Lucasfilm and Disney will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic film's first IMAX release, followed by a screening of Star Wars: Starfighter in IMAX 70mm in May!

Star Wars (1977) films and Star Wars: Star Wars Starfighter—both the original and the latest in Lucasfilm's series that changed cinema forever—will be available for viewing in IMAX 70mm in 2027.

The film that started it all, Star Wars (1977),will be shown for the first time in IMAX - digital or film - as part of a highly anticipated anniversary re-release on February 19, 2027. As part of Lucasfilm's year-long 50th anniversary celebration, the newly restored version of the original film, later retitled Star Wars: A New Hope, will be shown in a limited number of IMAX 70mm theaters, as well as select theaters for a limited time.

Then, on May 28, 2027 - the 50th anniversary weekend of the original Star Wars' - Lucasfilm will release Star Wars: Starfighter, shot for IMAX using IMAX-certified film cameras and converted into 70mm IMAX prints for release in a limited number of IMAX theaters. An all-new standalone adventure from director and producer Shawn Levy (Deadpool and Wolverine, Stranger Things) starring Ryan Gosling (Drive, Blade Runner, La La Land, The Place Under Pines, Barbie) as Cade Oberron, Star Wars: StarfighterWhen a cynical adventurer confronts his mysterious past, he finds himself embroiled in a perilous adventure across the galaxy that puts him on a collision course with destiny.

The film also stars Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings, Flynn Gray and Amy Adams.The screenplay was written by Jonathan Tropper, produced by Shawn Levy and Kathleen Kennedy, with Ryan Gosling, Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen, Dave Filoni and Dan Levine serving as executive producers.

Lucasfilm's recent efforts to explore different genres within the Star Wars galaxy have already taken readers in some exciting directions. The first book in this new initiative, Eyes Like Stars, immersed the reader in romance and offered many unexpected details about the galaxy leading up to the events ofAwakening strength". Now, Star Wars is delving into much darker themes with the first canonical Star Wars horror novel.

Kirsten White's novel Hiding from the Dark tells the story of Bia, a young girl living an ordinary life with her mother, an Imperial officer, on Coruscant. But when her mother disappears, Biya finds herself pursued by a sinister figure in black: Darth Vader.

White's novel lives up to its subtitle, "A Horrible Star Wars Novel," primarily because of its approach to Darth Vader. Instead of treating Vader as a recognizable character known to every Star Wars fan (and probably almost every person on the planet), White treats the Sith Lord like a classic horror movie villain in the vein of Michael Myers. His name is never mentioned. Instead, he is simply there: an unnatural, inexorable, seemingly unstoppable force that follows Biya everywhere. White turns one of cinema's most recognizable villains into something truly frightening, stripping him of much of his conventional image.

Bia turns out to be a compelling young heroine to relive this nightmare through. There is something inherently scarier about horror stories with a child at the center than stories with adult protagonists, and White exploits this fear effectively throughout the novel.Like many great horror heroes, Bia doesn't always make the most logical decisions, and some of her actions only make an already horrific situation worse, but she is also amazingly resourceful and resourceful, repeatedly finding ways to survive when it seems like nothing can be done.

Unlike Eyes Like Stars, however, Hidden from the Dark offers relatively few major new revelations about the Star Wars canon. The story takes place in a rather uncertain period of time, sometime after A New Hope and before Vader's death in Return of the Jedi. This vagueness allows the novel to tell its own story without trying too hard to fit into a larger mythology. Those looking for significant additions to the broader canon may be left disappointed, but that's clearly not where White's interests lie.

It's always nice when a middle grade novel successfully appeals to its target audience while also offering plenty of interest for adult readers, and Hiding from the Dark largely achieves just that. Young readers will find a protagonist they can relate to and a truly gripping survival story (that may even serve as a gateway to other horror films and novels), while older fans of Star Warsand horror will appreciate the novel's original use of one of the franchise's most iconic characters.

VERDICT:

Hiding from the Darkness lives up to its title as a "Star Wars" horror novel by perfectly presenting Darth Vader as a classic horror movie villain in the mold of Michael Myers. Kiersten White creates an effective horror story that can appeal to the target young audience, while offering plenty of suspense and entertainment for mature readers.While the novel contains few revelations about the broaderStar Warscanon, it works best as a standalone experiment in genre storytelling and is another success story of Lucasfilm's recent initiative to createStar Warsgenre stories. It proves that the galaxy far, far away remains fertile ground for stories ready to venture into darker territory.

The new series based on the Star Wars universe was released on August 5 and went almost unnoticed, although it scored 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and received good ratings from a few viewers. The Ninth Jedi, like the entire Visions project, is not bound by the official Star Wars canon, which gave showrunner Kenji Kamiyama the opportunity to tell his own story without fan service and the New Republic framework. What did Production I.G studio do?

How an idea for one episode turned into a series

In 2021, the first season of the animated anthology series Star Wars: Visions was released on Disney+, in which the world's leading studios offered their own versions of the universe of a galaxy far, far away. They were given complete freedom in plots and visual style, and the first season was ordered exclusively from Japanese anime studios, including Production I.G.

