news

 

 

thursday 31st july 2008  
>>>we continue our look at worlds of importance from the history of the setnin sector with salutarr, the original home of the telepathic krictakk creature...

salutarr

 

Original home of the Krictakk creature, a slavering monstrosity that communicated telepathically.  A warm and spacious world prone to prolonged bouts of driving rain, Salutarr joined the forces of Count Dooku and joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. It was later invaded and taken by the Empire during the Galactic Civil War, an action which drove the Krictakk to live in dark caves.  Aided by the smuggler Jan Lomona Krictakk was transported to its new home on Chakratak in the Elany System

>>>aint it cool news bring an insightful interview with dave filoni, director of the clone wars.  click here to have a read of a very informal chat between two genuine star wars geeks, filoni and mister beaks...

don't mess with the green dude...

>>>our great pals at undercity have been in touch about a number of their new ventures.
in just the last few short months they have been to midnight madness in lisbon, had reporters at the san diego comic convention and extended their affiliate programme, something we're proud to be a part of.
click here to join our friends over at undercity...
wednesday 30th july 2008  
>>>usa today bring us a link to images of particular interest to fans of ilm.  new images from harry potter and the half-blood prince arrive, showing us flashbacks to the earlier days of both albus dumbledore and tom riddle - other wise known as...well, you know who.
click here or on the image below and follow the link to the piece.

hero fiennes-tiffin as tom riddle and michael gambon as dumbledore...

>>>this is a great clip from comic con last week.  hugh jackman makes a surprise appearance at the convention to hype may 1st 2009's x-men origins: wolverine and thank the crowd, as well as len wein the creator of wolverine
in a word this looks awesome and as soon as the actual trailer is available we'll bring it to you.

 

tuesday 29th july 2008  
>>>setnin select reaches another milestone as it reaches number 300 with artwork by dan biesel.  this shows frans latka, carlonian feese, newell arrithat, jan lomona, ryath centaur and goah galletti escaping from a janos temple - and janos executioners - in a scene from a classic roleplay session of the early 1990's.  and for another look at the image, check out our gallery section.
for more looks into the worlds of setnin, click on the mini banner and go through to the setnin select archive.
>>>our good pals at jedi news were busy over the weekend attending the midnight madness event at the brent cross branch of toys r us.  watch the video below to get a flavour of how the night progressed and just what goodies are on offer...

 

monday 28th july 2008  
>>>comic artist kris carter was kind enough to reply to a cheeky email from the good folks at Lightsabre and drew us an image for the site.
here we have ade-arr b'erain, setnin jedi during
the clone wars era, who you can read about by checking out the rise of glann cipple era in our chronology section.  and for another look at the image, check out our gallery section...

ade-arr b'erain - setnin jedi during the clone wars...

>>>nothing official has been mentioned but australian dvd site ezydvd.com has listed two box sets due out on october 29th. 
firstly they list a
prequel trilogy box set, which includes the phantom menace, attack of the clones and revenge of the sith.  all are listed as double disc sets and would be - upon confirmation - the first prequel box set to be released.
the site also lists an
original trilogy box set with similar features.
of course, until official confirmation arrives this is just rumour, but a prequel box set to be released just before the arrival of
the clone wars on dvd does make sense.

could this be the cover of the prequel box set?

>>>slave leia's.  comic con attack of the show on g4tv
nuff said...

 

sunday 27th july 2008  
>>>we welcome to the site the man who portrayed not only sy snootles and salacious crumb but most famously admiral ackbar in return of the jedi, tim rose
tim
was rushing around like crazy preparing for his trip to celebration japan but still managed to find the time to squeeze us in for a chat, the results of which can be found here or by hovering over the menubar above and clicking interviews.  then go and discuss it on the swora forums...

tim rose

>>>the dark knight has had an absolutely blockbusting, record breaking week.  in just 10 days it has taken $314,245,000, eclipsing the $313,626,000 amassed by indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull - the film most thought would rule the 2008 box office - and lies just a few hundred thousand behind iron mans total of $314,905,000
it's taken the largest second weekend, hauling in $75,630,000 compared to shrek 2's $72,170,363 and hit the $300 million mark in an amazing 10 days, beating out previous record holder pirates of the caribbean: dead man's chest by 6 clear days. 
it also beat out dead man's chest by raking in the most in 10 days, beating the jonny depp action sequel by just a whisker short of a cool $56 million
tracking at this rate the film should be looking at a total figure well into the $400 million mark, passing star wars on $460,998,007 - of course, not adjusted for inflation, today star wars would have taken
$1,261,086,700  - with possibly only the unassailable titanic to sink on $600,788,188.
to put it into some kind of perspective, in inflation adjusted figures the 1989 tim burton
batman would have taken $445,718,700.  for the 6th bat movie to have had such an awesome start is a terrific feat.

an amazing final performance...

saturday 26th july 2008  
>>>space center houston have contacted us regarding their the clone wars texas premiere.  over to them.
   "y
ou’re invited to the exclusive texas premiere of the highly anticipated new cg-animated feature film star wars: the clone wars sunday, august 10 at space center houston from 6.00pm - 10pm!
don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the first-ever
star wars animated feature film, before it hits theatres on august 15th! star wars: the clone wars showcases an entirely new state-of-the-art look and feel to the galaxy far, far away featuring old favorites such as anakin skywalker and obi-wan kenobi, as well as exciting new characters like anakin’s padawan learner, ahsoka tano!
tickets to this private event include entrance to space center houston’s
star wars: the clone wars exhibit featuring exclusive movie props, models and artifacts from the highly anticipated film, as well as from all of the previous star wars films.
mingle with characters from the star wars 501st legion and take your place among the first to experience the next generation of the star wars saga!"
more exciting premiere news as clone madness continues to rise...

the clone wars invades the redneck riviera...

>>>co-founder of Lightsabre and former roleplay editor jonathan hicks brings us some very interesting news regarding the d6 system.  hover over roleplay on the menubar above and click d6 system for more information.

brings back good memories...

friday 25th july 2008  
>>>more posters come in to advertise the soon-to-be arriving the clone wars movie.  take a look at the two below and click here for a sneak at even more amazing images...

yes, that slow dripping sound is the drool of anticipation...

>>>the sequel to last years hit episode of robot chicken star wars has been announced and is due to hit the small screen on november 16th.  here's what the hollywood reporter had to say.
   "many members of the voice cast from the first special, including original star wars actors carrie fisher and billy dee williams - reprising their roles as princess leia and lando calrissian, respectively - are back. also returning are seth macfarlane as emperor palpatine, conan o'brien as zuckuss, breckin meyer as admiral ackbar and boba fett, and ahmed best as jar jar binks. seth green will voice several characters, including ponda baba. joining the voice cast this time around is andy richter."
it sounds awesome, and we'll bring you all news about the show as it filters through...

who's ya daddy!

>>>we've known about this particular sequel for quite a while.  in fact, a snippet of the table read is included on the previous episodes dvd extras, but something, something, something darkside looks set to continue the side-splitting work done by family guy - blue harvest last year.  check out the poster below and, as with robot chicken, keep watching the site for more news...

err...who's ya daddy?

thursday 24th july 2008  
>>>we continue our look at worlds of importance from the history of the setnin sector with ruuthorne, the world where pirate king tralat durge made his base...

ruuthorne

 

An industrious world inhabited by humans who eked a living and carved a home from the very rock of the ground.  Ruuthorne was taken by pirate king Tralat Durge, enslaving the populace and forcing them to work for him.  Site of a massive confrontation between Alliance and Imperial forces just weeks after the Battle of Hoth.  Ruuthorne was also the location of an ambush on the ex-Trac-Tran Transit company employee Laarton by Nacron Yatchteeze and Laartons ex-colleague Kee-livinees.  Ruuthorne was a barren, arid blue planet orbiting a small, dying sun with little or no vegetation and vast plains, such as the Plains of Tralivane - a world hardly worth fighting over

>>>dave jesteadt of www.gkids.tv has dropped us a line to tell us about a fantastic event that ties in with the clone wars.
   "a
s star wars fans, we want to make sure your readers and members are one of the first to have access to the east coast debut of lucasfilm animation's first feature film, star wars: the clone wars, in new york city on sunday, august 10th at 5.00pm.
this exclusive pre-release screening party will include costumed clonetroopers, stormtroopers and other
star wars characters, plus door prizes, giveaways, and a clone wars takeaway gift for all attendees.  the first 100 fans in line will receive full size theatrical poster.
the event will be announced to the public on friday, july 25 and tickets are expected to sell out fast.  we are giving you advance notice and hope that you will pass the information on to your audience through your website or newsletter, so we can make sure to pack the house with fans for this great event!  http://www.gkids.tv/intheaters.cfm"

cheers dave, and if any of you make it to the event be sure to drop us a line here at Lightsabre and let us know all about it...

dare you miss it?

>>>there's still plenty of time to enter our robot chicken star wars competition in association with revolver entertainment which gives you the chance to win three copies of robot chicken star wars on dvd. 
answer this deceptively easy question and you could be on your way to being a winner.
seth green played the character of oz on buffy the vampire slayer.  but what was ozzy's real name?
all answers must be emailed across to our main staff address free.trader@virgin.net and be in by 10th august at 11.59pm.  one entry each, no cash alternatives to the prizes and no entries from either
Lightsabre or swora staff members.  we'll announce the winners on august 11th, the release date of robot chicken star wars.
and for further chances to win a copy, head on over to our great pals at galactic empire.net and jedi news and enter their robot chicken star wars competitions...

palps on line 2...

wednesday 23rd july 2008  
>>>Lightsabre's mark newbold was lucky enough to be interviewed this week by the good guys at jedi masters.  click here and see what he had to say.
and on the subject of mark he posed some questions for the robot chicken guys over at the official site.  click here for marks questions - posing as his alter ego jan lomona -  about who decides who plays what character and what happened to marks chair after he laughed too hard watching robot chicken star wars...

mark newbold about four stone ago...

>>>lucasarts bring us news of their event schedule at the san diego comic-con this coming weekend, and a cracking line up it is too.  click here and see what's in store for the weekend...

don't try and cheat this man at cards - he's a master of snap and poker...

>>>here we bring you the next television spot for the clone wars with a very brief clip named experience outranks everything...

 

tuesday 22nd july 2008  
>>>setnin select reaches number 299 with artwork by louis turfrey.  this shows the ponon pass leading into ecaps city on a-desando
for more looks into the worlds of setnin, click on the mini banner and go through to the setnin select archive.
>>>in support of the make-a-wish foundation the 501st have started a very novel new project.  spearheaded by the fantastic terri hodges, these 501st quilts will be auctioned on ebay, the first of which can be bid on right here

tom hodges, posing with the quilt, proving that the quilt is mightier than the sword...

>>>here we bring you the next television spot for the clone wars with a very brief clip showing torrent fighters as they deploy...

 

monday 21st july 2008  
>>>we present the second chapter in a new tale from the setnin sector - setnin star chapter two - reunion, by louis turfrey.  in the twilight of the all-consuming ki-ki/setnin war tar ranth finds himself in trouble.  out of the sector and travelling far the bounty hunter come jedi finds himself embroiled in a sinister plot.  click here or on the image below for chapter two of setnin star...

tar ranth...

>>>turning to the dork side 45 hits the site direct from neil bakers own dork side blog. you can view it there or go to our humour section through our assorted section on our dropdown menu above where a rancor burger comes with a lot more than fries and a shake...
>>>the dark knight followed up on the promise of breaking both the midnight showing and opening/single day records by eclipsing the three day total amassed by spider-man 3 last summer.  hauling in $155,340,000 the sixth batman film and sequel to the successful batman begins broke the $100 million barrier in just 2 days, joining spider-man 3, and pirates of the caribbean: dead man's chest.  already it lies just $50 million behind predecessor batman begins, a figure it should pass by mid-week.

the dark knight...

>>>here we bring you a second television spot for the clone wars as promotion gears up towards the august 15th release date...

