Posted by Curto on April 21, 2008 at 01:57 PM CST
At Saturday's New York Comic-Con panel, Steve Sansweet hosted a panel discussing some of the latest projects from Lucasfilm.
Due to family obligations, I couldn't attend the panel myself...but fear not!...I was able to recruit Justin (JediJustin) LaSalata to cover it for our readers!
Hey Dan:
First off, let me say it was great getting the chance to finally meet you at NYCC. I’m glad that I was able to enjoy the con along with your company. Below are my notes for Steve Sansweet’s Lucasfilm panel. He didn’t reveal any new information, but the session was very entertaining and well worth it. My notes are listed in the order in which they were discussed:
Star Wars Celebrations:
Steve opened the panel talking about the Celebrations and how much fun he has working on them. He showed a video montage (which was really cool) that included footage from all 5 Celebrations, as well as promoting C-Japan at the end. He went on to say that Celebrations are something that he “will continue to work on well into the future”, and that he will begin to discuss C5 sometime in the Fall, which follows the line of thinking that most of us had that C5 details would be released after C-Japan.
The Force Unleashed:
Steve showed the trailer for TFU (the same trailer that is running on the TFU website). He then showed a video of his interview that he had with Brett Rector during SDCC. After that, he showed two new videos that contained footage from the first level of TFU, which takes place at the TIE Fighter Construction Facility, and from the junk planet Raxus Prime. Both videos were taken from the Xbox 360 release of the game. Steve’s quote of “I predict on Sept. 16th there will be a lot of people missing from work” drew a loud cheer from the crowd.
Young Indiana Jones DVD:
Steve showed footage from Season 3 of the Young Indy DVD release. Nothing else was really covered on this topic.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:
Steve gushed over how excited he is to see Indy 4 and how amazing the trailer is. So, he decided to show the trailer on the video screen (which I did not watch a second of or listen to, as I looked away from the screen and stuck my fingers in my ears. I have not seen the trailer, and I want to remain Indy 4 spoiler free!). He then praised J.W. Rinzler and Del Rey Publishing for the outstanding work they did in compiling the “The Complete Making of Indiana Jones” book. He had a copy of the book with him on stage and said this book is right up there on-par with the “Making of Star Wars” book that was released last year. He said the book contains pics and articles that have never been seen before.
New Indiana Jones DVD Boxed Set:
Steve mentioned the May 13th release of the new Indy DVD boxed set. He said these new editions contain loads of new bonus content not available anyplace else.
LEGO Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventure:
Steve showed the trailer for the LEGO Indy game (which is a must-buy for me) and the crowd got a big laugh from it. The game is slated for a June 3rd release
Star Wars Robot Chicken:
Seth Green and Matt Senreich appeared on stage with Steve. He basically conducted the same interview with them as they had done at CIV during their panel. Seth told the story about how the LFL name came up on his caller ID, and how he and Matt were afraid to answer the phone. They discussed how much fun it was to get the chance to work with George Lucas and how excited they were to fly out to Skywalker Ranch. They then showed the scene from Robot Chicken where George was sitting on the psychiatrist couch, and the crowd let out a huge laugh at the end. Steve ended the interview by saying the release date for SW Robot Chicken will be July 22nd, and it will contain over 2 hours of bonus content.
The Clone Wars:
Steve saved the best for last. He started off TCW discussion by giving the fans a brief overview of the story behind TCW and when it takes place in the SW timeline. He then showed a brand new mini documentary with Dave Filoni that discussed the Anakin/Ashoka relationship and what went into coming up with the design of Ashoka. Dave also talked about the vast battles that occur throughout the SW Saga and how that vastness will be carried over to the battle scenes in TCW. When the theater lights came back up, there were five members of the 501st dressed up as Clone Troopers standing in front of the stage. Steve introduced them and they received a loud ovation from the crowd. Steve then said the video will be posted on SW.com for everyone to see after the convention. Steve ended the panel session by showing footage of the interview he did with Dave Filoni and Catherine Winder at SDCC. The theatrical release comes our way on Aug. 15th, with the weekly TV series starting in October.
That just about wraps it up for the panel. Like I said, there wasn’t any new information that Steve released, but it was great to see how passionate and excited he was discussing these topics. I hope this overview was useful to you. Again, it was a pleasure meeting you and I hope we can do it again at the next NYCC.
A HUGE thanks to Justin LaSalata for the detailed write-up, and also special thanks to my pal Jason Poole, who provided the photo above!