The episode they created, “The Ninth Jedi,” told about a very distant future, where the Jedi Order disappeared (as always, not completely), and the art of creating lightsabers was almost lost. The main innovation: the color of the blade here can change depending on the thoughts of the owner and his connection with the Force.

The creator of the series, Kenji Kamiyama (“Ghost in the Shell: Loner Syndrome”) later explained that he immediately came up with it as a full-length film: he pre-written the history of the world, the past of the characters and the reasons for the disappearance of the Jedi. Therefore, the feeling that we were only shown a fragment of a much larger saga was created deliberately.

Lucasfilm noticed the audience's reaction and invited Production I.G to shoot another short film. This is how one of the best episodes of the third season of “Visions” appeared - “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope.”According to director Naoyoshi Shiotani (“Psycho-Pass”), it was not conceived as a new chapter of the story, but as a personal memory of the main character, Kara.

In the same 2025, at Star Wars Celebration they presented a new brand, Star Wars: Visions Presents. Its goal is to give the authors of the most popular series the opportunity to continue their stories in a longer format. "The Ninth Jedi" became the first.

A long time ago...

Before the series, it is advisable to watch both short films - after all, they are where all the fuss begins. There's plenty of explanation in the series, but without the original episodes you run the risk of not getting involved in Kara's relationship with her father and Margrave Juro.

New threat

In the series, Kara continues to study with Margrave Juro. Together they seek allies to revive the Order. They also learn that General Navaam is behind the kidnapping of Kara's father. Visually, he is the spitting image of Darth Vader, if not for one detail. Remember that in this world the color of a sword reflects the thoughts of the warrior holding it? So, Nawaam’s sword is blue. At the same time, he is, of course, a villain, but with a special motivation, a tragic backstory and dreams of ruling the Galaxy. 

In the first half of the season there is a lot of politics and adventure: the heroes gather an alliance, learn the past of La Jima and Navaam, and encounter another superweapon. The second half gets more personal and darker, rewarding viewers who pushed through the standard adventures of the first half.

Instantly changing the color of the blade is a very convenient thing for narrative. We immediately, without explanation, see the character’s internal conflict, even if this leaves no room for the viewer to doubt his motivation. The only exception here is Navaam, whose mask and cloak clearly refer us to which character (no, not Kylo Ren).While Nawaam's story is a classic downfall of a padawan, it's the motivations and origins that make it original. 

Navaam does not feel like evil in the flesh, he has no desire to torture and kill. On the contrary, he wants to bring peace and quiet to the Galaxy - at the cost of its complete control. This is a hero who has gone so far along the path of a Jedi warrior that he “calmed down” forever: he abandoned all unnecessary feelings and emotions, but fell into a trap. Now he simply ignores the suffering of living beings on the way to his goal. 

Japanese trace

Kamiyama and series director Shunsuke Tada deliberately are returning to the Japanese origins of Star Wars. Tada demanded that in battles the actual striking distance and correct stances be taken into account, and Nawaama's mask and armor were drawn from Japanese armor from the Sengoku era.

But the main thing they brought to the philosophy of the universe was the way of thinking of the samurai. Good and evil here do not exist within the framework of dualism, without a clear division. Jedi often doubt and even agree that, from a certain point of view, the Sith worldview is not devoid of logic. In a word, they are more like real people and not cardboard sages.

Kenji Kamiyama

In a time when it is not easy to define what justice is, we wanted to create a story that would make people feel again: “I want to follow the Jedi code” and “the Jedi are still cool.”

The series perfectly reflects the simple Jedi truth “do no evil”: no murder, even “for good,” will bring nothing but pain.By ridding the world of evil in this way, be sure that the balance of good and evil will be restored in some other way, which can lead to fatal consequences.

The Ninth Jedi did not introduce a new formula within the known universe. The story once again revolves around a student, a missing father, a fallen warrior, the resistance of the oppressed, and a superweapon. The novelty of Kamiyama’s story lies elsewhere: outside of the main chronology and responsibility for observing the details of the canon, the authors were able to reinvent these archetypes and show the classic story as if through a Japanese mirror. Being a Jedi here does not mean taking on the burden of being a galactic policeman, it first and foremost means having compassion - even when you have the right to punish or kill. Perhaps this is Kamiyama’s “new definition of a Jedi.”

The Ninth Jedi has an open ending, but it is considered a miniseries and a second season is unlikely to happen. The authors said that a sequel had been written, but we probably won’t see it. 

Legendary composer John Williams surprised guests at the Movie Maestro:
Tribute to John Williams festival, which will be held at the Hollywood Bowl from September 4 to 6, by appearing at the event and conducting the Imperial March for an encore from a wheelchair. Williams performed on both Friday and Saturday nights and is expected to attend the festival today as well.

In Star Wars Zero Company, cycles are the basic unit of game time. One cycle corresponds to one day and one completed task.

If you want to understand how long a complete playthrough will take, here's all the information you need.

Total number of cycles

Completing the campaign from start to finish takes approximately 30–40 cycles. The exact number depends on your decisions and how deeply you explore the game.

