I still haven't read Ernie Cline's debut novel Ready Player One, but I know it's a beloved book in the geek community and it's very high on my list of things to check out. Steven Spielberg is currently developing a film adaptation (which may or may not feature Gene Wilder's return from retirement), and Cline's second book, Armada, sold film rights to Universal before it was published. Now the author has a third book in the works, and he's scored a pretty nice deal to write it.

THR reports that Cline has secured a deal with Crown Publishing (the same company that published his first two books) in the low-to-mid seven figures to write a third book, and while no details about the book are available, insiders are claiming it's another sci-fi novel. Well, they always say to "write what you know," and despite a somewhat more muted response to Armada (which came out this summer) in comparison with the raves Ready Player One received, it seems like Cline still has a good grasp on what he knows best. I wonder if this book will specifically be about gamers, since those were the protagonists of his first two novels?

Considering how quickly the rights to his previous books have sold to film studios, we're guessing the announcement of a movie adaptation of this third book isn't too far away either. Have you read Cline's work? Are you excited about the upcoming movie adaptations? Let us know what you think below.

The Risk: Marvel Cinematic Universe board game is here! You can play as one of five factions, each with its own victory condition, representing heroes and villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There have been a lot of Risk board game themes created over the years — most recently we showed you one for Game of Thrones — but finally Marvel fans have one that they can play with, and it looks like it could be awesome. 

• Includes 2-sided game board
• Marvel Cinematic Universe Risk game play and Guardians of the Galaxy game
• Includes custom sculpts for the 5 factions plus sculpted Hulk and Avengers Tower
• Great gift for family game night!

If you want one, it's currently available on Amazon for $64.00.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about Back to the Future this year, considering how important it is in the Back to the Future mythos. I attended a live performance of the score earlier this year, and in just a couple of months, we're going to be inundated with BTTF stories as the famous "Future Day" occurs. As you know, October 21st, 2015 is the date Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel to in the sequel, and now Gravitas Ventures has sent over a press release stating that they'll release the documentary Back in Time in select theaters and on VOD on that exact date, which is the most appropriate release date possible.

We've written about Back in Time before, but if you don't recall, it's a documentary from director Jason Aron that examines the cultural impact of Back to the Future, and it features interviews with Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg, Bob Gale, and Alan Silvestri, and fans like Dan Harmon and Adam F. Goldberg.

“Iconic documentaries, like a bolt of lightning, only come around so often,” said Nolan Gallagher, Founder and CEO of Gravitas Ventures, “we are honored to be a part of the ‘Back to the Future’ mythology and bring this must-have film to the millions of fans who have loved the trilogy all these years.”

This is great news for diehard fans of the BTTF movies, and along with all of the crazy fan events that are surely going to take place in October, it's cool that people will be able to see this movie on the big screen and hear updated thoughts from the cast and creative talent associated with making the classic film thirty years after its debut.

Lucasfilm has sent us a press release announcing a new art program they've created called Art Awakens, which sounds like a very cool thing for artists who love working on Star Wars fan art. Beginning today and lasting for the next two months, amateur artists can submit their own Star Wars: The Force Awakens art to ArtAwakens.com for the chance to be featured in a professional art exhibit later in the year.

In November, Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles will host a three day showcase of pieces from top professionals and emerging talents, and the proceeds from the sales will go toward Star Wars: Force for Change to help kids around the world. Five winners from the amateur category will have their art displayed at this exhibit, and they'll be flown out to Los Angeles to attend the VIP opening night event and win some other prizes from HP, which is co-sponsoring the program with Lucasfilm. Here's one more piece of info directly from the release:

Additionally, an HP “Bend the Rules” Award will be granted to one of the five grand prize winners upon completion of a questionnaire with the highest score in the Innovative Use of Technology category. The HP “Bend the Rules” Award winner will receive an HP Notebook Computer to help them push the boundaries of art and creativity.

Sounds very cool, and I can't wait to head out to Gallery 1988 in November to check out all of this sure-to-be-amazing artwork that celebrates J.J. Abrams' upcoming film.

I'm very curious to see what director Tim Burton is planning for Beetlejuice 2. It's a sequel that doesn't need to happen, but it's one that I would be interested in seeing, especially if it means we get to see where the characters are in their lives all these years after the events in the first film.

