[00:00:00] On this episode of Bantha Milk Podcast, Star Wars News November 2nd.
[00:00:07] Ba ba ba ba intro.
[00:00:29] Welcome back, it's me Rob again, a little horse.
[00:00:34] This past week I had a little thing called strep throat.
[00:00:37] A little scratches in my throat there, it hurts, little scratches, little scratches in my throat.
[00:00:43] Alright, but anyway, that's not what you're here for.
[00:00:45] You're here for another week of Bantha Milk Star Wars News.
[00:00:49] That's right, I have seven, count them, seven different stories for you this week.
[00:00:56] The first story comes to us from the new show that's coming out December called Skelton Crew.
[00:01:02] This is pretty exciting.
[00:01:04] I'm actually, the more I see previews for it, and there's a new preview for Skelton Crew I might add.
[00:01:10] You should check it out.
[00:01:11] It has a very Bowie-esque theme song running in the background.
[00:01:18] The words are different from a David Bowie song, or it's in a different language.
[00:01:23] I'm not really sure which, but it's definitely a David Bowie song.
[00:01:27] So, on this latest trailer, go check it out if you didn't see it yet.
[00:01:33] It's a lot of fun.
[00:01:34] But because of it, it's getting me more and more excited for the Skelton Crew,
[00:01:37] which comes out exactly one month and two days from now, because I'm recording this on November 2nd.
[00:01:43] So, it's coming out December 4th.
[00:01:45] But there is an article, upcoming Star Wars show, Skelton Crew, Skelton, easy for you to say.
[00:01:52] Skelton Crew is bringing back an adorable, deep-cut character from the made-for-TV Ewok movie.
[00:01:59] If you look over my shoulder, you see this monkey-like looking thing.
[00:02:03] An all-but-forgotten Star Wars character is set to make an appearance in Skelton Crew,
[00:02:09] the upcoming Goonies-inspired show starring Jude Law.
[00:02:13] I was most excited about having hand puppets on set.
[00:02:17] It's the most ancient technology being used with the most cutting-edge technology simultaneously.
[00:02:23] That combination was absolute magical.
[00:02:26] There's a character in my episode that's the Teak from Battle for Endor,
[00:02:32] and it's just a little hand puppet, David Lowerly said during a director's roundtable for Skelton Crew.
[00:02:38] Teak, a mischievous little member of the Teak species who resides in the forest moon of Endor,
[00:02:44] made his first appearance in the made-for-TV movie Ewoks, The Battle for Endor.
[00:02:49] If you didn't see it, it's on Disney Plus right now.
[00:02:52] It's from the 80s.
[00:02:54] And this was the first attempt that Star Wars had at making TV shows,
[00:03:01] and the budget was not nearly what the budgets are today.
[00:03:04] Let's just say that.
[00:03:05] But some of them were fun, so I definitely would check it out.
[00:03:08] I think there was two of them.
[00:03:10] He also appears in Walt Disney World theme park ride Star Tours,
[00:03:13] which features a brief trip through the Endor moon.
[00:03:16] The made-for-TV movie technically isn't canon to the Star Wars universe,
[00:03:20] though the movie is now available to stream on Disney Plus.
[00:03:25] I was like, is he going to get digitally touched up or replaced?
[00:03:29] No.
[00:03:30] In the final episode, it's just a handheld puppet in the middle of this crazy volume set.
[00:03:34] The cognitive dissonance of seeing those two things together live in front of you is absolutely incredible.
[00:03:42] Set in the New Republic era and described as a coming-of-age story inspired by the Goonies,
[00:03:48] skeleton crew centers on a group of 10-year-olds trying to find their way home
[00:03:51] after getting lost in the galaxy with Jude Law, a Jedi, as their guide.
[00:03:57] The kid is there.
[00:03:58] The kid is there.
[00:03:58] All right.
[00:03:59] So, skeleton crew, puppet, volume, everything you ever wanted in Star Wars, all in one situation.
