The hype surrounding the eagerly anticipated Star Wars sequel jumped to light speed at the weekend as a new trailer was unveiled that delighted fans with a glimpse of iconic characters Han Solo and Chewbacca, and featured more scenes filmed in the Abu Dhabi desert. The action-packed second trailer for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens showed spacecraft dogfights and a chase involving the Millennium Falcon before concluding with a glimpse of Harrison Ford as Solo and Chewbacca. "Chewie, we're home," Solo says to his Wookiee friend, who offers a signature roar in reply as the trailer ends. The teaser premièred at the opening of the four-day Star Wars Celebration convention in Anaheim, near Los Angeles. The film is due out on December 18 in the United States. Check out The National film writer Chris Newbould's take on the trailer on our Scene & Heard blog. – AFP
Colbert and Lucas quiz each other at Tribeca
Stephen Colbert visited the Tribeca Film Festival in New York to interview filmmaker George Lucas, but the Star Wars creator had a question of his own. "The perfect choice to replace that Jon Stewart fellow [on The Daily Show] would have been you," Lucas told Colbert. Colbert, who will replace David Letterman in September as host of The Late Show on CBS said: "I don't want to be the guy to take over from Jon Stewart. I worked for Jon Stewart at that show, and my memories will always be of him being the keenest, most intelligent, most beautifully deconstructive mind ... and I would never, however successful I'd be, get out of his shadow." The hour-long interview focused mostly on Lucas. Colbert told how in 1977, at age 13, his world changed when he saw the first Star Wars movie, having won tickets in a radio-station contest. "We had no idea what it was going to be," he said. "We couldn't explain to anyone how the world was different now," Colbert told Lucas. "We had no vocabulary for what you showed us." Lucas spoke about several of his biggest movies, starting with 1973's American Graffiti. Studio executives didn't like it at all, he said, but it ended up being enormously successful – it cost US$700,000 (Dh2.57 million), he noted, and earned $100m. With Star Wars, there were similar trepidations. Showing it to a group of filmmaker friends, no one liked it – except Steven Spielberg, said Lucas, who immediately declared it was going to be huge. – AP
Game of Thrones university course is a hit
Northern Illinois University is offering a course based on the HBO series Game of Thrones this term. The University Honors Program calls the class Game of Thrones, Television and Medieval History, and students can take the course for honours credit. The fifth season of the popular TV drama, based on books by George R R Martin, began last Sunday. "It represents aspects of the Middle Ages much more realistically than other media depictions that purport to be more accurate," said co-professor Valerie Garver. "It stands out because it comments on the human condition in a way that seems real to people. It's a really good example of a piece of modern culture that draws on how the past impacts the present." The course's syllabus includes readings and viewing episodes of the show. Students also see presentations on how the show relates to modern cable technology, history and current events. NIU plans to offer the class again next spring, Garver's co-professor Jeff Chown said. "There was tremendous demand. I think the class filled up in about an hour," he said. – AP
Anna Kendrick signs book deal
Actress and singer Anna Kendrick is about to show off her literary side. Touchstone announced at the weekend that the star of such films as Up in the Air and Pitch Perfect, and performer of the hit single Cups (When I'm Gone), has signed a deal for a collection of autobiographical essays. The publisher, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, said the currently untitled book is scheduled to be released in the autumn next year. Kendrick joked that the book was her chance to demonstrate her "ineptitude, pettiness and the frequency with which" she embarrasses herself. The 29-year-old was nominated for an Oscar for Up in the Air and for a Tony Award for the stage show High Society. – AP
Peabody entertainment award winners announced
Jane the Virgin and John Oliver's satirical news show were among the winners in the first round of this year's Peabody Awards. The judging panel described the CW sitcom Jane the Virgin as a "smart, self-aware telenovela" and its star Gina Rodriguez as "incandescent". HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is a "worthy addition to the news-as-comedy genre" and offers "fresh, feisty investigative reports," the panel said as it announced its entertainment awards. Others winners include the Cold War-era spy drama The Americans; Fargo; The Honorable Woman; Inside Amy Schumer; The Knick; Rectify; and Black Mirror, an English TV anthology of dark tales. Individual and institutional Peabodys are being awarded to David Attenborough, the veteran British nature documentarian, and Afropop Worldwide, a public-radio series about African music and its international incarnations. Peabody news and radio winners will be announced on Monday, April 20, followed on Thursday by documentary, public service, education and children's programming. Winners will receive their awards on May 31 in New York. – AP
Spanish-language TV show to end after 53 years
The aecord-breaking Spanish-language television variety show Sabado Gigante is bringing the curtain down for the final time after 53 years of being broadcast, the Univision network announced on Friday. The show, presented by the Chilean host Don Francisco, will call time on more than half a century of broadcasting on September 19. Watched by millions throughout the United States and Latin America, the show – the title of which translates as Giant Saturday in English – holds the Guinness World Record for being the longest-running television variety show. It began in Chile in 1962, fronted by Francisco, real name Mario Kreutzberger, before production moved to Miami. Offering a three-hour mix of comedy, talent shows, interviews and music performances, Sabado Gigante became a staple of many households in more than 40 countries where it is broadcast. – AFP
Just Got Paid singer found dead in Jamaica
The Bahamian R&B singer Johnny Kemp, who is best known for the hit song Just Got Paid, has died in Jamaica. He was 55. Jamaica police said on Friday that Kemp was found in the water at a beach in Montego Bay on Thursday morning. It had not yet been determined how he died. Police said Kemp arrived in Jamaica on a cruise ship but there were no further details. Kemp was nominated in 1989 for a Grammy Award for Just Got Paid. The song was a No 1 hit on the US Billboard R&B chart. He had been performing across the US in recent years. — AP
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