Tag Archives: Star Wars

Effects World Loses Two Greats, Gary Hutzel & Tony Dyson

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Visual Effects genius and the man behind the effects of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, Gary Hutzel, has passed away at age 60. Mr. Hutzel, who was nominated for 20 Emmy awards and won four, was also the FX lead for the Battlestar Galactica reboot, Caprica, and Defiance.

MV5BODYwOTM5NDkzN15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMjMwMDMyODE@._V1_UY317_CR51,0,214,317_AL_In other news, the man who built R2-D2, Tony Dyson has also died. After his work on Star Wars, Mr. Dyson set up two clubs in the UK to allow people to build their own R2 units. Builders from those clubs were the ones that built the R2-D2 prop used in last year’s The Force Awakens.

Star Wars VIII and Avatar 2 Both Delayed

Disney has announced that Star Wars VIII will be delayed to December 2017, rather than May 2017. It sounds like they want extra time to work on the film, but also it means that the film could be another financial juggernaut with so little competition for sci-fi/action crowd. Personally, I kind of like the idea of Star Wars being a Christmas tradition (Rogue Squadron is due December of this year). It also means Disney won’t be pitting it against its other big money franchise, Marvel (in the form of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2).

James Cameron’s long-gestating Avatar 2 was scheduled for December 2017 but has now been pushed back to an unspecified date. The official word is that they want to get it just right. Frankly, I don’t think a whole lot of people are going to flock to the theaters to see a second Avatar film. The novelty of 3D is waning and it’s not like you hear folks wondering about whatever is going to happen next to the characters. The most logical next step is that the military returns, blasts the planet from orbit and then send in an overwhelming force to clean up what’s left.

Sir Christopher Lee Passes Away at 94

The Hollywood Reporter, among other sites, is reporting that actor, WWII veteran, and musician Sir Christopher Lee has passed away at the age of 94.

It is, frankly, hard to tell what he’ll be best known for playing. Maybe it’ll be as Count Dracula in Hammer’s horror films. Maybe it’ll be as Saruman in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies. Maybe it will be for his performance in the original The Wicker Man. No matter what particular roles he’ll be remembered for – he was one of film’s most iconic actors, and like other horror legends like Boris Karloff and Vincent Price, his work will stand the test of time long after his passing.