The Force Awakens update + Gwendoline’s Phasma dress!

The Force Awakens update

It is only two weeks to go until the official release of Star Wars The Force Awakens on December 18. As a Star Wars fan I am starting to wonder what is going to be a bigger event: Christmas, the New Year or The Force Awakens. One thing is for sure, I am not going to finish that software project for a client I am have been working on. Late 2015 certainly is slipping into Spring 2016. So what news has there been for the Force Awakens?

Director J.J. Abrams had stated that he has screened the movie to the Disney executives including Bob Iger. Their response was positive, though no mention if they thought it was as good as A New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back. In the meantime the movie has also received its rating, PG-13, which has some worried it will not gain as much at the box office. The running time has been confirmed to be 136 minutes. Its slightly longer than I would have thought Disney would allow, but they did the same with the first Pirates movie in 2003.

Meanwhile J.J. Abrams has taken flak for removing scenes featuring Lupita Nyong’o as pirate Maz Kanata. She is still in the movie, but her role has been reduced leading some to speculate about the reason why. Producer Kathleen Kennedy stated the actress suffered with the idea of working with CGI and that was the reason for cutting most scenes. To me the idea sounds preposterous, but we won’t know the truth for some time.

Captain Phasma

Finally producer Kathleen Kennedy has admitted Captain Phasma will return for the sequels thus revealing the character will survive the upcoming movie. This is what she said “She’s an important character, a baddie in the best sense of the word.”. Meanwhile Gwendoline Christie, who plays Captain Phasma, has gotten a dress by Giles Deacon inspired by the upcoming movie. It reminds me a bit of what Carrie Fisher wore in A New Hope, with a lot of Phasma chrome added. Giles is of course still dating Gwendoline Christie.