2016 was Disney's year at the box office, in part because Rogue One: A Star Wars Story proved that prequels can actually work. The movie is on its way to reaching the $1 billion mark at any time, after becoming the highest-grossing movie released in 2016 in the US (with $488.3 million, beating Finding Dory). Is there any chance that Rogue One will become the highest grossing movie worldwide? Yes - it has to beat the $1.154 billion made by Captain America: Civil War (to be noted, the first five highest grossing movies of 2016 were all released by Disney).
In other news, a new clip from Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been released. In it, we can see the deleted scene in which Chewbacca tears off Unkar Plutt's arm. You can check out the clip below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRFrY8NFfAQ
Also, since Plutt was played by Simon Pegg, Star Wars: Episode VIII will feature some very big cameos. The Force Awakens had him playing a Stormtrooper, and it appears that Tom Hardy will cameo in a similar role this year. Of course, the actor has denied this - but we’ll still keep our eyes peeled and our ears open.
In other news, Lucasfilm has issued a statement saying that Carrie Fisher won't be recreated via CGI for upcoming Star Wars films (the actress had already finished shooting her scenes for Star Wars: Episode VIII):
We don't normally respond to fan or press speculation, but there is a rumor circulating that we would like to address. We want to assure our fans that Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher's performance as Princess or General Leia Organa.
Carrie Fisher was, is, and always will be a part of the Lucasfilm family. She was our princess, our general, and more importantly, our friend. We are still hurting from her loss. We cherish her memory and legacy as Princess Leia, and will always strive to honor everything she gave to Star Wars.
Lastly, Game Informer just released a new batch of concept art for the canceled Darth Maul video game. The game, which was expected to show how the character became Darth Maul after encountering Palpatine, had been scheduled for release on Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii U.