[00:04:07] Star Wars A New Legacy 2025 episode or issue number one will be published January 29th, 2025.
[00:04:17] A new comic over here.
[00:04:21] A new legacy.
[00:04:22] A decade of Marvel Star Wars comics.
[00:04:24] Celebrate the 10 years of Marvel Star Wars comics with all new stories by some of the most influential creators of the decade.
[00:04:32] Thrill as Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, Darth Maumann, Doctor Aphrighty, Valance, Shatham Chan, Rick Dool, Commander Zura,
[00:04:43] and the Taggers, and more collide during a grand Imperial event thrown by Palpatine.
[00:04:48] And laugh at perilous game between 000, BT1, and Krasatan.
[00:04:56] Krasatan?
[00:04:57] Krasatan?
[00:04:57] The giant Wookiee, whatever his name is.
[00:04:59] And whatever happens to Scar Squadrons.
[00:05:02] So, new comic book coming out in January 2025.
[00:05:06] If you're into comics, A New Legacy is coming out in January.
[00:05:13] This was fun.
[00:05:15] Star Wars auction fetches 177,000 pounds.
[00:05:21] A massive Star Wars auction has fetched more than 177,000 pounds.
[00:05:27] That's in British money, not actual pounds.
[00:05:31] So, this took place over on the other side of the pond there.
[00:05:35] You know, those guys in England.
[00:05:36] A massive Star Wars auction has fetched more than 177,000 pounds.
[00:05:40] The 10-hour Star Wars extravaganza run by Vectis Auctions in Stockton-on-Tees saw more than 600 items go under the hammer.
[00:05:52] Memorabilia included figurines and life-size helmets, with one man selling his entire collection to pay for his upcoming wedding.
[00:06:00] Joanne McDonald from the auction house said,
[00:06:03] It was a brilliant day for vintage toy makers.
[00:06:07] Pre-sale estimates had put Tuesday's collection fetching between 94,000 pounds and 120,000 pounds.
[00:06:13] A rare vinyl-caped Jawa figurine attached the highest bid, selling at 9,180 after fees.
[00:06:21] More than 1,000 potential buyers took part in the bidding process, with some 10,000 people watching the online sale at any one time, the auction house said.
[00:06:32] Ms. McDonald, Vectis Catalog Department Manager, called it a brilliant auction day due to the amount of international interest in Star Wars collections.
[00:06:42] She added,
[00:06:44] We knew it would be a busy sale, but we didn't expect it to be that good.
[00:06:48] It was beyond our expectations.
[00:06:53] You like my British accent?
[00:06:55] Vectis said it had three different terminals running at the same time.
[00:06:59] One for UK buyers, one for US buyers, and US and Canada buyers, and a third for the rest of the world.
[00:07:06] A Meccano Luke Skywalker model was estimated to fetch 2,000 pounds, but sold for 7,595 pounds.
[00:07:15] And the other big sellers included a Meccano Boba Fett at 8,330 pounds.
[00:07:20] Ms. McDonald added,
[00:07:22] There was a mixture of model items and a lot of items.
[00:07:25] I lost the accent.
[00:07:27] There was a mixture of model items, and a lot of items will be going around to international buyers, particularly to Americans.
[00:07:33] What we saw was a really positive sign for the future of Star Wars collectibles and younger collectors.
[00:07:39] So, if you missed it, you missed out on some good stuff.
[00:07:42] A lot of items were for sale, and I didn't get one of them.
[00:07:46] Over one year after Ahsoka's finale, Star Wars finally reveals the truth about Balen's skull.
[00:07:54] Now, I really like this character, and I'm very disappointed.
[00:07:57] I'm not very disappointed, very sad of the passing of Ray Stevenson.
[00:08:01] He was a cool character.
[00:08:03] He was fun.
[00:08:04] He was very mysterious.
[00:08:05] You didn't know what he was.
