WookieeLeaks: Chewbacca Speaks, ‘Episode 7′ Leaks, and ‘Star Wars Rebels’ Sneaks

ScreenCrush’s WookieeLeaks is a weekly roundup of everything 'Star Wars'! From 'Episode 7,' to the upcoming spinoffs and the TV shows, if it pertains to that long ago, far away galaxy, we’re covering it here, bringing you our expert analysis. This week, Peter Mayhew talks about 'Episode 7,' Disney plans more 'Star Wars' attractions, and 'Star Wars Rebels' unveils its first seven minutes.

A Simon Kinberg/Josh Trank Tidbit

This was the slowest 'Star Wars' news week in quite some time and you can bet your bottom credit that it's due to all of the big, crazy plot rumors that have emerged in the past month. Disney and J.J. Abrams are now officially on guard.

So let's begin this week of interesting non-news with this bit about writer Simon Kinberg, who has been heavily involved in all of the new 'Star Wars' films as a "consultant" in addition to working on the 'Star Wars Rebels' TV show. He also wrote the upcoming 'Fantastic Four' reboot, which was directed by Josh Trank, who will direct one of the upcoming 'Star Wars' spinoff movies. And, nope, that's not a coincidence. Here's his quote to SlashFilm:

I spoke very highly of Josh to the Lucasfilm guys. They were interested in him because he, like Rian [Johnson, director of 'Episode 8'] and like Gareth [Edwards, director of a 2016 spinoff], is very much that next generation filmmaker. He comes from a background of making a big movie without a big budget. Which I think is also, not that these movies…they’ll have huge budgets, but the sort of the tradition that George [Lucas] started was somebody that came from making 'American Graffiti' to making a huge science-fiction movie. And so there was some of that sort of vibe I know Lucasfilm likes about these new filmmakers. But yeah, I definitely was involved in that process.

In other words, Kinberg helped Trank get the gig. We'll thank him or blame him in a few years.

'Episode 7' Non-News

Breaking news! Disney CEO Bob Iger has seen footage from 'Star Wars: Episode 7' and he has very positive things to say! Extra! Extra!

But seriously, he did talk about the production and offer a vague update. Because non-news is better than no news, right? Here's his full statement:

I can only tell you that production is underway. We have a very brief hiatus, which is due in part to the fact that Harrison Ford broke his ankle. The footage we’ve seen is very, very exciting to us. I think there’s about 500 days left between now and December 18, 2015 when the movie comes out. That doesn’t seem like very long. There’s a lot of pent up demand. We’re just as excited as the fans are about it.

Meanwhile, Chewbacca himself, Peter Mayhew, recently put in a public appearance at the San Antonio Comic-Con and dropped all kinds of morsels. Most of it is fluffy at best, but this is the non-news week, remember? Here are some highlights from Blastr:

• He says that 'Episode 7' will be the best 'Star Wars' movie yet, because of course, that's what any actor involved would say.
• He says that the production is emphasizing practical effects over CGI, which is great to hear even if it's hard to believe.
• He says that, upon meeting Harrison Ford again for that table reading, his old co-star "throttled" him with a hug.

And that's most of the relevant stuff. You can watch his entire panel here:

If you are on the hunt for some serious information, Latino Review claims to have more details on the plot, including the current fate of the Millennium Falcon, the nature of Oscar Isaac's character and the truth about Luke Skywalker's beard. If these are true, they could be seen as huge, massive spoilers, so we'll just leave you this link and go about our merry way.

More 'Star Wars' Is On the Way to Disney Parks

In news that only confirms the rumblings we first heard about several weeks ago, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that various Disney theme parks around the world will start rolling out new 'Star Wars' attractions. We knew it was inevitable: the refurbished 'Star Tours' attraction is too good and too popular, the 'Star Wars' brand is as popular as ever, and Disney now has complete and total control over it.

In fact, the "complete and total control" aspect of it is why it took Disney so long to move forward on this. It seems they wanted to have all of the financial ducks in a row with their Lucasfilm acquisition before committing to anything big.

All of Iger's quotes are about money and numbers and business, and are worth reading if you're into that kind of stuff. The real goods, like what kind of new rides and attractions will be premiering in the coming years, remain firmly under wraps.

We still think the rumor that Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park in Florida will close its 'Indiana Jones' stunt show to make room for a new 'Star Wars' land feels completely accurate. After all, an immersive experience for fans is exactly what Disney needs to battle Universal Studios' 'Harry Potter' theme park across the city.

'Star Wars Rebels' Unveils Its First Seven Minutes

First of all, the opening seven minutes of 'Star Wars Rebels' have made their way online in a completely free and legal manner. So go ahead and watch that before you do anything else.

Still interested? We're not 100% sure where we stand on this show. It's quality kids' entertainment and the younglings are going to love it, but older fans may be better off waiting for 'Episode 7.' And that's totally okay!

If you think this show isn't for kids, just note that this new featurette is brought to you by Toys 'R Us:

If you have any complaints, you can direct them to supervising director Dave Filoni, who will be officially attending this year's Star Wars Celebration. Pester him with your questions, fans.

Finally, the latest rumors heavily suggest that the one and only Boba Fett will rear his Mandalorian-helmeted head in 'Star Wars Rebels,' because of course he will!

Fun and Games on Twitter

If watching 'Guardians of the Galaxy' gave you your 'Star Wars' fix, you are certainly not alone. Included among you is screenwriter Gary Witta, who is penning the first of the spinoff movies. Here he is telling director James Gunn that his job just got harder:

And then there's this odd Twitter exchange, which began when 'Batman vs. Superman' director Zack Snyder posted this picture:

And then J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot production studio responded with this image of 'Star Wars: Episode 7' actor John Boyega:

Snyder, in turn, responded with this:

... And this is Bad Robot's latest move from Friday morning: