Friday, May 1, 2009

New Star Tours Footage Being Shot Right Now!!!

star-tours-poster-web



 

Holy Guacamole!!!  This just made my entire week!!!

 

The folks over at slashfilm are reporting that Lucasfilm has been secretly shooting footage for a new Star Wars project this past week in West Hollywood.  No, they're not making another Star Wars film.  And no, the shooting hasn't started yet on the much anticipated live-action Star Wars TV show.  What's happening is that Lucasfilm has begun work on what will become a new version of the Star Tours ride at the Disneyland parks.

 

Star Tours originally opened at Disneyland back in 1987, and hasn't really been updated at all since then.  When Episode One came out, there were some rumors going around for a while that the ride would be turned into a giant podrace attraction.  Thank god that never happened.  But now it looks like the ride is definitely set for some much needed updates.  While details about the plot of the new ride are sketchy at best, Slashfilm did mention the following things of note:

 

  • The footage being shot heavily revolves around Boba Fett.  With the story probably being that the Star Tours vehicle is being chased by the famed bounty hunter.

  • Admiral Ackbar has scenes being shot as well.

  • Anthony Daniels will be coming in soon to film scenes in which he will reprise the role of C-3PO for the new ride.

  • A Tusken Raider and some Jawas were seen around the set, so chances are good the ride will take us to Tattooine now instead of Endor.

  • The ride will take place during the original trilogy timeline, but will include elements from the prequels such as Naboo citizens and Geonosians.

  • Classic aliens like Bith, Rodians and Aqualish will be included in the new ride.

  • The new footage is possibly being shot in 3D!


 

Holy crap that's a gaggle of good news.  The inclusion of some prequel elements aside, the new ride sounds like it has the potential to be pretty awesome.  You're being chased across space (and probably Tattooine) by Boba Fett?  And the ride may even be in 3D?  Awesome!  And Anthony Daniels is even coming in to play C-3PO?  Super cool!

 

Don't get me wrong here, I absolutely love the original Star Tours ride.  I've loved it since the day it opened, but I've longed for an update to the ride for years.  I'd hate it if the original one goes away for good, but I definitely welcome some updates to a ride that has felt a bit dated, technology-wise, for quite a while now.  A 3D Star Tours experience would pretty much blow my mind, just like the original ride did the first time I rode it at the age of 9 years old.

 

I'll be keeping an eye open for more news on this topic and will update you as soon as I hear more.

2 comments:

  1. This is truly glorious news! I've been wanting this to happen for a long time. They should make it so it has several different outcomes and you don't know what you gonna get. Thanks fir sharing this amazing news!

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  2. It's about time. They should have done this years ago. I always thought they should have about four different films; one for each vehicle. At the gate, instead of just asking you how many is in your party, they could have asked where do you want to go? That would make all of us go on the ride several different times and increased business for Disney. If they wanted to get really imaginative, they could have made 8 to 12 films and just rotated them at different times of the year to increase business even more. Five to ten minute mini-films can't be that expensive to make these days. Thanks for the news. Keep us updated on this one as soon as you hear anything.

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