Both Burton and Michael Keaton have confirmed their involvement with the project, and at one point Burton confirmed that Winona Ryder would be in the film as well. Until recently, the actress has yet to confirm the news herself, but last night while she was a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers, she said:

“I think I can confirm it because Tim Burton did this interview. It was very hush-hush, top secret, ‘I don’t know what may happen, I don’t know,’ and then he was doing some press for ‘Big Eyes’ and he did an on-camera interview and he said, ‘Oh yeah, we’re doing it and Winona’s gonna be in it.’ So can I say…? I mean if he said it. But I really don’t know much more than anybody else.”

So it seems like the movie is still being developed, but very slowly. I know earlier in the year screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith said that the film could go into production at the end of this year. I guess we'll just have to see how that plays out. In a previous interview in which Ryder held back on confirming her involvement, she did say:

“It's not a remake. It's 27 years later. And I have to say, I love Lydia [Deetz, Ryder's teenage goth character] so much. She was such a huge part of me. I would be really interested in what she is doing 27 years later."

Then while promoting Big Eyes last year, Burton talked about the character, and finally getting around to making the long gestated sequel:

“It’s a character that I love and I miss and I miss actually working with Michael. There’s only one Betelgeuse. We’re working on a script and I think it’s probably closer than ever and I’d love to work with him again.

“I worked with [Ryder], I hadn’t seen her in awhile… and she was so great. I was so happy to see her. So those kinds of elements mean something to me. Michael, and her… and that character, I just miss it, there’s some freedom about that character that I love.”

It's good to see that everyone is excited about it. I really want to see what story they tell. Back in the 90s, they had a sequel that would have taken the title character to Hawaii, but I seriously doubt that's the direction they are going to take this current sequel. 

You can read 13 fun facts about the first Beetlejuice movie here if you want.

Universal Pictures has released a second trailer for Jon M. Chu's Jem and the Holograms and it offers up some new information about the movie. It focuses on family and features some new elements that we didn't see in the first trailer. 

I've seen some fans excited for the movie, and others that haven't been impressed. A lot of the hardcore fans don't feel like this movie is a solid representation of the cartoon. For those of you Jem fans that didn't like what you saw in the first trailer, the studio is hoping that this one will change your mind. 

My little girls have never seen an episode of the Jem and the Holograms cartoon, but they sure are excited about seeing this movie. So there is going to be a whole new audience of kids out there who are going to enjoy this flick. I never really watched the show when I was a kid, but I'm going to try and find it for my kids to watch, as they'll probably love it.

As a small-town girl catapults from underground video sensation to global superstar, she and her three sisters begin a one-in-a-million journey of discovering that some talents are too special to keep hidden. In Universal Pictures’ Jem and the Holograms, four aspiring musicians will take the world by storm when they see that the key to creating your own destiny lies in finding your own voice.

The musical adventure stars Aubrey Peeples as Jem, Stefanie Scott as Kimber, Aurora Perrineau as Shana, Hayley Kiyoko as Aj,a and Ryan Guzman as Rio. It also stars Molly Ringwald and Juliette Lewis. The movie comes out on October 23rd. To watch a featurette for the film that we posted earlier today, click here.

I read the first issue of Brian Azzarello's crime comic 100 Bullets years ago, but wasn't patient enough to stick with it for its 10 year run. Lasting from 1999 to 2009, the 100 issue award-winning series surrounded the mysterious Agent Graves who gave victims a handgun, 100 untraceable bullets, and information about the person who ruined their lives in an effort to see whether they'd take revenge given the chance. It seems like actor Tom Hardy was a fan of the modern noir, because according to THR, he's now involved with a film adaptation. This is the property he was teasing months ago when he said:

It’s really good actually, it contains elements of all kinds of stuff. From Ocean’s Eleven, to Batman, you can get all the wrappers out and it would be a big, really cool, Technicolor, Pulp Fiction…It’s a psychological fuckfest, it’s absolutely awesome. It’s as if you would take Transmetropolitan and make it happen, but it’s not that out there it’s something which is much more real world. It could be like Heat, it could be fucking awesome.

Hardy will produce and possibly star for New Line, Warner Bros. edgier corporate sibling that's currently working on an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Sandman with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Four years ago, David Goyer was working on a TV adaptation of 100 Bullets for Showtime, but that project seems to have fallen through and morphed into this one. The movie version already has a script in place by writer Chris Borrelli, and though the plot is being kept under wraps, THR's sources indicate that the plan is to stick close to the source material.

Like I said, I only read one issue of this comic, so I'd love to hear from those of you who are well-versed in it about whether you think Hardy is the right guy to bring this to life. He's obviously no stranger to comic book films, starring as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises and flirting with Suicide Squad before delays shooting The Revenant caused him to drop out of that project, but I'd like to know if you think he's equipped for this particular project.

We've got some additional plot information to share with you regarding Captain America: Civil War. It involves a major international incident that is mentioned in the official plot synopsis for the film. That synopsis reads:

After another international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to enlist the services of the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers while they try to protect the world from a new and nefarious villain. 

So what is this international incident that occurs that splits the Avengers into two different factions? Well, Heroic Hollywood points out a scene in Ant-Man that shows a passenger on a trolley reading a newspaper with the headline, "Who's To Blame For Sokovia?" This is obviously a reference to Avengers: Age Of Ultron but according to the report it also sets up the end credits scene of Ant-Man, which was a clip from Captain America: Civil War. This hints that an anti-superhero sentiment may already be growing as the road to Civil War is being paved.

Minor Spoilers for those who haven't seen Ant-Man:

That post-credits scene features Falcon and Captain America with Bucky Barnes, whose arm is trapped in a vice. In it, Cap says that Iron Man might not be able to help them with Bucky because "The Accords" might not allow it.

The report then points out that in the comics, the incident that triggers the Civil War is "when the New Warriors destroy several city blocks in an attempt to apprehend a supervillain, causing the deaths of more than 600 civilians, prompting the Superhero Registration Act, which requires all superpowered beings to register with the government, reveal their secret identities, and receive 'proper training and operate under the employ of S.H.I.E.L.D. "

We now have possible details on what will spark "The Sokovia Accords" in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

MAJOR SPOILER WARNING!

This is what the site reports:

"The rumor is, according to trusted sources, the international incident in the film involving the Avengers that results in collateral damage involves Captain America and Scarlet Witch who are trying to apprehend Crossbones. The only problem is that Crossbones is wearing a suicide vest full of nasty explosives. In order to protect the civilians on the ground, Captain America orders Scarlet Witch to levitate Crossbones above ground. She does and unfortunately is unable to contain the massive explosion that sets off near a populated building causing death and destruction."

So there it is. Yeah, it's just a rumor for now, but it makes complete sense that this is the direction they would go. Obviously it seems like Crossbones doesn't last very long in this film since he apparently blows up. What do you think of the information that is given here?

Some video and photos from the set have leaked showing us a little bit of a tease on how that fight scene between Cap and Crossbones goes down.

Captain America: Civil War comes out on May 6th, 2016.

While we already know who some of the wrestlers are for WWE 2K16, we are starting to get official confirmation on them. This week, there are 19 newly confirmed stars, and just from the initial batch, the roster is already ahead of last year’s offering. The fact that it already includes such a variety of Divas (Emma, Eva Marie, Tamina, & Summer Rae), NXT Superstars (Finn Balor, Kalisto), and Legends (Stone Cold Steve Austin, William Regal, Colonel Mustafa, General Adnan) is great. You can catch the entire list below, as well as their portraits. Plus, catch the full entrance for Kalisto below as well.

Which wrestlers would you like to see make the final roster? My current faves Paige and Seth Rollins are already in, but I would like to see Enzo, Big Cass, & Carmella make the cut, as well as Becky Lynch. With how popular they are in NXT (and in Lynch's case, the main roster), I don’t see that being an issue. One thing I am curious to see is how certain past superstars, such as CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio, are handled, or if they are included at all.

Current Official Roster

Stone Cold Steve Austin

Triple H

Booker T

Bad News Barrett

Colonel Mustafa

Daniel Bryan

Emma

Eva Marie

Finn Balor

General Adnan

John Cena

Kalisto

Kane

Lord Steven Regal

Paige

Seth Rollins

Sin Cara

Summer Rae

Tamina

"Oh, what a lovely day!"

We've already seen a series of art featuring Adventure Time characters in the world of Mad Max: Fury Road. Now we have an actual animated mashup trailer called "Madventure Time" that you have to watch! It was created by Moscow, Russia-based artist Egor Zhgun, it uses the audio of one of the trailers for Fury Road, and it's absolutely spectacular. As you will see, he was heavily inspired by the illustration mashups created Ryan May. If you liked that art, then you're going to love this.

