VIEW | 'Star Wars Celebration' in Pictures!

amusings
Jul 20, 2016
4 min read

S T A R W A R S C E L E B R A T I O N E U R O P E 2 0 1 6

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TAKE A LOOK AT OUR EXCLUSIVE GALLERY OF PHOTOS FROM

THE THREE DAY SUPER FAN EVENT IN LONDON

FILM | Kyle Pedley

This weekend, (A)musings attended this year's 'Star Wars Celebration' fan convention, which took place at the Excel Exhibition and Conference Centre in the heart of London's docklands.

The annual convention, which once again saw flocks of fans of Lucasfilm's epic saga fly in from all over the globe, many in elaborate costume and cosplay, took place from Friday 15 through to Sunday 17 July. Filmmakers from the franchise, including Rogue One helmer Gareth Edwards and director of 2018's as-yet-untitled Episode VIII, Rian Johnson, joined Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and cast members of the franchise including Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Felicity Jones and Forrest Whittaker in a series of panels, conferences, events and experiences across the weekend.

Amidst the surprises and revelations, enthusiasts of the Star Wars universe were thrilled during a special panel for animated series Rebels when hugely popular 'legends' character Grand Admiral Thrawn was finally revealed as a character in the show's third season, finally bringing him into 'canon' after years of fan wishing and requests.

Check out Grand Admiral Thrawn's debut in the 'Star Wars Rebels' Season 3 Trailer.

And in a 'Future Filmmakers' discussion on Sunday, one of Hollywood's worst-kept secrets was finally confirmed as Hail, Caesar! actor Alden Ehrenreich made a surprise appearance, confirming his casting as a young Han Solo in Phil Lord and Chris Miller's standalone 2018 instalment.

In Friday's panel for December's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Gwendoline Christie of Game of Thrones and The Force Awakens compered a panel which saw practically the entire cast in attendance, including Hannibal star Mads Mikkelsen, even though this did lead to a rather awkward and unexpected major spoiler let slip by Jiang Wen.

Christie hastily glossed over the bombshell, and any cracks were patched over with the reveal of a brand new poster for the movie, which naturally was offered as a cherished freebie to all in attendance, as well as a 'sizzle reel' of behind-the-scenes footage from the movie, and a Celebration exclusive second trailer for the film, which has not yet been released and we are sworn to silence over ("Loose lips sink starships").

The beautiful, imposing new poster for 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'.

Out on the exhibition floor, in addition to the usual treasure trove of exhibitors and merchandise stands, highlights included a display of costumes and props from Rogue One, a remote-control recreation of the iconic Death Star battle at the climax of A New Hope manned by Propel RC, who afterwards were taking pre-orders for their Star Wars line of RC's, and a fantastic Virtual Reality experience from ILM's X-Lab, which saw attendees get the chance to interact with R2-D2 and the Millennium Falcon whilst also fending off Stormtroopers with a trusty lightsaber.

The experience - dubbed 'Trials of Tatooine' - has now been released via Steam for the HTC Vive, and for anyone who has the necessary equipment, or perhaps considering purchasing it, this is easily one of the most enjoyable and impressive slices of VR entertainment to date. The moment of igniting a lightsaber and wielding it with complete 1-to-1 responsiveness is undeniable awesome, and the most like a Jedi you're likely to have ever felt.

The brand new 'sizzle' for 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'.

For the cast panels, few in attendance could resist fits of laughter when Carrie Fisher's 'The Princess Diaries' descended into mayhem as Fisher's now famous French Bulldog, 'Gary' Fisher, ended up angrily chasing around Warwick Davis when he attempted to poke her with a stick whilst re-enacting one of their well-known scenes from Return of the Jedi. In fact, Fisher's panel in many ways was the most light-hearted and jubilant of them all, Fisher characteristically self-deprecating and deadpan, and not taking any of it too seriously, whilst Davis proved himself a fantastic, knowing host over the course of the entire weekend.

Elsewhere, Wars sound designer and voice of General Grievous, Matthew Wood, joined the creatives behind Disney XD's Lego Star Wars: The Freemakers Adventures as a surprise guest whilst discussing the new show, Jeremy Bulloch and Daniel Logan gave an extremely buoyant and personal panel on playing the role of Boba Fett over the years and different mediums, and Madame Tussauds unveiled their stunning new waxwork of Daisy Ridley's 'Rey', which will be appearing at their London museum from August 1st.

Stunningly accurate: Madame Tussauds London's newly unveiled 'Rey' waxwork.

In all, another thrilling weekend in the company of the biggest fans of that Galaxy far, far away. If there was some initial dismay at the new wristband procedure put in place for the major panels and shows, which continued with disgruntled visitors who didn't queue up early enough to secure them, in execution it was an extremely effective and well-structured approach, which kept queuing and time wasting to a relative minimum, an approach echoed by the official Celebration Store's 'lightspeed lane' fast track style system, which again worked particularly well.

Credit must also go to the team assembled, including a whole host of international volunteers, who did a tremendous job of keeping the enormous event not only running smoothly, but also always with a smile and willingness to help out.

The most ardent Star Wars fans were queuing from the night before to secure their wristbands!

With this year's Celebration all wrapped up, the eyes of the fans now rest upon Rogue One's impending release, and next year's event, which will be taking place in Orlando, Florida in April 2017.

And it's going to be a biggy - not only did Kennedy confirm that next year will be heavily Episode VIII-centric (where this year focused primarily on Rogue One), but it'll also coincide with the 40th anniversary of the release of the very first film in the saga.

Tickets are already on sale - but until then, why not ease any post-Celebration blues, or get an idea of what to expect in Orlando, but taking a look at our exclusive galleries of photos from across the weekend: