Latest Updates: Thursday, July 31, 2008
ScoreNotes recently posted an interview with composer Kevin Kiner. Click here to listen to it.
And the official site StarWarsTheMusic.com has posted streaming clips from the soundtrack here. (Some of the track titles could, I suppose, be considered spoilers.) They have also posted a press release here although it doesn't tell us anything we don't already know.
The soundtrack will be released August 12.
Labels: Soundtrack
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Latest Updates: Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Unofficial Clone Wars Site has reviewed the latest book from Karen Traviss, here's their thoughts.
Earlier this year, the Star Wars Lit community was abuzz with the news of a couple of things - that there was an untitled Karen Traviss novel coming, and that there was a Clone Wars movie coming out. A couple of months ago, fans learned that they were both connected, as Karen turned out to have been writing the novelization. The release of The Clone Wars brings about the first book released in the time frame since Traviss's last Republic Commando novel, True Colors, which was released last year, and once again shows that Traviss is one of the better writers for the Clone Wars.
Read the full review here
Labels: Reviews, The Clone Wars
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Latest Updates: Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Yahoo movies has posted an exclusive clip from the Clone Wars movie.
The 3:49 minute clip details an early battle sequence in the movie, and contains some minor spoilers.
Take a look here:
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809991325/video/8977211
Man, that looks awesome.
Labels: The Clone Wars, Video
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Latest Updates: Monday, July 28, 2008
Randomhouse.com has posted up an interview with Clone Wars author Karen Traviss, and an excerpt of the book on their website.
Here is an excerpt from the interview:A Conversation with Karen Traviss
Question: Your new novel, The Clone Wars, is an adaptation of the animated film set for release in August. What's it like to write an adaptation? How do you turn the script into a novel, and do you have any freedom at all in terms of plot and characters?
Karen Traviss: The words "based on" mean just that — in fact, the phrase "very loosely based" would probably comply better with the UK's Trades Descriptions Act!
It's an animated feature film, and this is a novel, so the book can't be the same as the movie; there's already a gulf between what works in movies and what works in books anyway; you have two completely different products. Readers expect (and need) much more complexity and much deeper characterisation, and they're more demanding of plot logic - you have to tweak plots, because what is convincing to people watching a visual spectacle in a cinema very often doesn't work at all in print. And, inevitably, there's only so much movies can ever cover — they can never, ever see inside a character's head like a novel can. They have what's known as an omniscient viewpoint, and my books are all very tight third-person POV. So it's as different as chalk and cheese.
I'm pretty process-driven when I tackle a job like this, so I read the script, noted the main plot points, then worked out how I was going to cover the ground so that it started and ended in the same place as the movie and hit the same plot beats. Then I just...wrote it.
Now that movies are available on DVD, people buy books to get an experience that's different from what they can see on screen. They don't need or want a print version of the movie. They want something extra. It's my job to see they get it.
Q: The animated film is kicking off the new Clone Wars animated TV series. Does this new series pick up where the old Clone Wars series left off?
KT: No, it doesn't. It covers the same ground, although some of the continuity in the movie has changed from that in the last CW animated series. Because this is such familiar territory to SW fans —- I wanted to give them some things they'd never seen before. So they'll see the characters from a whole new perspective. Jabba, Ventress and Dooku may be a big surprise for some readers, as will some of the droids.
Q: Are you going to be involved in the new series–perhaps more novels set in this era of the Star Wars universe?
KT: I'm doing three of the five books from this series, with the other two being written by my good friend Karen Miller. It's a lot of fun to work with a buddy, and especially with someone who has the same take on fiction — that it's about character, character, and more character. We spend hours on the phone having debates about the psychology of the characters — often at weird hours, because she's in Australia and I'm in the UK.
Full interview
And you can read the entire excerpt here:
Excerpt
Or, pick up the book, cheaply, at Borders
Labels: Books, Karen Traviss, The Clone Wars
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Latest Updates: Thursday, July 24, 2008
21 days until The Clone Wars is released to theaters, and a number of new posters have appeared online. Take a look.
These first two have a more of the classic 'Star Wars' poster feel to them, especially this first one. The second one reminds me a lot of the Empire Strikes Back poster, with the Clone helmet right in the center.
A couple international posters:
See some more here
Labels: The Clone Wars
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Latest Updates: Monday, July 21, 2008
As August 15th approaches, more coverage of the film is popping up. Youtube has a selection of TV spots that have been aired recently.
Here's a couple of the recent TV spots:
TV Spot 1
TV Spot 2
There are also a number of very short clips that have appeared:
Rex: Experience Outranks Everything
Cody in Battle
Looking good!
Thanks to Theforce.net for the heads up
Labels: The Clone Wars, Video
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StarWars.com has posted up information about a new Clone Wars reference book, entitled Inside Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide.
The book is being published by DK, who is responsible for other Visual Guide releases for each of the prior movies. The release date is slated for July 26th. Here's what TOS had to say about it:
As they have with the Star Wars feature films, DK books is set to visually explore the rich universe of the animated Clone Wars adventures with their forthcoming Visual Guide, written by Jason Fry. Mining the feature film and the television series, the Guide examines heroes, villains, technology and events with authoritative text, crystal clear illustrations, and detailed callouts. The Jedi heroes and Separatist villains are showcased, as are pirates and bounty hunters, creatures, aliens and exotic worlds.
The book, like most of the initial Clone Wars products, hits shelves on July 26. StarWarsShop.com, in conjunction with DK, is making available an exclusive Limited Edition of the book, with bonus content: a card pocket on the inside cover that includes special reproductions of the distinctive Republic gunship nose art. Also inside this edition is a six-page gatefold with details on the various lightsabers seen in The Clone Wars.
Source
Labels: Books, DK, The Clone Wars
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Latest Updates: Thursday, July 17, 2008
The reviews are starting to come in as press screenings for the Clone Wars movie are starting up. The AP has posted up their review.
Here's what they had to say:`Clone Wars' revives old-style `Star Wars' fun
By DAVID GERMAIN – 2 hours ago
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (AP) — A tinge of Anakin Skywalker's coming dark side clearly is visible in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." Yet the animated adventure mostly harks back to the fun, swashbuckling times of the original "Star Wars" trilogy.
Lucasfilm Animation, which screened the movie Tuesday for The Associated Press in advance of its Aug. 15 theatrical release, has crafted a movie nicely tucked in to Anakin's early heroic days, before his transformation into the evil Darth Vader.
Along for the ride are noble-hearted clone soldiers with the camaraderie of Marine grunts, inept android warriors as idiotic as the Three Stooges and a young protege who rivals Anakin for cockiness and affectionately calls him "Sky Guy."
Dave Filoni, director of the movie and supervising director for "The Clone Wars" animated TV show debuting this fall on TNT and the Cartoon Network, said the idea was to return to the wisecracking tone of the original "Star Wars" in 1977, before the gloom of Anakin's fall.
"I wanted this to have the banter. I wanted this to be funny," Filoni said in an interview at Skywalker Ranch, home to Lucasfilm Animation, a division of "Star Wars" creator George Lucas' filmmaking empire. "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," Luke Skywalker, of the original trilogy.
The Anakin in "Clone Wars" is a hybrid of Luke and his rascally ally, Han Solo, Filoni said.
"He's cocky like Han, he can do a lot of things like Han, he's clever with machines like Han. But he's naive like Luke. The whole galaxy is a bit overwhelming," Filoni said.
The movie presents all of the key characters from Anakin's world: Jedi masters Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu and Yoda; Anakin's future wife Padme Amidala; androids R2-D2 and C-3PO; gangster Jabba the Hutt; villain Count Dooku; and Palpatine, the galaxy's evil emperor in waiting.
Characters not seen in the live-action movies include conniving assassin Asajj Ventress; Jabba's sinister uncle, a giant slug that speaks with a Truman Capote-like Southern drawl; and Captain Rex, a loyal member of Anakin's clone crew.
Full article
Labels: Reviews, The Clone Wars
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Dark Horse has posted up four images for upcoming Clone Wars tie-ins to the Animated movie.
The covers give us a clue as to what will be released. It seems that they will continue with the digest type line, with Shipyards of Doom and Crash Course, and will be releasing a miniseries in the regular style. Shipyards of Doom goes on sale September 24th, Crash Course on December 31st, while The Clone Wars #1 will be released September 10th and The Clone Wars # 2 will be on sale October 8th.
The regular series is being created by Writer Henry Gilroy and Penciller Scott Hepburn. More information will be released at the San Diego Comic Con later this month. Stay turned to TUCWS for more information and reviews!
Source
Labels: Comics, Crash Course, Dark Horse, Pictures, Shipyards of Doom, The Clone Wars
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Karen Miller's announced Clone wars book has been given a title, according to Randomhouse's website, Clone Wars: Wild Space.
Karen Miller, a newcomer to the Star Wars Universe, will be writing two of the five books along with author Karen Traviss. The announced release date for this book will be November 25th of this year, and seems to be a trade paperback, coming in at $15.00. More information as we get it!
Source
Labels: Books, Clone Wars, Karen Miller, Wild Space
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Latest Updates: Monday, July 14, 2008
The SciFi Channel's SciFi Wire has just posted up an article about the characters of the Clone Wars, stating that the animated film will be examining some of the smaller side characters, in addition to the main characters.
Here's the full article:
Star Wars: Clone Wars supervising director David Filoni told SCI FI Wire that the animated TV series won't focus on the main characters of the feature films but rather will flesh out the stories of some of the lesser-known characters.
Creator George Lucas is very much involved in the animated show that will air for 22 episodes on the Cartoon Network sometime this fall.
"We're not just telling Anakin Skywalker's story," Filoni said in an interview at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., on July 11. "If we were doing that, we would be stuck on one single arc. I look at the episodes where we have him and Ahsoka, which is his student, and I know that there is an arc there, because something has to happen to her. We don't see her in [Star Wars-Episode III:] Revenge of the Sith."
Following Ahsoka's journey allows the writers to show the progress of the title war, Filoni added. "We can kind of go left or right of that plot and deal with characters that we have never seen," he said. "There's a lot of material, so I can stretch it and, you know, keep making episodes about things that George would like to see or I would like to see."
The TV series and its accompanying animated feature film, also called Star Wars: The Clone Wars, take place between the second and third films, Star Wars-Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
Filoni laughed when asked if the much-maligned Jar Jar Binks will show up in the series. "I have to hold a few secrets back," he said.
Meanwhile, the Clone Wars movie, which comes out Aug. 15, "is a very stand-alone movie," Filoni said. "It sets up the major characters we know, like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, and, of course, the new character, Ahsoka. So it's made to stand alone and introduce everybody to the universe we're showing in the series"
The Clone Wars last three years in Star Wars mythology. "In that period, there are so many stories to tell that I've been amazed that just in the first season what we didn't get to, you know, and what I would still like to get to and what stories we would still like to explore," Filoni said. "So for me and the longer it goes, the more chance we all get to tell fascinating stories in that galaxy."
Among the stories to be explored in the show: Master Yoda's backstory and how he came to be as powerful as he is. The series will also ask show whether clone troopers have separate personalities and how the comical attack droids are clone troopers are good guys before they fall under the spell of Darth Vader. "It gives us a chance to look at them from very different points of view, as Obi Wan would say," Filoni said.
Another new character is Asajj Ventress, the bald, tattooed apprentice of the nefarious Count Dooku. "She is kind of sexual and strong in the dark side of the Force," Filoni said. "The Jedi are supposed to suppress those feelings and be hands off, but she is like a serpent, and that's another different dynamic."
Tom Kane will voice Yoda, who has been voiced by Frank Oz in the feature films. "It's very challenging, because he had a lot of dialogue, and it's a strain on poor Tom's voice," Filoni said.
Some of the movies' sounds, created by master sound-effects wizard Ben Burtt, are picked up and used anew by Matt Wood in the animated series. "Ben came up with great sounds, and Matt was his understudy and left a legacy of classic sounds, and they made hundreds of new sounds that they had to invent for things we've never before seen," Filoni said.
Source
Labels: Clone Wars
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Latest Updates: Friday, July 11, 2008
Karen Traviss has announced on her website a short, five stop book signing tour starting with the 2008 San Diego ComicCon.