 

sunday 20th july 2008  
>>>Lightsabre continues its webmaster interviews.  this week we interview one of the veteran star wars webmasters whose site galactic voyage has been online constantly since 1999, gary willis
we've had contact with gary over the years and it's never been anything less than a pleasure to work with him.  his interview can be found here or by hovering over the menubar above and clicking interviews, then go and discuss it on the swora forums...

gary willis

>>>last nights performance of one man star wars trilogy was a storming success, with charles ross sending the captivated audience into fits of laughter with his whiny luke, pant-wetting imperials and wide-mouthed jabba the hutt caricatures.  fantastic fun, try and catch charles this year as it will likely be the final time he performs one man star wars trilogy before turning his attention to one man lord of the rings, which - judging by the excerpt he performed last night will be just as brilliant.
we were lucky enough to have a chat with
charles as he met fans at the Lightsabre charity stand which raised £100 for cancer research uk and the make-a-wish foundation, so for photo's from the evening, click here and get a flavour of the fun night that was had by all...

mark, charles and louis - at least two people were ready for this photo to be taken...

>>>television spots for the clone wars are starting to appear on american television and consequently on youtube.  here we present the first of those spots, with more to follow throughout the week...

saturday 19th july 2008  
>>>don't forget, Lightsabre is holding its charity event at one man star wars trilogy at the lichfield garrick tonight in aid of cancer research uk and the make-a-wish foundation.
we will be selling off charity items donated by the stars, authors and artists of the
star wars films, so if you want to get your hands on such items as signed dave prowse, gerald home, garrick hagon, tim rose, ian liston, jeremy bulloch, christian simpson and donald f glut photographs, an autographed mary franklin bossk figure or a signed stephen sansweet book as well as other items including some rare first edition indiana jones novels and star wars figures, then get down to the garrick before and after the show and see what's there.
also a big thank you to our great friends at jedi news and galactic empire.net who both ran their own events at earlier charles ross shows, theforce.net and all the other sites who posted the news...

one man star wars trilogy on the road.  charles with stephen from galactic empire network and adam from jedi news with troopers from knights of the empire this week...

>>>another star wars box office record has fallen, this time to the dark knightrevenge of the siths midnight screening record was overhauled by the worlds greatest detective as christopher nolans sequel - being described in some quarters as the comic book equal to the empire strikes back - took $18.2 million at the midnight screenings, and then blitzed through the day to end friday on $66.4 million, obliterating spiderman 3's single day record of $59,841,919.  with the widest release in history, opening on 4366 screens throughout north america, the dark knight looks on course to break the all time opening weekend.  indeed, in just one day it's already the 36th biggest opening weekend in history and has the $151,116,516 of spiderman 3 firmly in its sites.  it looks like it could be 1989 all over again, when the first batman movie outpaced indiana jones and the last crusade to become that years box office champ...

 

>>>it's still a while away but jj abrams is beginning to tease us with some tantalising images from the new star trek adventure, due 8th may 2009.  while there's not an official trek panel at the upcoming san diego comic con we can happily make do with these four images that combine to form a unique one-sheet.  with luck we should soon start seeing some of the work that ilm have done on this hotly anticipated movie...

coming 8th may 2009

friday 18th july 2008  
>>>not only are robot chicken star wars and family guy: blue harvest nominated in the 60th annual primetime emmy awards on the 21st september, but our own princess leia carrie fisher is nominated for her turn as rosemary howard in 30rock, starring star wars geek goddess tina fey.  click here for all of the nominations, and congratulations go out to battlestar galactica and stargate atlantis for their various nominations.

carrie fisher - will the force be with her?

>>>the associated press managed to grab a viewing of the clone wars as well as grabbing director dave filoni for an interview.  speaking from skywalker ranch filoni described the tone of the film.
   "
i wanted this to have the banter. i wanted this to be funny.  telling that dark story of anakin skywalker was important for george, but this was a chance to show anakin before that. anakin as a hero, anakin as the good guy, anakin more like his son."
click here for the interview in full and learn some fascinating snippets about the film that's now less than a month away.

ahsoka - not to be trifled with...

thursday 17th july 2008  
>>>fantastic news direct from the swora website.  over to swora.
   "a new ambassador coming through! - as swora's first ambassador gerald home leaves his position to be an honorary ambassador from now on, a new ambassador is here to carry the flag of swora inside the world of star wars fandom; who is no other than the famous admiral motti: richard leparmentier!"
click
here to read richards welcome message to swora and stay tuned to our sister site admiral motti and swora for all your richard leparmentier news!

the admiral arrives

>>>we continue our look at worlds of importance from the history of the setnin sector with repusub, the world where the clone goah galletti met his ultimate demise...

repusub

 

Lying in the Repusub System and home to the pirate and renegade Droog Finiye, natives of Repusub are correctly known as Usubians but are colloquially known as Worm Heads.  Repusub was also the location of Nortoide, one of Jabba the Hutts agents in the Setnin Sector.  A friend of Goah Galletti, Nortoide passed the information through the sector that the Empire were building a massive base on Trefnare which would constitute a massive swing of power in the sector, a base which turned out to house cloned Trefnarian Stormtroopers.  Repusub was also where Larna and her future husband Chesco met for the first time and crucially the world where the clone Goah Galletti met his death at the hands of a squad of Imperial Stormtroopers – clones from Trefnare

wednesday 16th july 2008  
>>>ian liston has kindly contacted Lightsabre with some very disturbing news about the forthcoming jumpcon events, news which may well affect some of our readers.  over to ian.
   "well, we can’t say we didn’t see it coming.  like many actors/guests from the uk (e.g. garrick hagon, gerald home, dermot crowley, colin baker, frazer hines, sylvester mccoy, mary tamm etc), i had a signed contract for boston and pittsburgh (with at least five more dates to follow later this year/early next) with a fee, flights, hotels and expenses included.  i should have known something was amiss when the first advance payment didn’t arrive four weeks ago."
for more on this unfortunate turn of events click here or go to our assorted section on the drop menu above and learn more about this shambles...
>>>just the other day Lightsabre dropped karen traviss a line, and it went thus:
   "
daft question - did you know before they were announced that the covers to order 66 and the clone wars would look so similar (bet you've been asked that already more times than anthony daniels has been asked what it's like inside the suit)"
to which
karen replied:
   "you've not read the news section on my web page, have you? :-)"
well, just four days later here we have the new dynamic cover for order 66, and rather funky it is too...

order 66...

tuesday 15th july 2008  
>>>setnin select reaches number 298 with artwork by jason brown.  this shows the staff area of glann cipples vessel the heart of setnin
for more looks into the worlds of setnin, click on the mini banner and go through to the setnin select archive.
>>>there's less than a month to go until the clone wars hits the cinemas worldwide and so the marketing campaign ratchets up with the release of these two clone wars posters.  click, look at the larger versions and enjoy...

as ash once said - "groovy..."

monday 14th july 2008  
>>>spencer brinkerhoff the third is one of the many fantastic artists who have contributed a piece towards celebration japan, but it's a safe bet that none of them have managed to turn their artwork into a living, breathing mini-film.  over to spencer.
   "this is an animation that i made from a print created for star wars celebration japan. i drew the characters and then did all of the clean up and coloring in flash. i figured that since i already had everything in flash, i would make a cartoon out of it. unfortunately i was not able to get permission to use the cantina song from the movie."
instead spencer used kevin macleods song off to osaka.  what a great piece of film.

>>>kevin kiner is a name you will be hearing a lot of over the next few months and years.  kiner has composed the soundtrack to the clone wars, released on august 12th in advance of the film.
scorenotes were lucky enough to snag an interview with him, the results of which can be found here.

kevin kiner

sunday 13th july 2008  
>>>we welcome to the site a producer who has not only entered the world of star wars for the original trilogy but also produced the first three indiana jones films, robert watts
robert
called us here at
Lightsabre towers at 9.50am on a sunday morning and chatted at length about all manner of subjects, and the first of three parts can be found here or by hovering over the menubar above and clicking interviews, then go and discuss it on the swora forums...

robert watts

>>>our good friend gary at galactic voyage has been busy, redesigning the look of the site in readiness for what is sure to be a very busy period for both his site and star wars in general.  eschewing the currently ubiquitous clone wars format, gary has opted for a classic star wars feel - and it looks great.
get on over there and visit one of the elder statesmen of star wars sites, and come back here next week for our webmaster interview with galactic voyage...
saturday 12th july 2008  
>>>Lightsabre will be holding a very special charity event at the one man star wars trilogy performance at the lichfield garrick theatre on saturday 19th july 2008.
both before and after the performance which starts at 7.30pm, we will be selling off charity items donated by the stars, authors and artists of the