George Lucas gives Star Wars Billions to Charity

 

Following the extraordinary news of Disney’s multi-billion dollar acquisition of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise rights, George Lucas will according to a Lucasfilm spokesperson be donating

“The majority of the (Disney acquisition) proceeds to his philanthropic endeavours”.

Confirming these intentions George Lucas himself released the following statement:

“For 41 years, the majority of my time and money has been put into the company. As I start a new chapter in my life, it is gratifying that I have the opportunity to devote more time and resources to philanthropy.”

Lucas has been heavily involved in educational charities for many years and had announced as early as 2010 his intent to dedicating the majority of his wealth to “improving education”.

Of course, if you can think of a better way for him to atone for inflicting Jar Jar Binks on adults than paying to educate your children then please do let Mr Lucas know….

Mark Hamill talks about New Star Wars Films

In a recent interview Star Wars leading man Mark Hamill aka Luke Skywalker, has admitted that he and co-star Carrie Fisher have known since August about the recent sensational news that the Star Wars Saga is now expanding to include Episodes VII, VIII and IX.

 ”[L]ast August, [Big George] asked Carrie and I to have lunch with him and we did. I thought he was going to talk about either his retirement or the Star Wars TV series that I’ve heard about — which I don’t think we were going to be involved in anyway, because that takes place between the prequels and the ones we were in and, if Luke were in them, he’d be anywhere from a toddler to a teenager so they’d get an age-appropriate actor — or the 3-D releases.

So when he said, “We decided we’re going to do Episodes VII, VIII, and IX,” I was just gobsmacked. “What? Are you nuts?!” [Laughs] I can see both sides of it. Because in a way, there was a beginning, a middle, and an end and we all lived happily ever after and that’s the way it should be — and it’s great that people have fond memories, if they do have fond memories.

But on the other hand, there’s this ravenous desire on the part of the true believers to have more and more and more material. It’s one of those things: people either just don’t care for it or are passionate about it.

I guess that defines what cult movies are all about. We’ll see. I’m anxious to know what’s going on, but the main story [yesterday] was the sale to Disney. I have mixed feelings about that, but they haven’t done badly by Marvel and the Muppets and Pixar. It’s one of those big decisions that at first seems unusual but then the more you look at it, the more it makes sense.”

Hamill was unable to offer any information as to possible storylines or whether the new adventures will feature returning roles for original trilogy cast members but confirmed that Lucas had been meeting with writers at that time months before Disney’s shock acquisition of Lucasfilm.

The LA Times has since reported that Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy  were indeed meeting with several

“well-known screenwriters with experience creating big-budget Hollywood films who were pitching ideas for  new story, not ones adapted from existing Star Wars Books.”

Bryan Singer Directs X-Men Days Of Future Past

Bryan Singer will officially be taking over directing duties on X-Men Days of Future Past. Having provided an original treatment and produced successful franchise reboot X-Men First Class for director Matthew Vaughan, the two will now swap roles for the next film. Vaughan has provided a treatment for the next film and remains on-board as a producer but will hand the reigns of the franchise back to Bryan Singer.

Singer previously directed the first two X-Men films and his return as director adds some credence to recent rumours of a possible return for previous cast members Patrick Stewart, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin and Rebecca Romjin.

Fans may be slightly nervous about the loss of Matthew Vaughn after such an impressive job with First Class, particularly as Singer has only directed the long delayed Jack The Giant Killer and an ill-fated Munsters reboot TV pilot since 2008’s disappointing Valkyrie. Hopefully he can recapture the sparkling for of his early efforts for his next X-Men adventure.

Ghostbusters 3 Sequel Delayed Again

The never-ending saga of Dan Aykroyd’s long proposed plans for a Ghostbusters 3 sequel continues as Sony now admits that recent reports that filming would begin as early as next summer were in fact overly optimistic.  The studio has confessed that they were unrealistically ambitious in scheduling filming to start so soon and will now wait till March 2013 to make final decisions about the future of the project.

A version of the script by Tropic Thunder and Men In Black 3 screenwriter Etan Cohen remains in place, having been deemed more acceptable than Dan Aykroyd’s previous drafts. But of course it will not feature the ever reluctant Bill Murray who has consistently ruled out reprising his role as Dr Peter Venkman in a third instalment to the beloved franchise.

The earliest shooting will now start is Autumn 2013, giving Dan Aykroyd plenty of time to drop inaccurate information and increasingly desperate hints into interviews.

Jennifer Garner joins Dallas Buyers Club Cast

Jennifer Garner is in talks to join former Ghosts of Girlfrined’s Past co-star Matthew McConaughey in 1980s AIDS drama The Dallas Buyers Club. The film has been in development for a long time and once had Hilary Swank attached to star in the role of a doctor, with Garner now set to take over. The film focuses on the attempts of an AIDS- afflicted electrician (McConaughey) to illegally smuggle potentially lifesaving medicine in America.

Matthew McConaughey has recently lost a shocking amount of weight for the role, transforming himself into a gaunt shadow of the hunky physique he showed off in his Magic Mike male stripper role. Casting continues with Young Victoria Director Jean-Marc Vallee helming the project