Screenwriters are the unsung heroes of the silver screen, dreaming up the stories that stick with us forever and the iconic lines we quote around the water cooler. Typically, these scribes don’t grab headlines the way they probably should, but when it comes to Star Wars, all news causes a disturbance in the force.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, British scribe Jack Thorne has been brought on to work on the script for Star Wars: Episode IX, the final installment of the third trilogy of the franchise’s main saga. Thorne is best-known stateside for adapting the New York Times Bestseller Wonder for the big screen, but he’s well known across the proverbial pond for his work on series like The Fades and National Treasure. That said, he has yet to work on a big-budget blockbuster of this ilk, so this is a pretty huge coup for the veteran writer.
Director Colin Trevorrow and Jurassic World penman Derek Connolly have also done work on the script and, at this point, it is not clear whether Thorne is being brought in for an overhaul, or just a few tweaks. Fans of the franchise will remember the whole hullabaloo surrounding the Rogue One re-shoots, during which it was rumored that Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation director Christopher McQuarrie would be replacing Gareth Edwards, after the film tested poorly for studio execs. It turned out that rumor was total nonsense and the film ended up receiving rave reviews from critics and fans alike.
Bottom line: Don’t read too much into this. It’s not uncommon to bring a fresh set of eyes on board when working on a script of this magnitude and it is likely that Thorne was added to the mix simply to help make this the best screenplay that it can be.
In any case, the film is still almost two years from its planned May 2019 release date, so there is plenty of time to work out the kinks. The premiere of Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, on the other hand, is imminent. That film — written and directed entirely by Rian Johnson — is set to hit theaters December 15.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.