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We’ve been reporting off and on about Star Tours II: The Adventures Continue coming to Disneyland and Walt Disney World this summer. The old ride used to feature a trip to Endor that went awry when the robotic pilot had a little problem with his navigational programming, never really making it to the destination promised. In the new version, the destination is truly unknown as there are now 54 different experiences that travelers will get when on board. The film that accompanied the motion based simulator (similar to those used in flight training) was in 2D, but the new one will be in 3D where guests will no doubt feel like they are actually there. The attraction opens at Disney Hollywood Studios in Florida on May 20th, the same weekend as Star Wars Weekends 2011 debuts, and June 3, 2011 at Disneyland California.

However, due to the popularity, Disney wants to extend a contest to Star Wars fans by allowing people this weekend to sign up on their site for a...

Not sure if you knew this or not, but today is actually an unofficial holiday for Star Wars. The date chosen by a rather clever pun on the series’ most popular phrase, “May the Fourth Be With You.” While there are no specific plans for LucasFilms to celebrate the day, Lucas did release a statement that said that they are thrilled that people still enjoy the movies and have picked a day to express that enjoyment. After all, there aren’t many films that have a specific day named after them, even if you won’t find it in most calendars.

But besides the pun, why the fourth of May? Well it was actually a mistake by German TV when they translated an interview with George Lucas. They were quoting “May the Force Be With You” and actually misinterpreted the line as “We are with you on May 4th” or in German, “Am 4. Mai sind wir bei thnen” And the first Star Wars Day was born.

The date has given some local venues a chance to celebrate with some Star Wars fun. Since...

The music of Star Wars is pretty much engraved in the souls of the fans that love the series and that’s all due to one man, John Williams. He created a memorable score for all the films, filling each scene with happiness, triumph, danger, fear, and a ton of other emotions. Without it, the action would have been lifeless. Well, now as a tribute to the works of the man himself, the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles will be hosting Star Wars: The Concert this summer for two special engagements, a show that is returning to the US for the first time in a long time.

The narrator will be the character who oddly enough admitted he was bad at telling stories, C3PO’s alter ego, Anthony Daniels, who tours with the show and recites the tale of all six movies, shortened down to two hours. Daniels says that the story has been cleaned up to fit the schedule without losing the most important parts. He also says that it will be much more understandable, folding up some of the...

LucasArts will go into a long term contract with Epic Games, who makes the Unreal Engine 3.0, which is a high tech gaming developer’s platform that will allow their games to be created for the mobile, PC and the consoles. The gaming engine, named after Epic’s wildly popular game Unreal, is licensed to various companies for their developers to write games without having to worry about the nuts and bolts of interfacing with the various components, but rather focusing on the game itself. There is no word on what LucasArts will develop with the award winning foundation software, but we are sure it will be pretty cool. The Unreal Engine is one of the best out there.

First it was Han Solo in carbonite from Empire Strikes Back, then it was George Lucas, and now another creative business type has joined in the fray. Who you ask? Why Steve Jobs of course. The flamboyant CEO of Apple is seemingly dipped in the deep freeze for an iPhone case. It will cost you $35...

Can a real AT-AT be built life size and fully functional? A man in Oklahoma wants to find out. Michael Koehler, a Star Wars fanatic is working up plans to build the monstrosity as a way to unite Sci-Fi fans and generally create a rallying cry from a national project.

For those of you not as Star Wars literate, the AT-AT (All Terrain Armored Transport) are also known as Imperial Walkers. They were the big dog like robots that towered above the rebels on Hoth in the Empire Strikes Back. They could crush anything with their massive feet, while shooting lasers out of their “noses.” A pilot would sit in the head portion and drive the tank with legs over the rebellion forces. Heavily armored, Luke and company found the only way to bring them down was to basically trip them by using a grappling hook and tow cable or to put a grenade in their belly, through a convenient bottom door.

The estimated 73 foot vehicle has already been created at Star Tours in Orlando...

It didn’t look like an x-wing trying to pick off a tie fighter with short laser cannon bursts, but it was a laser weapon, bringing us closer to the Star Wars realm. In this version, it’s more of an unseen steady beam that when targeted at enemies can cause extreme burning, and perhaps even explosions if aimed at the right location (such as gas motors, etc). The US Navy is currently testing such a weapon on the USS Paul Foster. Normally, water serves to hamper such a beam, but this one is able to withstand the issues and work as directed. While gun mounts are not yet being placed on every ship, the military is hopeful after positive results that this could be a new tool in their arsenal, especially against sea pirates. In the video, you can see the test performed by the Navy on April 6th against a mock ship. As you can see, it did some serious firestarting.


Earlier we mentioned...

