysts have posted updated opening weekend box office projections (The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline have articles about the latest projections) for Indiana Jones And The Dial of Destiny, in which Phoebe Waller-Bridge will star alongside Harrison Ford, and the numbers are brutal: Indiana Jones 5 is currently projected to make $60 million on its opening weekend in North America, this is way down from previous projections. Let that sink in… the movie cost at least $300 million, add marketing costs and this movie easily cost Lucasfilm/Disney $400 million. And domestic opening weekend is just $60 million. Click through for more!
Phoebe Waller-Bridge will be Harrison Ford’s co-star in Indy 5 as Indy’s goddaughter
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As the title says the brand new Star Wars series showrun by Dave Filoni and featuring Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka will have its first episode released on August 23rd, which is once again a Wednesday. Ahsoka will reunite with her friends from Rebels, including Sabine (played by Natasha Liu Bordizzo), Hera (played by Ewan McGregor’s partner Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and ultimately also Ezra. Thrawn (played by Lars Mikkelsen) will be featured in some capacity and yes, we also get to meet yet even more Order 66 survivors, late Ray Stevenson plays the Order 66 survivor, his character is described as being some kind of “mercenary”. Anakin Skywalker is also rumored to be featured, how exactly is not sure, and Temuera Morrison will reprise his role as Rex. Inquisitors will also return. Let’s hope this time they will act a bit more professionally than in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Are you excited about the brand new series? Or are you a bit wary after Lucasfilm’s recent track record with their Star Wars shows? This is Dave Filoni’s first big live action project, he previously collaborated with Jon Favreau on The Mandalorian. Ahsoka, together with The Mandalorian and probably even Skeleton Crew is meant to culminate in the yet untitled big crossover Mandoverse movie directed by Dave Filoni. So a lot will hinge on the success and popularity of Ahsoka.
Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka and Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine in an Empire Magazine exclusive set photo. Source: Empire Magazine
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Empire magazine is featuring two covers for the upcoming Ahsoka series. Get the full look right here, as well as an inside look at the upcoming series.
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The Mandalorian season 3 is still on the Nielsen streaming charts, barely so, my guess is that this is the last time The Mandalorian will be on the charts until the next season is released. It is currently in 9th place on the original series charts with 319 million viewing minutes. How does that compare to season 2? Not very favorably, not at all. Season 2 already had more viewing minutes (and a higher average), but after the finale was released this gap only widened. And now the gap has become quite massive. Also, Peter Pan & Wendy is already massively shedding viewers and chances are it will drop out of the charts next week, and it only entered the charts last week, and at the box office Disney has no reason to rejoice either. Click through for more!
Luke in The Mandalorian season 2 was a ratings hit
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Nielsen added the The Mandalorian season 3 finale last week, so why take a look at the Nielsen Streaming Charts now? Because it is quite interesting to see if The Mandalorian season 3 has strong legs or not. Especially in light of the fact that season 2 still had more than 1 billion viewing minutes one week after the Luke Skywalker finale was released. So how does season 3 compare? And how does Disney’s Peter Pan & Wendy movie perform which was added to the charts this week? I will also discuss box office projections for The Little Mermaid, for the people who are interested in how Disney is doing. Click through for more!
Viewership for The Mandalorian season 3 evaporates one week after the finale
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Another week, another update for the Nielsen Streaming Charts. They added episode 8 of The Mandalorian season 3, the finale. So how did it do and how does it compare to the previous season? And how does The Mandalorian, how do all the Star Wars series, compare to the Marvel shows? I added some charts to visualize all the numbers so you can better see how season 3 and 2 compare when it comes to viewership and how the various Star Wars and Marvel season finales compare! Click through for more!
The season 3 finale had lots of explosions
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Bob Iger announced a while ago that as part of Disney’s new cost saving program that not only would the company fire thousands of people, cut content production budget and space out shows much more, and, as revealed yesterday, surprisingly close down the Star Wars hotel after mere 18 months, it was also announced that content would be removed from Disney+ to save costs. Now you may wonder how a company can save costs by removing content that is already produced. Simple answer: residuals, i.e the people involved with the show do get some money as long as a series is available on streaming. Back in the day residuals were paid to creatives when a movie or show was broadcast on tv, even repeats, with streaming it is of course somewhat different. Anyway, so what original Disney+ series will get removed from the service? Click through for the full story!