What determines the number of cycles

Each completed tactical mission advances the campaign by one cycle. Between missions you return to the Holographic Table, where the set of available targets may change. Therefore, the number of cycles does not always strictly correspond to the number of completed missions.

• If you focus only on the key missions needed to advance the story, the game can be completed in about 30 cycles.
• If you complete additional tasks - missions of comrades, crisis and ordinary ones - the passage will stretch to about 40 cycles.

How much is this in real hours

In real time terms, 30–40 cycles mean approximately 35–45 hours of completion. One cycle takes on average just under an hour, provided you don't die on missions and don't spend too much time in the Lair customizing equipment and builds.

The developers from Bit Reactor give a similar assessment: according to their calculations, the average player will take about 30-40 hours to complete the main story campaign. At higher difficulty levels this time may increase.

Looking ahead toStar Wars Jedi 3is another series that set the standard for the franchise for years to come. Not long ago, a fan made one of the parts better.

On YouTube, user Gamer King shared a video showing Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in 4K resolution at 60 fps. If you playedThe Force Unleashedat the time of its release, you were probably impressed by the features in it. Previously, no game in the franchise had revealed the Force in all its glory.

As great as it was in 2008, it was released almost two decades ago. Visually, the project is noticeably outdated, so it needs an update.

The game looks great in the video, but this is not the official version. AlthoughStar Wars: The Force Unleashedis available with a PS Plus Premium subscription, it runs in the original resolution and frame rate. Most likely, the video shows footage from the emulator. In this case, mods could have been applied to improve performance and image quality.

Is it worth playing?

If you haven't played Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, PC emulation will likely be the preferred option in 2026. Especially if you are annoyed by low frame rates and outdated images. If you have a licensed copy, then it can hardly be called piracy.

Over the years, the gameplay has not aged much. It's still a fun adventure with a strong script. However, it is better to pay attention to the second part, in which the gameplay has been improved, and visually it is still good.

A remaster or remake is hardly worth waiting for. While some Star Wars games are getting a second life, it's mostly the classics.

Over the nearly 50 years of the franchise's existence, lightsabers have undergone transformations, and their colors have changed along with them. There are now nearly a dozen different colors of lightsabers in theStar Warscanon, from the classic blue, red and green to new ones like yellow and white.

The colors of lightsabers are very important in Star Wars. They distinguish the Jedi from the Sith, but have taken on new meaning in recent years. Thanks to new mythology about the transformation of a kyber crystal into red and, conversely, white, the color of a blade can tell a lot about its owner.

In the old Expanded Universe (Legends), lightsaber colors were also given more explicit meanings. Yellow, for example, was used by the Jedi Guardians. Additionally, there are fun facts related to lightsaber colors. For example, the color green appeared inReturn of the Jedibecause George Lucas wanted Luke's lightsaber to stand out against the blue sky. Mace Windu's purple lightsaber came simply at the request of Samuel L. Jackson.

Despite all the changes, there have always been certain rules. For example, the Sith always used red blades. However, inStar Wars: The Ninth Jedia new color of the sword was introduced - silver.

Silver lightsaber breaks the rules

The Ninth Jedi, as part of Star Wars Visions, is not part of the main canon. Events take place in a separate universe in which there are lightsabers that work differently.

InThe Ninth Jedilightsabers created by Lah Zhima are customized to the user. The color reflects the owner's attitude towards the Force. If such a sword is held by a Sith, the blade turns red. If a Jedi uses such a sword, it turns blue, green or purple.

However, La Zhima's blades can also take on a translucent silver tint.If the user "empties their heart" and finds a balance between the light and dark sides of the Force. La Jima, Navaam and La Cara reach this state.

In an interview with Polygon the creators of The Ninth Jedi said that the silver blade symbolizes the Eastern idea that mastery of something leads to a feeling emptiness and balance. They cited the calm, dispassionate and stoic masters of samurai cinema as an example of this idea.

Of course, the fact thatThe Ninth Jedidoesn't fit with the established story ofStar Warsisn't a big problem. This does not contradict canon, and it was interesting to see a new interpretation of how the swords work.

The tactical game based on Star Wars received rave reviews, and the number of gamers on Steam at its peak was 77 thousand. However, most of the team is currently unpaid.

A Bit Reactor representative confirmed to Game File that the studio has placed many of its employees on unpaid leave prior to the game's release. He said that this decision was made solely by Bit Reactor (that is, not by publisher EA or Disney).

One source told the publication that this concerns 80% of the team. Now Bit Reactor has only minimal staff left, ready to fix bugs and errors after the game launches.

The problem is that the studio ran out of almost all its money shortly before the launch of the first game. Management hopes to bring back furloughed employees with their wages restored. It is hoped that the success of the project can have a significant impact.

The team already has plans

If it is possible to avoid the closure of Bit Reactor, the developers will continue to work on tactical games. This is indicated by evidence from a lawsuit initiated by co-founder Alison Kelly. She was the first to disclose information about staff reductions.

From the case materials it follows that the team attracted the attention of Electronic Arts with the help of a presentation related to one of the publisher's franchises. The developers want to make a project based on another known universe. It could well beDragon AgeorMass Effect.