Disney's Star Wars renaissance is truly in full swing now that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has opened to positive reviews and strong box office numbers. The train will keep chugging along in 2017, which sees the release of Star Wars: Episode VIII. Next year is also a milestone for the galaxy far, far away, since it marks the 40th anniversary of the original film's premiere. Simply put, fans should have plenty of reasons to celebrate, and Disney/Lucasfilm will undoubtedly take advantage of every opportunity available to keep the party going.
One of the biggest Star Wars themed events taking place in 2017 is the latest edition of Star Wars Celebration, which will be held in Orlando during April. Tickets are currently available for purchase online, and attendees can now get a look at the badges they'll have at Celebration - which fittingly recognize all corners of the franchise.
Images of the artwork (designed by artist Paul Shipper) were revealed today on starwars.com. The badges will feature characters from The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and Star Wars Rebels. You can check them out in a gallery below:
[vn_gallery name="Star Wars Celebration 2017 Badges" id="865651"]
Celebration 2016 was arguably a letdown for people hoping for major Star Wars news. Outside of announcing Grand Admiral Thrawn's role on Rebels, there weren't too many reveals - especially on the film side of things. That shouldn't be the case this time around. Kathleen Kennedy has mentioned that the promotional campaign for Episode VIII should kick off in the spring, meaning there could very well be a title and trailer unveiling for the saga's next installment. The Lucasfilm story group is also going to get together in January to discuss the future of the Star Wars franchise, so perhaps the studio will announce the third anthology film at Celebration as well. Now that they know Rogue One is a success, it opens a variety of doors for them down the road, and it'll be interesting to see which spinoffs are green lit.
Phil Lord and Chris Miller will also be in the middle of shooting their young Han Solo anthology when Celebration takes place, so it would be nice to see something from that film in one of the panels as well. Whether it's an official still image of Alden Ehrenreich as the classic scoundrel or a behind-the-scenes video detailing the filmmakers' approach to the project, any little bit could go a long way in winning over the skeptics and selling Han Solo as a worthwhile supplement to the original trilogy. Much of the focus will understandably be on Episode VIII, but Lucasfilm shouldn't shortchange the other areas of the property.
Source: starwars.com
