Officially confirmed: J.J. Abrams to direct Star Wars VII.

Yes, the news was all over the internet yesterday, as The Wrap created a buzz based on information from a 'reliable source', but this morning it's officially confirmed: J.J. Abrams, creator of TV series 'Fringe' and 'Lost' will be directing the next installment of the Star Wars saga, Star Wars VII. Previously, Abrams directed movies like 'Super8' and 'Star Trek: The Future Begins', giving fans hope that the new trilogy will definitely receive a proper treatment.

A few months ago, Abrams said he wouldn't take the job of helming the first movie in a new trilogy, because he himself had been a life long fan of the characters and stories Lucas created and thought that it would interfere with his ability to direct. It was already confirmed that the next two sequels Star Wars VII and VIII, will be written and produced by Lawrence Kasdan ('The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of the Jedi') and Simon Kinberg ('X-Men: The Last stand' and 'X-Men: First Class'). Last year October, Disney bought Lucasfilm for a reported four Billion Dollars, acquiring the rights to Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Check here for the official story.

Disney buys Lucasfilm, will release star Wars 7 in 2015.

Star Wars fans prepare to be shocked! Seems George Lucas is serious about retiring, as Disney confirmed today it is buying his company Lucasfilm for four Billion Dollars, half of it payed out in Disney shares.

Disney also said it will release Star Wars VII in 2015, and plans to bring a brand new Star Wars movie to the theatre every two to three years. George Lucas will remain available as creative adviser. By owing Lucasfilm Disney now also owns all the rights to Indiana Jones. It is uncertain whether or not Disney is planning a new movie with the character at this point. Disney already bought Pixar in 2006 and Marvel Comics in 2009. In the official press release Lucas stated:

“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” said George Lucas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm.

“It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.”

So, good or bad news for Star Wars fans? There's certainly ton's of material from all the comic books and games that would make for some interesting new movies. But I need to remind you that Disney's recently released sci-fi movie 'John Carter of Mars', based on the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, bombed at the box office and was heavily criticised for being 'fake' and 'too campy' while it used all the visual effects and 3D graphics money can buy. We'll see what the future brings...May the force be with us!

Star Wars Clone Wars season 5 premieres tomorrow.

While George Lucas claims he's retired and wants to spend his days shooting experimental films nobody will ever want to see, we get to see what happens next with our favorite science fiction characters, as 'The Clone Wars' returns to the small screen for another season of action packed fun.

After Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Lab, Samurai Jack) came up with his 2D animated series of Star Wars in 2003, following the exploits of Lucas' main characters from the prequel trilogy, 'The Clone Wars' was greenlighted for further endeavorment. Showing us more of what really took place between SW II 'Attack of the Clones' (Anakin-good-guy fights for the Republic) and SW III 'Revenge of the Sith' (Bad Anakin suits up to become Darth Vader), a CG animated feature of 'The Clone Wars' was released in 2008, followed by the first 22 episodes of season one, that aired on Cartoon Network.

Below: character designs for Padmé Amidala by Kilian Plunkett and final 3D model in Maya.

Tomorrow, the first episode of season 5 will premiere on the CN. Beside the CG animated series, other plans are still in the making. So far, 50 scripts have been written for an expensive all out live action TV series of Star Wars, as proposed by Lucas a few years ago. Latest reports say the production of this continuing saga have been put on hold for at least several years as of now, giving room for 'an increase of technical developments' according to Lucas, meaning that CG and VFX production costs may have dropped drastically by then. (Production of the series would cost at least 50 Million per episode, according to Lucas, if it would be made today).

Rick McCallum, producer of the upcoming series (which supposedly has been given the working title 'Star Wars: Underworld') says it will be about the republic's growing corruption and downfall, taking place between episode III and IV ('A New Hope') In a recent interview he said the main story showed quite some similarities with current economic events and joked that it centers on keyfigures not unlike 'the people on Wallstreet, who are basically running the United States now.' McCallum is positive the new series will actually happen, although it may take some more years, adding jokingly 'If we're all still alive by then'. In the meantime, let's enjoy the action packed new episodes the CN has in store for us this season and see what plots will unfold this time around.

Above:'The Clone Wars' is Computer animated using Autodesk Maya software. Character designs for 'Yoda' by Dave Filoni, and the 3D CG model in T-pose. Directed by Dave Filoni and produced by Katherine Winder, the pre-production, scripts and models are created by ILM, but all animation production is done by the talented people at CGCG in Taiwan, known for the popular 'Lego Bionicle' animated features.

Check out the great trailer for the upcoming season below, showing you just how good 3D animation for TV has become. It looks pretty amazing! Toggle 1080p for a higher resolution.

Star Wars Insider shows new storyboards.

As George Lucas' first Star Wars Prequel 'The Phantom Menace' is re-released in 3D in theatres this month, 'Star Wars Insider' magazine published an exclusive issue, showing storyboards from the Jedi led attack on Theed, a battle sequence storyboarded by Ed Natividad that didn't make the climactic ending in the final cut of the movie. Check some of the artwork here below, for the full sequence you should pick up the celebratory issue 131 of SWI.

Natividad currently works as a conceptual designer on 'Akira', the action movie based on Katsuhiro Ohtomo's classic manga, and Steven Spielberg's new scifi action movie 'Robopocalypse', based on Daniel H. Wilson's novel from 2011. Both projects are in pre-production at the moment and are set to be released in 2013.

Gnomon puts Star Wars designer in the hot seat!

Ever wanted to learn how to create characters like in Star Wars, well now you can! The Gnomon Workshop just finished a new DVD with Sang Jun Lee, concept artist on Star Wars 'Revenge of the Sith', 'The War of the Worlds' and 'The Hulk'. Lee was also involved in Blue Sky's latest 3D animated feature 'Rio', so he's not exclusively into heavy-weight monsters and creature design, he's got a funny side too!

The DVD runs for 183 minutes showing Lee while he's creating his designs on paper while letting you in on some exclusive insider tips. Afterwards he completes his sketches in digital form using Adobe Photoshop and teaches you some secret of the pro's. It's pretty cool and if creature design is your thing you should absolutely go and check it out! It's one of those cool rare tutorials you just gotta have to see!

Being in game design for Lucas Arts, EA and Sony, Lee also developed a strong sense for costume design, so the DVD also covers a lot of insights on that part of character design. It's on order now for $ 49,00 you either get the DVD or a digital download so check it out at the Gnomon Workshop or visit Lee's cool website and check out some of his amazingly weird creatures! Cool!