Did You Hear That? | Star Wars Weekly News - September 13, 2024 - Around the Galaxy

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome. Did you hear that? Your source for the top
stories from the Star Wars universe. I'm Pete Fletzer, and
along with my co host Nick Milke, we'll break down
the biggest headlines of the week and share our thoughts
on everything happening in that galaxy far far away, don't forget.
You can catch us live every Thursday evening on our
weekly show atg Live over on our YouTube channel at

(00:23):
YouTube dot com, slash at.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
The SSW Network.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Join the conversation here from special guests and get the
latest news as it happens.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
And now this.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Week's well interesting first story, Disney is facing a lawsuit
over the use of Peter Cushing's likeness in Rogue one.
I don't think anybody saw this one coming. In a
developing story, London based Tyburn Film Productions is suing Disney
over the use of Peter Cushing's likeness in Rogue one,
a Star Wars story. According to The Telegraph, Tyburn claims

(00:54):
a contract made with Cushing before his death gave them
the right to veto any RECs of his image through
special effects. They argue Disney and Lucasfilm violated that agreement
when Cushing's character Graham muff Tarkin, appeared in the twenty
sixteen film. Despite Disney securing approval from the Cushing estate,
Tyburn maintains that its own contract with the actor, dating

(01:15):
back to nineteen seventy seven, takes precedence. The case will
proceed to a full factual inquiry through a High Court judge,
and has expressed doubts over the likelihood of success. This
case comes amidst growing controversy over the use of visual
effects in AI to recreate deceased actors, with similar scrutiny
recently directed at Alien Romulus for its use of Ian

(01:35):
Holmes likeness. The issue is also central to the ongoing
sag At sag Aftra not Doctor Afra sag after negotiations,
as the ethics of this practice continue to be debated
across Hollywood. Nick any thoughts on this one.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
It's very fascinating and I listened as you sent me
the story earlier this week and read through it. You know,
it feels like what they said, you know, it seems
unlikely that they're going to get, you know, a whole
lot out of this. But it's also interesting to think
Peter Cushing was giving his likeness to somebody else in

(02:13):
the seventies, Like, that's a very now thing to do,
because we have hologram tupacs that show up or we
have you know, whatever the thing is. But to have
had that foresight feels a little fishy. Of course I
don't know all the details, but it does also bring
up something that we have faced certainly several times in
the Star Wars world, because we have not only Peter

(02:34):
Cushing in Rugue one, but we have Kerrie Fisher at
the end. You know, we know her family was involved.
We have and of course Mark Hamill's still alive, but
we have computer usages of Mark Hamill and Mandalorian.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
The one that feels very pressing or prescient right now
is James Earl Jones Tide this week, and that voice
is so iconic and central to a specific character. Now,
there's been other actors, especially in animation, it hasn't been
you know, this isn't an Anthony Daniel situation. It's not
all James Earl Jones all the time. But also his
estate has set up and has had an agreement for

(03:09):
several years, if I understand correctly, with Lucasfilm, the ability
to use that voice going forward for projects that may
come up in ways that Darth Vader may be used.
So it's a very modern thing, you know, to have
those agreements in place. It feels a little bit opportunistic
from whoever this person is to also because Rogue one has.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Been out what now eight years? Nine years yep. So
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
I can't speak to all the facts because I don't
have all of them, but reading it and just kind
of giving it the smell test, as it were, something
feels a little stinky in this one.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah, But it definitely raises the questions because I think
you look at, you know, the whole Mark Hamill situation. Obviously,
Mark Hamil's still live and on set and doing it,
you know, being actively a part of those recreations. But
it just it raises a bigger question, not just for

(04:05):
Star Wars but for the industry. And honestly, I don't
know how I feel about I used to be like,
this is great, the technology is there, let's use it,
but we have to be prepared for walking away from
those original actors for various reasons and let it take

(04:27):
on a new life.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
I think, and I wondered, is this one different because
it's somebody's face, where James Earl Jones is a voice
with a masked characteres that have. You know, is that
a different way we approach this, because you know, they
could go in and make a whole new Carrie Fisher
Princess Leiah movie make it, and that feels like but

(04:48):
if we're doing that, I see what you're saying, and
I don't really have the words to articulate it properly.
I feel like a voice is different than a face likeness, Like, yeah,
we're passing off a computer, and I.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
Think it's different if the actors a lot right, Like
so Robert Downey Junior being de aged in the Ironman movie.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Fara part of the Project year Campbell, same thing.

Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yeah, but again, if the permission is given by the estate,
I guess you got to you gotta run with it. Well,
luckily we don't have to decide what happens there. So
but let's get to our next story. Let's see here,
what do I have? I think I have it here?
Sorry for the delay, folks. Yeah, Obi Wan Kenobi has

(05:31):
gotten his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. You
and McGregor received a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame today in a ceremony featuring longtime friends and collaborators
Mike Mills and Hayden Christiansen. In a recent interview with Varieties,
Todd Gilchrist McGregor reflected on his illustrious career, acknowledging his
iconic role as Obi Wan Kenobi and Star Wars as
a major turning point, and while McGregor has celebrated his

(05:54):
career beyond the Galaxy Far Far Away, he expressed his
fondness for the character and hinted at a possible return
to Obie in future projects. He shared memories of working
alongside a Guinness's legacy, expressing his joy and capturing moments
that felt reminiscent of Guinness's portrayal. Christensen, reflecting on their friendship,
also recalled meeting McGregor for the first time on set

(06:14):
in Australia, describing the actors mentorship and ability to keep
focus on the emotional core of their scenes. McGregor ended
the interview with gratitude, humbly remarking on the significance of
receiving a star on the Walk of Fame and how
it might inspire others in the industry who he feels
deserving of the accolade. Interesting, you know, we just were

(06:35):
talking about Peter Cushing being replaced digitally. They Obviously, Ale
Guinnis could never play a eighteen year old obi Wan Kenobi,
but here's a situation where not only did it work,
he is obi wan Kenobe for many many people. So Nick,
any comments on that?

Speaker 2 (06:58):
First?

Speaker 3 (06:59):
That was my immediate for thought. I watched I watched
Hayden's speech. Somebody put the clip of it five and
a half minutes.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
He did a great job.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
Obviously, it's very clear that those two are friends, love
each other dearly, and I admire that so much. But
when I was watching that and when he kind of
transitions to the Star Wars part of it, and Hayden
himself says, you know, he is obi wan Kenobi, and
you see you and McGregor light up, and you see
him kind of you know, his chest puffs out with
pride and he beams a little bit. And I mean,

(07:27):
you and I both grew up with Alec Guinnis, like
obi wan Kenobi. You and McGregor wasn't a thing until
nineteen ninety nine. But if you you know, if I'm
playing word association and you say Ewan McGregor, I'm right
there at saying Obi Wan Kenobi, right next to a
couple of other just key things as an actor, I
think on the Hollywood Star part, he's absolutely deserving of this.

(07:49):
He has done so many different things. My wife loves
Mulin Rouge. It's one of her favorite movies. We watch it,
you know, at least once a year. One of my
favorite movies of all time that he is in is a.

Speaker 2 (08:01):
Movie called Big Fish.

Speaker 3 (08:02):
If anybody is watching this podcast, if you've never seen
the movie big Fish, please go watch it. It's a
Tim Burton movie, it's Ian McGregor, it's Steve Buscemi.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
And.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
I am an extra in that movie. That's not why
it's so great.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
It is truly a fantastic movie, and it was shot
here in Alabama where I live. But it's such a
fun story, it's really clever. It's very Tim Burton in
such the best way. But there's also if you've never
watched it on I think it's on Apple.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
TV still, the Long Way series.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
Ian McGregor and his best friend ride motorcycles literally around
the world, and it's this real life reality. There's like
three or four of them they go from like South
America to La you know, on electric motorcycles as the
newer one. They're apparently planning another season, which I'm pumped about.
But it gives you insight into who he is as
a human being, not just the actor. And he's every

(08:53):
bit seems to be every bit as good a dude
as we want him to be. Like you want to
hang out with Ian McGregor and have a beer and
have him say, holy shit, it's Obi wan Kenobi like
he does in that video of the guy at the
stop life. He's totally deserving and the love between him
and Hayden is beautiful. They're just they're friends who went

(09:13):
through a bunch of stuff making those movies and really connected.
So couldn't be more deserving in my opinion.

