Did you know that George Lucas wrote the original Star Wars script? In addition to the original trilogy, there were 12 movies planned and nine of them were produced. However, the films were never written fully and were largely just a vision of Lucas. The entire series was a financial success, and the franchise is still wildly popular today. You can explore more about Star Wars at The Direct!

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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . . 

There was a little bitty science fiction film titled Star Wars, written and directed by George Lucas. Released in 1977, the film became so popular that it spawned two sequels, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, two made-for-television Ewoks movies, two short-lived Saturday morning cartoons, and the infamous (and laughable) 1978's Star Wars Holiday Special. The entire franchise was pretty much dead until 1991 when the Bantam Books published Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Hugo Award-Winner Timothy Zahan, which is book one in a three-book cycle. Dubbed the "Thrawn Trilogy," the books introduced four new characters — Mara Jade, Talon Karrde, Gilad Pellaeon, and Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Disney; PG-13; 135 mins; Walmart

Being released to Blu-ray (+Digital) this Tuesday from Disney Home Entertainment is the action-packed prequel Solo: A Star Wars Story. Directed by Ron Howard, the film stars Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, and Paul Bettany.

Set many years before "Rogue One" and "A New Hope," Solo centers around a young Han Solo (played by Alden Ehrenreich) before he became a famous smuggler. While living on the planet Corellia, Han and his girlfriend Qi'ra (played by Emilia Clarke) try to bribe an Imperial officer with coaxium in exchange for passage on a transport ship. Unfortunately, Qi'ra is apprehended by a local gang before she could get on the ship. Han ends up joining the Imperial Navy, so he can learn how to be a pilot. He made a vow to himself that he would get his own spaceship and will one day return to Corellia to rescue Qi'ra.

Well, things didn't go as planned! Han gets kicked out Imperial Flight Academy and is sent to the planet Mimban as a infantryman. This is where he meets Tobias Beckett (played by Woody Harrelson), Val (played by Thandie Newton), and Rio Durant (voiced by Jon Favreau), a trio of smugglers posing as Imperial soldiers. After failing to blackmail them in letting him join their crew, Han is arrested for desertion and is tossed into a pit with a beast -  Chewbacca! Using his knowledge of the Wookiee language, Han and Chewbacca (played by Joonas Suotamo) formed an alliance, escaped the pit, and joined Beckett's crew on a train heist to steal a shipment of coaxium on Vandor-1.

Once again, things don't as planned, which leads Han to an unexpected reunion with Qi'ra. On his adventure, Han meets Lando Calrissian, he gets chased by the Enfys Nest pirates, and he gets to pilot the Millennium Falcon for the very first time.

Additionally, Solo: A Star Wars Story will be released to Blu-ray 4K Ultra HD™, DVD and On-Demand on September 25th. It's already available digitally in HD and 4K Ultra HD™ and on Movies Anywhere.

Blu-ray and Digital Special Features include (may vary by retailer):

• Solo: The Director & Cast Roundtable -Sit down with director Ron Howard and the stars for an intimate and entertaining discussion of the film’s making.
• Team Chewie - See what it takes to bring your favorite Wookiee to life in this lighthearted look behind the scenes.
• Kasdan on Kasdan - Iconic Star Wars screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan and son Jonathan share what it was like to write the movie’s script together.
• Remaking the Millennium Falcon - Track the transformation of the most famous ship in the galaxy, from Lando’s swank and impeccable pride and joy to Han’s stripped-down hot-rod freighter with “special modifications.”
• Escape from Corellia - Get behind the wheel for the making of this high-octane chase through the streets of Corellia.
• The Train Heist - Explore the challenges and thrills of creating this action-packed sequence, including its remote location and spectacular effects.
• Becoming a Droid: L3-37 - Meet the newest droid—and the talented actor who helps bring her to life.
• Scoundrels, Droids, Creatures and Cards: Welcome to Fort Ypso - Take an in-depth tour of the rough-and-tumble bar where strangers mix and gamblers risk all in the legendary card game, Sabaac.
• Into the Maelstrom: The Kessel Run - Join Han and Chewie at the controls of the Millennium Falcon to see how this legendary moment in Star Wars history unfolds.
• Deleted Scenes
• Proxima’s Den
• Corellian Foot Chase
• Han Solo: Imperial Cadet
• The Battle of Mimban: Extended
• Han Versus Chewie: Extended
• Snowball Fight!
• Meet Dryden: Extended
• Coaxium Double-Cross
• The Millenium Falcon: From Page to Park – An exclusive look at the history of the most famous ship in the galaxy, its origin and development, and how it will translate in one of the most anticipated expansions in Disneyland’s history.

TV-Y7; 267 minutes; Amazon

Now available on DVD from Disney Home Entertainment and LucasFilm Ltd. is LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures: Complete Season Two, featuring 12 action-packed episodes. The DVD comes with an "Exclusive Darth Vader Pin."

The voice cast includes includes Nicolas Cantu (Rowan), Vanessa Lengies (Kordi), Eugene Byrd (Zander), Matthew Wood (R0-GR), Trevor Devall (Emperor), Dana Snyder (Graballa), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Yvette Nicole Brown (Lt. Valeria), Corey Burton (Quarrie), James Urbaniak (M-OC) and Matt Sloan (Darth Vader).

Developed by Bill Motz and Bob Roth ("Penguins of Madagascar"), the series is set between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and focuses on the Freemaker siblings - Zander, Kordi, Rowan (a twelve-year-old Jedi-in-training), and their battle droid, R0-GR.