You wouldn’t think of George Lucas as having a daughter that would be into something like Freestyle Cage Fighting, but she is and she’s quite good at it. In fact, she holds a record in 1-1 professional MMA fighting and beat her last opponent in a three round unanimous decision. Amanda Lucas, who is the filmmaker’s adopted oldest daughter, will be returning to the ring this Saturday in Shawnee, OH where she takes on Heather Martin.

For those of you wondering what this has to do with Star Wars, beyond being Lucas’ daughter is that Amanda was part of all three movies. In Phantom Menace, she played the voice of Tey How (a communications officer for the trade federation ship) and Diva Funquita (a dancer and assistant working for Gardulla the Elder). In Attack of the Clones, she was uncreditted as Adnama (a guest at the Outlander Club that Anakin and Obi-Wan visited while looking for the assassin) and in Revenge of the Sith, played Terr Taneel, who was the Senex...

It wasn’t long ago that 20th Century Fox, the studio that produces Star Wars, sued Battlestar Galactica over copyright infringement. But the love for BSG, both old and new, could not be snuffed out and the Clone Wars writers and supervising director Dave Filoni have managed to sneak some references in there without too much of an uproar.

For instance, in the original Battlestar, the red glow eyed metal soldiers would answer every order with “By your command” in a very robotic voice, a phrase you may have heard a Separatist tactical droid reply in the animated series. Since both of them sound very metallic, it seemed only natural to have them acknowledge their orders in a similar manner as a tribute.

But the connection between the tactical droids and the classic series doesn’t end there. According to Filoni, who spoke to Entertainment Weekly, there was a very big inspiration for the design and attributes of the droids that came from that show.

Many of you...

The Daily Mail in the UK made quite a comment about Mark Hamill no longer looking like the boy that we grew up with in Star Wars, but after 30+ years, did we expect him too? I mean really. He’s 59 now and still working, mostly doing voice work for animated features and video games. He recently was spotted at a wrap party for an independent film called Sushi Girl and he looked significantly older than we are used to seeing him. The article mentioned that he looked paler and more rotund than he was when he played Luke decades before. So what?

They are actually shocked enough to berate the man for aging and not spending a fortune and going through all sorts of plastic surgery to maintain that look, a look that he was horrifically typecasted by. I mean to Star Wars fans, it may be hard to see Luke get older, but for Hamill, it’s just him living his life. It wasn’t like he looked like a homeless guy or something. Voice actors tend to shy away from the...

George Lucas has selected Prime Focus, a VFX company that is responsible for the 3D implementation in Disney’s Tron Legacy, to do the honors of converting Star Wars Episode I: Phantom Menace to 3D.

A movie series like Star Wars, no matter what people think of the first three episodes, is a legacy that can’t really afford to be a disappointment to the fans and Prime Focus is very aware of that. They said in their press release that they were honored to become a trusted partner in this endeavor and that making sure there is a quality conversion is of utmost importance. They certainly have the experience and technology for it. Their View-D system allows filmmakers to actually not use a dual camera for filming a 3D movie, but it still can be converted in high quality by their artists.

Coordinating the effort is a man who is no stranger to Star Wars, but Industrial Light and Magic’s VFX supervisor for all three of the new films, John Knoll. He is on a mission...

Wondercon, for those of you unaware, is one of the largest Comic Book conventions of the year. It’s held this year from April 1st-April 3rd at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. And while it is mostly for comic books, the years have introduced it to a lot of pop culture as well, much like its brethren Comic-Con. And there is nothing more pop culture than Star Wars, and so Lucas and companies fit right in. There are many educational and exciting panel and entertainment venues to go to while you are there.

Here are the Star Wars related events:

Now in its 10th year is the Star Wars Last Fan Movie Standing. Budding moviemakers get to show their stuff not only to the audience of fans, but to George Lucas himself, who has the final word on who wins, after the audience has their chance. While it’s surely too late to get entries in, you can cheer on the ones you love, boo the ones you hate, and have a good old time watching some great talent light up the...

During the closing of a cricket club in the UK, two men intending to rob the place thought they could remain anonymous by donning Darth Maul masks. The ploy seems to have worked because all that they had for the police as a description was their height and estimates of their weight. The pair arrived at closing time and when confronted by two male employees, they attacked the club’s workers with metal bars. Both men defending the club suffered injuries to their arm and face with severe bruising, but there was nothing life threatening. The guys are still at large.

This isn’t the first time a Sith Lord has resorted to robbery to fund his evil empire. Back in June 2010, a man dressed in a full Darth Vader getup including mask and cape, went into a Long Island, NY bank and robbed it at gunpoint. At one time, he struggled with a customer who thought it was a joke at first because of the camouflage pants the bandit was wearing with the disguise. Once the...