[00:08:06] You didn't know if he was a good guy, a bad guy, a gray guy.
[00:08:09] Everybody was guessing that he was a gray Jedi, which falls in between good and bad.
[00:08:15] He has the skills, but he doesn't agree to the good mentality, but he also doesn't agree to the bad mentality.
[00:08:22] Well, now Disney has told us what he is.
[00:08:27] Easily one of the most fascinating parts of Ahsoka was the character of Balen's skull, whose mysterious nature eluded audiences in the very best way.
[00:08:35] Played brilliantly by the late Ray Stevenson, Balen's antagonistic character instantly stood apart from more than just his orange-colored lightsaber.
[00:08:45] As a former Jedi general during the Clone Wars, Balen had a rich Jedi history prior to his work as a mercenary on Morgan Elsbeth's behalf,
[00:08:54] though his force alignment was never quite clear, particularly because he openly had an apprentice,
[00:09:00] with the braid designating her as a Padawan more than anything else.
[00:09:04] Now, Star Wars has answered to this in EA's kit reveal for Balen's skulls character in their mobile game Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes.
[00:09:15] The kit reveal tells players which category Balen's character will fall under, with his main alignment being as a dark side character.
[00:09:24] In addition to being filtered as a leader and a mercenary, Balen is also an unaligned force user,
[00:09:33] proving that he has truly cut all ties to his own Jedi past.
[00:09:38] While he may not be a Sith or aggressively dark side aligned, this is clearly where he's heading if Star Wars sorts him as such.
[00:09:49] What Balen's skulls force alignment means for Star Wars, you ask? I'm glad you asked.
[00:09:54] Perhaps the biggest conclusion from this kit reveals that Balen is far from being a gray Jedi,
[00:09:59] as he is very clearly being separated from a Jedi identity.
[00:10:04] Though Balen may not be fully committed to the dark side, as evidenced by him being categorized as an unaligned force user,
[00:10:12] he is still trending in that direction.
[00:10:14] This has implications not only for Balen's origins and his character, but also for what he's seeking in Ahsoka Season 2.
[00:10:23] More comic book news.
[00:10:24] You like that more? That was good there.
[00:10:26] Star Wars Jango Fett Trial of Lost Hope will be published also on January 29th, 2025.
[00:10:34] Collect Counting Star Wars Jango Fett 2024 1-4 and material from Star Wars Revelations 2023 No. 1.
[00:10:41] The legendary Jango Fett embarks on a new mission.
[00:10:45] Jango Fett, father of Boba Fett, has a bounty to find, a mystery to solve, and a treaty at risk.
[00:10:51] But when the galaxy's greatest bounty hunter targets a stolen artifact at the center of a planet-wide war,
[00:10:57] the hunter will become the hunted.
[00:10:59] Courtesy of the notorious Aura Sing.
[00:11:02] Brace yourself for a heavyweight bounty hunter battle that will shake the galaxy.
[00:11:06] But who is the mysterious figure behind the heist that's igniting the war?
[00:11:10] And why will every major bounty hunter out there soon be stalking them both?
[00:11:16] Forced into becoming unlikely partners,
[00:11:18] can they solve the mystery of this priceless stolen artifact in time?
[00:11:24] All in the comic book to come out January 25th.
[00:11:27] Actually sounds really, really interesting.
[00:11:29] I might have to find my way to buying comic books.
[00:11:33] Two stories to go.
[00:11:35] Second to the last story for this week.
[00:11:37] Star Wars Secrets George Lucas' original plan to swap Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn's names?
[00:11:44] Yes, this is true.
[00:11:45] Star Wars is one of the biggest and most popular franchises in entertainment history.
[00:11:49] And it brought us some of the most iconic characters ever.
[00:11:52] Jedi and Sith names like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn are widely recognized,
[00:11:57] even by people who don't follow the series closely.
[00:11:59] These characters have become symbols of the Jedi Order and everything it stands for.