Via: Laughing Squid

About a month ago, we heard some details about the plot of the new Power Rangers reboot, and they indicated that we'd be seeing the original team members and more familiar characters like Rita and Zordon. Now a new report from Collider confirms at least the character elements of that initial report, listing the names of the original team members from the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers series from 1993, but with some deeper backstories than what we were ever given in the show.

Jason – 17 years old, the makings of someone or something great if he would just get out of his own way. Jason was a legend of this town—a freshman quarterback with the skills to take him all the way. People knew his name. Children wore his jersey. Until, one night Jason wrapped his car around a pole and busted out his knee. Everything Jason was going to become ended in an instant. And with it, he lost himself. When we meet him at the start of the film, he’s a kid in need of redemption. By the end, he’ll be leading this disparate group of teens to shed their individual baggage and find who they truly are.

Kimberly – 17 years old, unconventionally cool all in a way the popular girls wish they were. In fact, she was one of those girls, but isn’t anymore. Not since she’s returned to school after an absence of 6 months. Rumors are flying as to why; rumors she seems not to care about, because she’s come back with this new rebel-without-a-cause, edgy attitude. But the truth is, it’s all masking a deep secret that makes her feel profoundly vulnerable.

Trini – 17 years old, mysterious and extremely bright. Her parents constantly move for work, making Trini the perpetual new girl to any school. A loner who owns it, Trini is self-sufficient, contemplative, but always observant. All she wants is to find her gang of friends, but she’ll never admit it – least of all to herself.

Billy – 17 years old, slight and awkward. Billy is challenged in his abilities to communicate and interact socially. Whip-smart and sweet, but always odd. Sometimes in a fun way, sometimes not, Billy is a kid with no filter. Showing his emotions, understanding sarcasm, and dealing with his OCD is a constant challenge. Has never really had any friends and instantly gravitates towards Jason.

Zack – 17 years old, always the life of the party. Filled with bravado and swagger, Zack’s tough and cool on the exterior. A charming guy who’s never had trouble with the one-liner, nor lacked confidence around women. A great athlete that’s never wanted to play on any team but his own. Zack advertises everything about himself, except the truth, which is that he lives in a trailer park with his single mom, and because of it, feels deeply inferior to all his peers.

Nothing too groundbreaking there, but for fans of the original show, it's probably nice to hear that the film is taking the property back to its roots instead of using people like Rocky, Aisha, or any of those weird Mighty Morphin' Alien Rangers. The film is scheduled for release on January 13th, 2017, so expect casting to begin soon.

The YouTube geniuses over at Corridor Digital have teamed up with WB Games to bring us an incredible new short based on the Mad Max game. This romp through the wastes is incredibly gruesome, so it is not for the weak stomached and faint of heart. The comedy and attention to detail in the universe is spot on, as it almost always is with Corridor Digital. I've posted the video and the making of below. Check it out, and don't forget that you can pick up Mad Max on PS4, XBOX One, or PC on September 1st!

DC Comics' Constantine may have been canceled by NBC, but actor Matt Ryan is going to reprise his role as John Constantine in the fourth season of Arrow! The news was announced at The CW’s Television Critics Association press tour presentation.

He will appear in episode 405, which is titled "Haunted." CW president Mark Pedowitz said of Ryan's reprisal,

“[Constantine] is no longer on the air and luckily, one of our parent companies, Warner Bros., is the production company on [both Arrow and Constantine] … it’s a great one-shot episode.”

According to The CW, "John Constantine is a weather-worn exorcist and expert on the supernatural and the occult. He is a detective, magician, and a hunter of demons, and will provide critical support to Oliver (Stephen Amell) when arrows aren’t enough."

Arrow showrunner Marc Guggenheim added,

“We are thrilled to have Matt Ryan reprise the role of John Constantine on an upcoming episode of Arrow. Matt is an incredibly talented actor and his portrayal of this beloved character was always something we admired. The introduction of magic and mysticism on the show this season has provided a truly organic opportunity for us to bring John Constantine to Arrow and the CW’s DC universe. It will be a well-deserved tip of the hat to all the Constantine fans who were so incredibly supportive of that series.”