Speaker 1 (09:19):
Yeah, And it's interesting because again we have now lived
through and I've been seeing a lot of memes of
it lately because of the accolade and things like that.
You know, we've gone through the prequels and we've gone
through that that sort of thing, and they let's let's
be honest, people did not love those movies, and that
is probably part of the thing that brought them closer together.
And I say they did not love those movies when

(09:40):
they first came out. I know that the world has
changed there dramatically. I've clearly, I've I've come around it
and loved those movies as well. But yeah, you and McGregor,
it is funny through it together, correct, right, So they've
they've gone through that ringer and they'll be they'll be
sort of tied to that forever.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
And they've gotten to come back around. And I'm sorry
to interrupt, or like seeing the stuff at Celebration Europe
that we didn't get to go to last year the
year before, Hayden being out on stage. You know, we
heard about it at Anaheim because Kenobi had come out,
you know, and hay I mean Ewan comes out there
then and says, you know, we're doing this. He even
said himself, I was turned off for a while. But

(10:18):
the outpouring of fans that said we want you back,
we want more like that's what brought him back to
this and wanted you know, brought him back to this character.
And you can tell everything that's happened since the first
season of Kenobi came out. He's amped and totally down
for it. If they called him tomorrow, he'd do it.
And here's my hot take. If we're doing hot takes tonight, Yep,

(10:39):
we get an Obi Wan season two before we get
an Acolyte before we like if like, I think we're
closer to that than we are anything else new. Like,
I think that's in the works.

Speaker 1 (10:53):
That's my underlying you know what, I don't disagree with
you at all, and that I think it's more than possible.
I think again, it's very similar to anytime when any
one of these actors said no, I'd be I'd be
open to it, but nothing's happening. I think, I think
they'll get there.

Speaker 3 (11:09):
And I think and I think what we've seen lately
with The Acolyte, which was brand new, brand new content
all the way around, and era nobody really know, I
mean an era, not a lot of people were Ewan
McGregor Obi Wan Kenobi.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
That character, that actor is the great equalizer.

Speaker 3 (11:26):
It's the one that even if you didn't super love
the first Obi Wan Kenobi series, it has stability to
be the most accessible, user friendly, money making opportunity for
Disney Star Wars to say, this is where we're going
to direct some dollars and it's gonna it's gonna get
everything gets crapped on.

Speaker 2 (11:44):
It doesn't matter what it is.

Speaker 3 (11:45):
You can make the most perfect you know, Quentin Tarantito
Murder Stormtrooper movie that everybody thinks they want. There's still
going to be something wrong with it, and nobody wants that.
But my point is, I think this has, you know,
the potential for a second Obi wan Kenobi series is
the safest money that I think Disney could spend here

(12:07):
in a not too distant future.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
I would love to see it, and clearly he's up
for it.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
So well.

Speaker 1 (12:14):
Speaking of series, let's get to our last news story
of the night, and that is that Ahsoka won its
first Emmy. The Star Wars series Ahsoka secured its first
Emmy win at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sunday,
taking home the award for Outstanding Fantasy Sci Fi Costumes.
The award was specifically given for the episode Part eight,
The Jedi, The Witch and the Warlord, a fan favorite

(12:36):
installment of the twenty twenty three Disney Plus series. The award, however,
is bittersweet, as it was awarded posthumously to Shawna Turpek,
who sadly passed away last year, the competition for the
Costume Design honor was fierce, with Ahsoka beating out nominees
Echo for Lohawk, Fallout for the End, Loki for eighteen

(12:56):
ninety three, and What do We Do in the Shadow?
What we Do in the Shadows for Pride Parade. In
addition to this, when Ahsoka earned five total nominations at
the event, including nods for Outstanding Special Visual Effects, Outstanding
Hairstyle as Any Prosthetic Makeup, and Outstanding Sound Editing. Though
it didn't win in these categories, the recognition highlights the
shows excellence and technical achievements and creativity. The victory adds

(13:18):
to the growing legacy of this show. You know, we've
talked about it before, Nick, When when our favorite TV
shows have gotten Emmy Appreciation EMI nods, Emmy you know
awards and what.

Speaker 2 (13:34):
Does it all mean?

Speaker 1 (13:35):
And I think I think the timing is important because
of where Disney Star Wars on Television is right now.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
I think there's often.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
An issue where we talk about the quality of the
shows and this is you know, Emmys are not it's
not fan based, it's not, it's it's people.

Speaker 2 (13:59):
Especially Yeah, especially in this creative category.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
Right, these are the they're fellow creatives making this sort
of recognition, Nick, what does it mean for not just
Ahsoka and of course Shanaturpic it will be greatly missed.
I mean the Ahsoka costuming was amazing, the detail, the
way she captured some of the classic animated pieces. But Nick,

(14:24):
what do you think this means, especially at this time
in quote unquote Disney Star Wars.

Speaker 2 (14:31):
Recognition is a good thing.

Speaker 3 (14:32):
I mean to see, you know, you're pushing shows, You're
spending money to create shows. You still have to test
things out. You still have to figure out which shows work,
which shows don't work. Which we spend a lot of
money on that didn't get the views. Doesn't mean they're
a bad show, doesn't mean it's bad content. It means
this is a business. And this means that when we
spend this money, where do we get recognition? If Disney's

(14:54):
getting recognition even in technical things like costuming and hair
and makeup and effects, that gets attention, and that gets
attention from the people who have controlled the purse strings.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
So I think that it.

Speaker 3 (15:06):
Bodes well for when a conversation has had about are
we really going to do a second season of Ahsoka
there's going to be somebody and there's going to be
a plus in the pro and con category that says
we did get some awards, We did get some nominations,
and they're deserving too, don't get me wrong.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (15:21):
But and you talked about Shauna. You know, she's worked
on multiple Star Wars shows.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
Over the years. She worked on Kenobi.

Speaker 3 (15:28):
I'm pretty sure she did the stuff for Indoor and
the costumes and Indoor in particular. You've got man mathma
in you know, I mean not best fin corousant, you know,
political finery and hosting a thing that like the costumes
are as important to Star Wars as the John Williams
music is, as the Ben Burt sound effects are, because

(15:48):
it's not believable. If you're wearing big shoulder pads and
you look like David Hasselhoff in that one Weird movie
from the eighties, you know, it's got to be believable.
And it's that lived in thing, and you know that
craft being recognized as important. So I think it's all wins,
and I think it bodes well for when they make
decisions about what shows are they going to do, They're

(16:09):
going to focus on who are our good creators who
are our good you know, people that drive.

Speaker 1 (16:13):
This Yeah, yep, no, And I think you're right, And
I also think it's it's I think it's it's important
to recognize that they're putting that same sort of effort
into television that they that they do in the movies.
Thanks for tuning into did you hear that? Remember you
can join us live every Thursday evening on YouTube at

(16:34):
YouTube dot com slash at the s SW network for
all of the latest Star Wars news and conversations with
special guests. This podcast stream is also home to a
Round the Galaxy, the weekly Star Wars interview show where
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Don't forget to connect with us on socials. Find us
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(16:55):
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Speaker 2 (17:00):
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Speaker 1 (17:01):
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This podcast is copyright twenty twenty four Beating the Seed Studios,

(17:22):
and our music is by the band Apollos Ghost

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Did You Hear That? | Star Wars Weekly News - September 13, 2024

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