[00:12:04] Ian McKaig, a well-known concept artist and designer,
[00:12:09] especially for his work on the Star Wars prequels,
[00:12:12] recently shared an interesting detail about how Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were originally created.
[00:12:18] The artist revealed that George Lucas originally planned for Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to swap names.
[00:12:25] In an early concept for the Phantom Menace, the older Jedi we know as Qui-Gon was to be called Obi-Wan.
[00:12:32] While the younger Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi, would have been named Qui-Gon.
[00:12:37] The idea was that the younger Jedi would then take on his master's name.
[00:12:43] Dun-dun-dun.
[00:12:45] Interesting concept.
[00:12:46] I'm glad they didn't do that because it definitely would have been way more confusing.
[00:12:51] But, needless to say, it's always fun to get these stories that pop out about George Lucas' ideas
[00:12:58] 20, 30, 40 years later of some things that he wanted to do and then never did.
[00:13:04] And our last article for this week.
[00:13:08] I talked about this a little bit last week actually,
[00:13:10] saying that I did not think Solo was as big of a flop as everybody reveals it to be,
[00:13:15] but now revealed the true cost of Disney's Star Wars spinoff Solo.
[00:13:20] Few of Disney's Star Wars films had as much going for them as a 2018 spinoff movie Solo.
[00:13:26] The original story of fan favorite character Han Solo,
[00:13:32] the movie featured an A-list cast including
[00:13:34] Emilia Clarke, Newton, Donald Glover, Woody Harrelson, and Paul Bettany.
[00:13:40] It came just two years after Disney's first Star Wars spinoff, Rogue One,
[00:13:44] grossed $1.1 billion at the box office on a net cost of just $269.6 million as we recently revealed.
[00:13:53] Then came a disturbance in the force.
[00:13:56] During the production of Solo, A Star Wars Story,
[00:14:00] its director Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were abruptly replaced with Oscar winner Ron Howard,
[00:14:07] who reportedly carried out extensive reshoots.
[00:14:10] It failed to have a magic touch.
[00:14:13] The title role went to Alden Enrich,
[00:14:15] and he had big boots to fill as Han Solo was almost synonymous with Harrison Ford,
[00:14:20] who played the character in the original Star Wars movies around 40 years earlier.
[00:14:24] Solo, A Star Wars Story, only grossed $392.9 million,
[00:14:30] giving it the lowest haul of any Disney 5 Star Wars movies
[00:14:33] and making it the only one which lost the movie in its theatrical run.
[00:14:37] The reshoots caused costs to skyrocket,
[00:14:41] setting the scene for the loss.
[00:14:44] Documents filed by Disney revealed that the final cost was higher than the agreed budget,
[00:14:49] but the perceived amount that the media giant spent on the movie has never been revealed.
[00:14:55] Until now.
[00:14:56] And if you look at the graphic over my shoulder,
[00:15:00] you can see that revenue from the studio,
[00:15:07] $298,736,100.
[00:15:10] Miscellaneous income, $266,000.
[00:15:14] Costs, 31 million wages and salaries.
[00:15:19] 3 million social security costs.
[00:15:21] 329 million production costs.
[00:15:25] Administrative expenses, $870,000.
[00:15:28] Pre-tax losses, 65,529,775.
[00:15:36] Tax credit.
[00:15:37] They got a 65,664,826 tax credit,
[00:15:44] which means the movie's gross profit was $135,051.
[00:15:52] So the whole movie, by the time it was all done,
[00:15:54] only made $135,000
[00:15:58] instead of the millions that the other ones have created.
[00:16:02] So that's that.
[00:16:04] That's the news over there.
[00:16:05] They're my seven news facts for this week.
[00:16:08] So on that, I forgot to play the Star Wars news on the way in.
[00:16:14] So I'm going to play it on the way out.
[00:16:15] So for all of us here at Bantha Milk Podcast,
[00:16:18] we have spoken.