Season Two finds the Freemakers working with the rebel fleet, under the command of Admiral Ackbar. After Rowan has a vision about building an "arrowhead" ship that's controlled by an oversized kyber crystal, his siblings seek the help of a ship builder named Quarrie to assist them in the creation of the ultimate weapon against the Empire.

Meanwhile, Emperor Palpatine is obsessed with capturing Rowan. He creates a bounty hunter droid, M-OC, which has only one purpose - capture Rowan.

Bonus Features on the DVD include:

• 5 Adventure-Filled Shorts
• Home One
• Thrown Into Battle
• Rowan's Secret Adventure
• Zander Freemaker: Superstar Pilot Guy
• Beware The Gamorrean Flu 

Arriving on Blu-ray from executive-producer George Lucas is the exciting conclusion to the Emmy Award-Winning series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, titled Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Lost Missions, which features all 13 episodes from the final season. Bonus Features include Never-Before-Seen - 16-Minute Documentary Celebrating The Entire "Clone Wars" Series With Riveting Behind-The-Scenes Footage and 4 Additional Unfinished Story Reels.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is set between Star Wars - Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. A feature film was released in October 2008 and quickly followed by the debut of the television series which aired on the Cartoon Network until the end of the fifth season. The Walt Disney company bought Lucasfilms in 2012 and officially canceled the series in 2013, but 13 episodes were still in development at the time. These episodes aired exclusively on Netflix in early 2014 and is known as "The Lost Missions," which lands on Blu-ray and DVD this week. "The Lost Missions" sets up the event that will occur in "Revenge of the Sith."

2D animation is becoming a thing of the past, but there are a few them still around cable channels, including Phineas & Ferb, which its fourth season is currently being aired on Disney XD. While the future of the series is in limbo, fans can grab their hands on Phineas & Ferb: Star Wars that will arrive on DVD this Tueaday November 11, 2014. As an added bonus there are 5 bonus episode along with a Perry-In-Carbonite Keychain.

The Star Wars special aired back in July on the Disney Channel and Disney XD. There have several other series (Robot Chicken, Family Guy) that have crossed over with the Star Wars franchise, mostly retelling the original trilogy, but that isn't the case with this special. Here we get an original Phineas & Ferb adventure that happens to take place during Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope.


In the new spin on the tale, Phineas and Ferb are living with their parents on the planet Tattooin and they happen to be living close to Luke Skywalker (voiced by Christopher Corey Smith). Meanwhile, Perry the platypus is part the Rebel Alliance and steals a CD containing the Death Star plans and gives the plans to Princess Leia. After the Star Destroyer intercepts their ship, Princess Leia inserts the CD into R2-D2 for safe keeping. C-3PO (voiced by Simon Pegg) and R2-D2 hop into an escape pod, but three Imperial stormtroopers, Candace Flynn, Baljeet Tjinder and Buford van Stomm, are hot on their trail and of course Perry isn't too far behind them either.

There has been lots of excitement in the Star Wars universe since the announcement of the upcoming new sequel trilogy. I'm sure fans are excited about the LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out arriving on DVD. The twenty-two-minutes cartoon special aired on the Cartoon Network last year and is now out just in time for Easter.

I'm a fan of the original trilogy, but I missed out when the special aired on television and along with the prequel, The Padawan Menace. LEGO has been releasing Star Wars toys for years, so it was just a matter of time before an animated project was released.

The Empire Strikes Out takes place directly after Luke Skywalker blows up the Death Star. He continues his quest, along with R2-D2, to stop the Empire's next move, but he is side barred by a swarm of female fans that call him the Death-Star-Blower-Upper. Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa are building up an army of Gungan Warrior, while C-3PO is stuck with Chewbacca on the Millennium Falcon.

The third and final part of the Crimson Empire series was planned to be released in 2001, but was eventually cancelled. In 2008, Michael Richardson announced that he was working on the Crimson Empire III. In October 2011, Dark Horse Comics released the first of the six issues, with the last was released back in April. Courtesy of NetGalley and Dark Horse Comics, I got a chance to review the upcoming complete final volume of the Crimson Empire legacy, containing all six issues.

Kir Kanos, a former Imperial Guardsman to the late Emperor Palapatine, returns to bounty hunting after three years of hiding, when he is asked to join a group of other Imperial Guardsmen, whom want to restore the Empire.

 
TITLE: Star Wars: Knight Errant Volume 2--Deluge 
AUTHOR: John Jackson Miller
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics 
PUBLISHED DATE: June 5, 2012
ISBN: 9781595826381
ARTIST CONTRIBUTORS: David Daza, Iban Coello, Ivan Rodriguez, Joe Quinones, Michael Atiyeh, and Sergio Abad



Set in the beginning of the Old Republic, a 1,000 years before the birth of Luke Skywalker, this epic tale centers around a young female Jedi Knight named Kerra Holt, who is attempting to fight against the evil Sith Lords. The Sith Lords are trying to control large portions of the galaxy while continuing a war with the Republic. In the five issue series titled Deluge, Kerra Holt returns to the ocean world of Aquilaris, the planet she once called home, which is currently under control by the Sith Lord Daiman.

As soon as Kerra arrives she jumps into a battle against the Sith Lord’s army and she allies with other Republics. Her people have been enslaved and she’ll do anything to save them. Soon, she realizes that there is another enemy - a Hutt. Now determined more than ever, Kerra must go against all odds to stop them from flooding her home planet.