Willow was celebrated online for its queer representation
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Visions volume 2 was released almost two weeks ago and I took me this long to go through all the shorts, which usually are 11-15 minutes long give or take a minute. Still, I found it difficult this time to watch more than one at a time. In my opinion Visions Volume 2 is a lot worse than Volume 1 and Volume 2 not only highlights what is wrong with entertainment in general these days, but also highlights why Visions, which is, in principle, a very good idea, has completely gone off the rails. So click through for my take on Visions volume 2, the good, the bad and the very ugly.
Star Wars teddy bears
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We are close to the finish line! Nielsen added the seventh season 3 The Mandalorian episode to their charts, which was part one of the grand finale! And the ratings are down compared to last week. It seems Lizzo and Jack Black convinced quite a few fans to tune out and not to bother with the finale. Click through for more!
Din Djarin tells Bo-Katan that she can have his show
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Nielsen have updated their weekly streaming charts! And this time the Lizzo/Jack Black episode was added! So how did the episode do? It’s the one thing you all wanted to know about. Here is the answer! Click through for all the details!
Artist’s impression of a scene from “Guns for Hire”
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Volume 2 of Star Wars: Visions is now available on Disney Plus.
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As you may know Return of the Jedi was rereleased in theaters to celebrate its 40th anniversary. And without much promotion by Disney the rerelease had a pretty decent weekend for such an old movie almost everyone will already have watched at least one time in their life, it earned almost $4.7 million, which was good enough for the fifth position.
US box office was pretty slow this weekend, the Super Mario Bros. movie still dominates the charts (making it painfully obvious how much Disney has failed with its recent animated movies, since Super Mario Bros. is obliterating them, Super Mario Bros. just crossed the $1 billion global box office threshold this weekend). The somewhat slower weekend however made it possible for Return of the Jedi to climb all the way up to 5th place. Actually, according to Box Office Mojo Return of the Jedi has the highest per theater average of all movies, even a little higher than Super Mario Bros. because it is just a limited release, with only 475 theaters showing the movie in the US. In comparison, the box office flop for Hasbro that is Dungeons & Dragons is in 2,709 theaters, and made less money than Return of the Jedi.
Anyway, the decent performance of the Return of the Jedi rerelease is perhaps a sign that Star Wars is not as dead some people believe it to be. But then again, it’s one of the classic Lucas movies.
Not as dead as you may think… screenshot from the 4K scan of a 1980s film reel of the movie, i.e. the original theatrical version
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Another Friday, another update for the Nielsen Streaming Charts. This week they added episode 5 of The Mandalorian season 3, which was about the pirate attack on Nevarro which gets repelled by the Mandalorians. So how did the episode do? Pretty well. The Mandalorian is #4 on the general streaming charts and #3 on the original series charts with 878 million minutes. Netflix’ #1 series The Night Agent obliterates the competition with 3.06 billion minutes though. But how does The Mandalorian season 3 compare to season 2 and the other Star Wars shows? Click through to find out!
The Mandos defend Nevarro against space pirates
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It’s time again for yet another look at the Nielsen streaming charts. How does The Mandalorian fare with its fourth season 3 episode? Pretty well! While the absolute number, 795 million minutes, may seem pretty low (last week was more than 1.1 billion minutes) episode 4 which was added to the charts is also the shortest season 3 episode clocking in at just over 30 minutes of running time. This is good enough for #5 on the general streaming charts and #3 on the original series charts. So how does this compare to season 2 and other Star Wars shows? Also, I attempt to arrive at an estimate for the actual viewership numbers in the US and worldwide by using dark science, but no cloning! Click through to find out more!
Episode 4 featured an Order 66 flashback with Ahmed Best as a Jedi
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