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CELEBRATION EUROPE II: Day 4 – “Let’s blow this thing and go home…”

July 28th, 2013 by Marc 2 Comments

Some of the FTN crew film outside the Celebration Europe II venue in Essen

Well, the final day of Celebration Europe has been and gone, and what a mini-adventure it’s been.

We’ve had a wonderful time meeting loads of new friends and interviewing many stars we have considered heroes since we were children. As such it has been magical.

From being just six feet away from Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher on day 1 to getting to hear the aforementioned actor all but confirming his role in Episode VII on the final day, we’ve lived the dream and are really sad that it’s over.

But over it is, but before we sign off we have a few interesting bits from today’s final gathering in Essen.

First up for us was the chance to listen to four Boba Fetts. Yep, Warwick Davis introduced us to four actors who have portrayed the famous bounty hunter over the course of the Star Wars trilogy.

The Fett-tastic Four panel brought us Jeremy Bulloch, Daniel Logan, Dickey Beer and John Morton and what fun they had. From Bulloch coming on stage in the infamous outfit to the arrival of Temeura Morrison to help replay a scene from Attack of the Clones, the fans were treated to an hour of great anecdotes (Dickey Beer said the fall into the Sarlacc was about 40-45 feet in Return of the Jedi) to Morrison leading a performance of the Haka (a ancestral war cry, dance or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand) at the finale. Superb!

Next we witnessed a special Jabba’s Palace reunion were a number of actors who help bring the famous gangster to life told some wonderful stories of their time on Return of the Jedi. From Mike Edmond’s role as Jabba’s tale to Tim Rose as his tiny little sidekick, Salacious Crumb, fans were treated to some wonderful stories.

How about the time Tim was ‘fired’ from the set having been caught on set having a joke at the expense of Harrison Ford or how about the secret behind Jabba’s pipe smoke? A puppeteer sat underneath him, smoking a cigar, blowing its smoke through a tube and eventually out the gangster’s pipe.

Lastly, but certainly not least, we were treated to a wonderful hour of movie magic from none other than Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill.

The big news from this chat was the fact that the actor definitely dropped further hints that he would indeed be starring in Episode VII. It was definitely in his turn of phrase that the star told us he will again be getting back together with the old gang, and while he said he knew as much about the film as the fans, he thought it likely that the old gang would be there to hand the torch over to younger actors.

A final quote from him was also interesting: “They’re working on the new movies and I hope to be a part of it. If they’re going to do this thing, how can I miss out on something that exciting?” What more can you say to that?

Finally, at the Celebration Europe closing party it was confirmed that Celebration will return to the US in Annaheim on April 16-19, 2015. While this wasn’t the big news we were hoping from this year’s event it was better than nothing. Thankfully by the time Annaheim arrives we will know a lot more about Episode VII.

So there you have it. CEII is over and we’re heading back to Northern Ireland tired, but satisifed nonetheless. We’ve had a great time and we hope you’ve had a good time following our updates.

In the meantime, keep up to date with all the latest nerd news here at www.followingthenerd.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/followingthenerd or via twitter @nerdfollowing.

Until next time, May the Force Be With You.

The Fett-tastic Four panel re-enacting a scene from Attack of the Clones

Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….