‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ vinyl has 3D holograms etched on them

Vinyl has been experiencing a major comeback recently so it comes as no surprise that Disney is exploring the medium to release a unique vinyl album for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The two LP set has 3D holograms etched right into the surface of the records. One has the Millennium Falcon and the other the TIE Fighter. If you look at the records while they spin from the right angle, you’ll be able to see wire forms of the ships floating and rotating.

Disney hired holographic artist Tristan Duke to make this happen. Duke has made similar etched artwork on vinyl for Jack White’s Lazaretto Ultra LP. Expect this to be priced around US$50 (around CA$65) when it’s released on June 17^th through Disney Music Emporium and Amazon.

Source: SlashGear

J.J. Abrams hints about Rey's parents in the 'Star Wars' universe

Photo courtesy of David James/2015 Lucasfilm LTD.

Speculation has been ripe about who Rey's real parents are. The most popular theories are she's Luke's daughter or Leia and Han Solo's daughter, making her Kylo Ren's sister. Stirring up the debate further, Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams left hints about who Rey's parents. He said during an audience Q&A at the Tribeca Film Festival that "Rey's parents are not in Episode VII. So I can't possibly say in this moment who they are. But I will say it is something that Rey thinks about, too."

Of course, this goes against the previously mentioned theories since the speculation is revolving around characters that did show up in the movie. But during an interview with Entertainment Weekly after the Q&A, Abrams clarified that he meant The Force Awakens meant to build up the mystery of her lineage without resolving it. "What I meant was that she doesn't discover them in Episode VII. Not that they may not already be in her world." 

Source: Entertainment Weekly

There won’t be an extended cut for ‘The Force Awakens’ Blu-ray edition

If you were thinking scoring the Blu-ray version of Star Wars: The Force Awakens will score you extra footage you didn’t see in the cinema, well you thought wrong. The film’s director J.J. Abrams has said there will be extras in the DVD/Blu-ray release but these will come in the form of deleted scenes from the movie. He hasn’t specified though how many scenes or how long these scenes will run.  Abrams said during the recent panel that the first cut of The Force Awakens clocked in at two hours and 50 minutes, which is 35 minutes longer than what we saw at the cinemas. Unfortunately, we don’t know yet when the DVD/Blu-ray editions of the new Star Wars trilogy will come out.

Source: EW + SlashGear

J.J. Abrams calls out ‘Star Wars’ merchandise makers for lack of Rey merch

Hasbro has been on the receiving end of criticism as the company failed to include main protagonist Rey (played by Daisy Ridley) in the Star Wars edition of Monopoly, just one of the many merchandise released to promote Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The film’s director J.J. Abrams isn’t happy about this. “It seems preposterous and wrong that the main character of the movie is not well-represented in what is clearly a huge piece of the Star Wars world, in terms of merchandising,” Abrams told reporters on Saturday after a Television Critics Association panel for his new Hulu series 11.22.63.

Hasbro has released a statement earlier this week though that they plan to rectify the situation. "We love the passion fans have for Rey, and are happy to announce that we will be making a running change to include her in the Monopoly: Star Wars game later this year,” they said in the statement. Hasbro said she wasn’t included to avoid revealing a key plot line.

Source: Mashable