No word yet on whether there will be any more dates added to this, but here's what we've got thus far:
- July 24 - 27 - check Comic-Con schedule for appearances.
- July 28, TEMPE, AZ - Changing Hands, 7pm
- July 29, DALLAS -Borders, Greenville Ave., 7pm
- July 30, DECATUR, GA, - Wordsmiths Books, 7.30pm
- July 31, NEW YORK - Borders, Columbus Circle NYC, 7pm
Source
Labels: Books, Karen Traviss
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Rebelscum.com has reported that The Clone Wars DVD is scheduled for November 18th.
IGN has also picked up the story, but as of this point, this is just a tenative date, and could very well change. There are also no details on what extras will be included at this point, nor any word on a Blu-Ray release.
Stay tuned for more!
Source
Labels: Clone Wars, DVD
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Latest Updates: Thursday, July 10, 2008
Starwars.com announced yesterday that the upcoming Clone Wars movie premiere date has been set for August 10th.
The movie will be making its theatrical debut at the Egyptian theater, where the Empire Strikes Back made its own debut.
According to the Associated Press, the proceeds from the release will go to the American Cinematheque, a film organization based at the theater.
Source
Labels: Clone Wars
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Collectors, heads up! On July 25th, Toys R Us locations around the United States will be opening at midnight for a special release of the Clone Wars merchandise.
Stores across the nation have already installed countdown clocks for the event, and an estimated 225 stores will be opening at 12 pm for the event. Two stores, in New York Times Square and Mission Bay San Diego, will be holding special events throughout the evening. 
The 501st Legion will be on hand in some of these stores (I will be at the Times Square location as a Storm Trooper).
Source
Labels: Clone Wars, Collecting
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According to Starwars.com, a soundtrack for the upcoming theatrical movie will be released on August 12th from Sony Classical. 
The soundtrack, composed by Kevin Keiner, will contain 32 tracks and will run for 67 minutes and 39 seconds.
Source
Labels: Clone Wars
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Latest Updates: Tuesday, July 8, 2008
5 Book Series Coming!
Over the past couple of months, news has slowly leaked that authors Karen Traviss and Karen Miller were both working on upcoming Clone Wars novels. Now, Karen has officially announced what the project is, clarifying things and revealing that this will be a five book series based off of the animated movie, and that Karen T will be taking three of the books. Here's the announcement from her webpage:
Yes, there is a NEW SERIES out this month, and judging by the mail I'm getting, folks don't seem to realise what it is. There's a NEW FIVE-BOOK STAR WARS SERIES for adult readers based on the Clone Wars movie and TV cartoon show, and I'm writing three of them. But because the movie and the TV show are for the youngsters, and I write adult fiction, then you can deduce that the novels will show you stuff you won't see on screen. (This is separate from the young adult books that are also being published. ) With me so far? Good.
CLONE WARS, the hardcover based on the movie - loosely based, so no griping that it's different, please, because that's the whole point - is out on July 26. Full of the gritty, off-message, character-testing, question-raising, grey-area, military-oriented stuff you've come to expect from me. And clones. Plenty of clones. And familiar characters from the movies that you won't see quite the same way ever again.
My good buddy Karen Miller is writing the other two novels. She doesn't write predictable, lightweight stuff either, so stand by for a challenging series that will make you take another fresh look at the Clone Wars.
I'll be pimping the books at Comic Con in San Diego, July 24 - 27, with a short book tour immediately afterwards. I'll post cities and dates when they're all confirmed.
Karen Miller also chimed in on her webpage:
And now it's official!
[Posted 27-Jun-2008]
Yes! I am writing two Star Wars novels. They're part of a new 5 book series set during the Clone Wars, and connected with the new animated series that's coming out this year. The truly awe-inspiring Karen Traviss (NYT #1 bestselling author) is writing the other 3. She is da bomb, with big fat bells on. More info will be shared as it comes to hand ...
This is fantastic news, especially for Clone Wars fans. This is also in addition to the final Republic Commando novel, Order 66, which is also being penned by Karen Traviss.
Labels: Books, Karen Traviss
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