Ryan confirmed the news himself on twitter with the following video announcement:

The Trench Coat is being dusted off. #Constantine #Arrow @CW_Arrow @amellywood looking forward to it. #thisfall pic.twitter.com/fROWx4RJ9o

— Matt Ryan (@mattryanreal) August 11, 2015

Constantine was a pretty good series, but it could have been better. I really did enjoy Ryan in the title role, though, so it's awesome to see that he's coming back for Arrow. Hopefully, this one episode isn't the last time that we see of him in the series.

Arrow season four premieres on October 7th on The CW.

Source: Variety

The CW has given fans of The Flash our first look at actor Teddy Spears speeding into action in his full costume as Jay Garrick. The image they released pays tribute to the cover art for The Flash #123 ("The Flash of Two Worlds”) by Carmine Infantino.

In the comic’s story, Barry Allen breaches the line between his own Earth and the parallel reality of Earth-2, where his beloved comic book hero Jay Garrick turned out to be a real legend. "The Flash of Two Worlds” essentially gave birth the entire DC Multiverse.

The second season of The Flash is going to be awesome, especially with the introduction of Earth-2. The Flash returns on Tuesday, October 6th, at 8pm on The CW.

We still have a long way to go before we see Captain Marvel make her appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the studio is eventually going to have to cast someone to play her. We’ve heard rumors of Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, and Yvonne Strahovski being up for the role, but what about someone who we know for a fact can really kick some ass? 

During a recent Reddit AMA, MMA fighting champion Ronda Rousey was asked, “If you were to be in a superhero movie, which hero would you play?” She replied:

“Well... a lot of the good ones have been taken, but I'd like to vie for Miss Marvel.”

This doesn’t mean that she’s been offered the role, or even if she’s in contention for it. All this means is that she’s interested in the role, and if Marvel did want to take a meeting with her, she would happily oblige. 

I think she would look great in the role, and she obviously could pull off the kick-ass action of the character. Unfortunately, her acting skills really aren’t up to par yet. She needs a lot of work in that area, but she'll get better and better the more she continues to do it.

I doubt Marvel would cast her. She might not be the kind of actress they are looking for. But for discussion's sake, do you think that she would make a good Captain Marvel? 

Disney’s D23 Expo will be invading Anaheim, California this weekend. If, like me, you were expecting to see some new footage from Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the event, you’ll be disappointed to learn that there will be none. The confirmation comes from director J.J. Abrams himself. He told EW:

“We are showing no footage, behind the scenes or otherwise. In the fall, there’ll be a trailer… We’re thrilled to go to D23 and meet the fans, but it’s a tricky thing to try and rush [footage] for a convention or preexisting event that would, of course, be fun to show something at.”

He went on to give an update on where he is in the filmmaking process on the highly anticipated movie:

“I’m still editing and we’re working on refining the cut, but it’s incredibly fun to see the movie come together. You realize certain things that you don’t need, certain things you can pull out.”

Now, the fact that there’s not going to be any new Star Wars: The Force Awakens footage doesn’t mean Lucasfilm won’t show anything else. Maybe they will reveal a poster for the film, or even some cool new images. On top of that, Lucasfilm is sure to reveal even more details about their upcoming slate of movies, like Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One, which is currently in production under the direction of Gareth Edwards, or maybe an announcement about the Han Solo anthology film. How cool would it be if they actually had a little something to show from Rogue One!

I know I’m just getting my hopes up, but they are having a Star Wars panel, and they have to show something, otherwise what's the point?!

The “Worlds, Galaxies, and Universes: Live Action at The Walt Disney Studios” presentation takes place on Saturday at 10:30am PDT, and we’ll be there to cover it for you.

The gang over at Beat Down Boogie, mostly known for making cosplay music videos, has shot and released a fan film for your enjoyment. It's a western-style short inspired by the Legend of Zelda video game franchise that they call Hang 'Em Hyrule". The short actually turned out really well. There's no dialogue, but it's got the classic western musical score and themes, and it was shot really well. As a fan of the game franchise and the western genre, I really loved how this turned out. Check it out for yourself! 

We may not be getting any new footage from Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the D23 Expo this weekend, but thanks to Lucasfilm and EW we have twelve photos from the movie to share with you today, most of which are awesome and new. The images features John Boyega as Finn, Daisy Ridley as Rey, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, and some of your favorite Star Wars characters. Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens In North America on December 18, 2015.

The two trailers for Deadpool have been out for awhile, and you may have noticed every little detail, especially after watching them over and over again since they've been released. But just maybe you haven't noticed everything. Watch Mr Sunday Movies' Deadpool trailer breakdown and find out! It features six things that you might have missed.

With both a Deadpool red-band and green-band trailer hitting the web lets take a look at some things people may have missed including easter eggs, references and...whatever other nonsense I can pad out this video with.

It's looking like today is going to be a big news day for Star Wars! Earlier today we reported that no new footage of Star Wars: The Force Awakens would be shown at Disney's D23 Expo, and then all of a sudden we got a bunch of cool new photos to share with you! Now we have some additional details on the film that come from interviews with the talented crew bringing this movie to life.

Thanks to EW we have some new information on the story of the film and the characters who are a part of it. First up, J.J. Abrams once again talks about his hesitation to take the directing job:

“You rarely get a chance to be involved in something that you would typically be an audience for. Katie, my wife, said, ‘If you want to do this and you don’t, you’re going to regret this.’ It was really about being willing to take that leap, and jump into the possibilities of what these characters are doing, and where they are.”

Then screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan threw in his two cents on why he decided to come back and work on the franchise again. Sounds like it wasn't an easy task, but it does give you some insight on how he approached the project:

“I thought, ‘Wow, okay, these people have lived — they’re in a different place in their lives, Han and Leia and so on. They’ve lived the same 30 years I have. What would that be like? How would you see things differently?’ And I was trying to figure out how I saw things differently, and one of the surprises is that you don’t learn all that much. You haven’t become much wiser than you were, and things are not clearer to you, and the world is just as confusing as it always was — and that’s a kind of lovely thing to get to write about again. Age does not necessarily bring wisdom; it just brings experience.”

As for the little bits of details that the magazine has to offer on the film, they say that the Empire "has morphed into a junta known as The First Order, while X-Wing pilots like Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron now fly for a splinter group known as the Resistance." Then there's Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), who is now in possession of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader's original lightsaber, which was believed to be lost when (SPOILER) Vader cut Luke's (Mark Hamill) hand off during their climactic duel in The Empire Strikes Back. Just so you're not confused, this was the lightsaber given to Luke by Obi-Wan Kenobi.

As far as Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren goes, he is referred as being a “Darth Vader obsessive,” and Domhnall Gleeson's General Hux, who is part of The First Order, is described as being "merciless." The report goes on to talk about Luke:

"There’s no question, the Luke we watched staring off at the twin suns of Tatooine in the original Star Wars is not the same Luke we last saw standing in the shadows of Endor while his victorious friends celebrated the fall of the Emperor, the death of Darth Vader, and the destruction of the second Death Star. War distorts any soul, and getting older always comes with compromises. Each one takes a piece of you — parts that can’t be replaced like a cybernetic hand."

You think you know Luke? Think again — they hint that the changes we see in him could alter the way audiences look at the original trilogy, as well as the arc planned for the upcoming universe. Kathleen Kennedy said,

“The themes and ideas that we all continue to talk about are the themes and ideas that were the inherent in the original movies. We’re looking, obviously, for aspiration, for characters who are conflicted between good and evil, dark and light.”

When talking about trying to get Abrams on board for the film Kennedy revealed, “In the context of talking about story and laying out what we were thinking, I said one thing to him, ‘Who is Luke Skywalker?’” Abrams' almost immediate response was, “Oh my God, I just got the chills. I’m in.”

Abrams went on to talk about the future of the saga beyond The Force Awakens and the work Rian Johnson is doing for Episode VIII:  

“It’s a thrill to see [Johnson] take things and elevate them beyond what we had imagined at the time.”

Kennedy also talked about what Johnson is doing and revealed that he started from scratch on the project: 

“We know where we’re going, but only in the broadest sense. When Rian came in and started writing his script, he started from scratch, other than knowing what we had done in Episode VII and projecting out where it was going. He then sat down and put pen to paper, and it’s 100 percent him.”

That's so great to hear! I love Johnson's writting and directing style, and it's going to be so cool to see how exactly it translates to a Star Wars film. There's no word on who will direct Episode IX yet, but Abrams made it clear that it's not going to be him:

“No, I’m not going to direct Episode IX, as much as I am deeply envious of anyone who gets to work with this group of people on the future movies.”

EW has a very long and great interview which I suggest you read when you get a chance. There's a lot of cool stuff coming in the Star Wars universe, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Lucasfilm actually has in store for their D23 presentation this weekend. We'll be there to report on anything cool that they reveal!

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will debut in theaters on December 18th, 2015.