‘Lego Star Wars: Rebuild The Galaxy’ takes us way beyond that galaxy far, far away
Disney
It’s Lego, it’s Star Wars, and it’s both combined, and scrambled and mixed up! The new Disney+ series Lego Star Wars: Rebuild The Galaxy debuts Friday, created by Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit.
Hernandez tells ABC Audio the animated series takes place in a kind of upside down Star Wars world.
“Good guys become bad guys, bad guys become good guys. Ships are different. Planets are different, creatures are different. Everything is a little bit different, but still identifiably Star Wars,” he says. “And it is our main character’s quest to try to put the Galaxy back to the way it used to be, but finding that that might be more difficult than he ever could have anticipated.”
Samit says the series is a lot like what would happen if any of us were to take a Legos bin and dump it out on the floor.
“No one plays with their Lego with just, you know, following the stories of the movies in chronological order, following the script. No, you start mixing and matching ships and characters and worlds, and we wanted to recreate that in this.”
Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo, who plays the scruffy nerf herder who has a role in accidentally altering the entire Star Wars galaxy, tells ABC Audio he’s a huge Star Wars fan and had all the toys as a kid, which makes being a part of the Star Wars world a dream come true.
“I will say that I played with more lightsabers than anything. I became kind of a collector in that department. And yeah, I had … the whole nine yards,” he shares. “I remember this one toy that was supposed to, like, make you use The Force, like, with a headset thing and, like, you would just raise a ball and the thing. Never worked. Hurt my feelings.”
Star Wars is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
Photos: Riccardo Vimercadi – Andrew J. Whitaker/Pool via USA Today Network
ABC Audio has confirmed that Patricia Arquette will star in a Hulu series based on the headline-grabbing Alex Murdaugh murders.
The disgraced South Carolina attorneywas found guilty in 2023 of brutallymurdering his wife, Maggie, and younger son Paul on the Murdaugh family’s property in 2021.
The as-yet-untitled project will have Arquette playing Maggie Murdaugh, and it reunites the actress with Nick Antosca, the producer behind the Hulu limited series The Act, for which Arquette won an Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy.
The series is based on Maggie and Alex Murdaugh’s “stranger-than-fiction family drama,” according to the streamer, which says it will be “a riveting account drawing from countless hours of reporting by Mandy Matney – journalist and creator of the popular Murdaugh Murders Podcast – as well as exclusive, insider knowledge from years spent following the case.”
Locke & Key veteran Michael D. Fuller will be the showrunner and is credited as the co-creator of the project, along with Britney vs. Spears alumna Erin Lee Carr.
It took a jury just three hours to convict Alex Murdaugh, who denied the murders but admitted to lying to investigators and cheating his clients.
Oscar-nominated actress Kirsten Dunst has come a long way since playing chipper cheerleader Torrance Shipman in 2000’s hit Bring it On, but on Sunday evening she showed she can still bring it.
The actress surprised fans at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery during a Kirsten Dunst Sleepover Party at the venue. It was Cinespia’s 25th anniversary celebration of both Bring It On and The Virgin Suicides.
The Wrap says Dunst emerged to cheers, then did some cheering of her own, reciting her line from the beginning of Bring It On: “I’m T-t-Torrance, your captain, Torrance!” She added a “Let’s go Toros!” for good measure.
The trade says Dunst expressed she was “overwhelmed” by the event, calling it “the craziest thing I’ve ever witnessed in my life.”
She added, “My friends and family are here, I’m going to watch with you guys. I haven’t seen any of these movies since I was a teen myself, with an audience. I’m so honored.”
Dunst has two young sons with her husband, Jesse Plemons.
The 76th Emmy Awards, which aired Sunday night on ABC, had quite a few memorable moments — but perhaps none as memorable as the acceptance speech centered around a dead dog.
While accepting the Emmy for Outstanding Scripted Variety Series for Last Week Tonight, John Oliver thanked the usual people and then shifted gears, paying tribute to his family’s “fantastic” dog, who’d recently passed away. She was at our wedding and she got us through the pandemic. She was with us for two pregnancies,” he said. At that point, the “playoff” music started, indicating that Oliver should wrap it up, but he wasn’t having it.
“Perfect choice of music,” he noted. He then continued, “I feel like Sarah McLachlan right now. She was an amazing dog.” The music continued, to which Oliver shouted, “F*** you! This isn’t just for her. This is for all the dogs! All dogs, you are all very good girls. You are very good boys. You all deserve a treat. Play me off now!”
Some other memorable moments:
—Murphy Brown star Candice Bergen, a presenter, took a shot at J.D. Vance by recalling that during the show’s heyday, then-Vice President Dan Quayle attacked her character for having a baby and raising it as a single mother. “Oh, how far we’ve come,” she said sarcastically. “Today, a Republican candidate for vice president would never attack a woman for having kids. So as they say, my work here is done.” She then added, “Meow.”
–One of the many TV reunion segments during the evening brought together Ron Howard and Henry Winkler to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Happy Days. Speaking from a replica of the show’s hangout, Arnold’s, Howard complained that they didn’t have any theme music introducing them. After some encouragement, Winkler adopted his “Fonz” persona from the show, went over to the jukebox and wrapped it with his fist, causing the Happy Days theme to start up.
–Will Smith accepted the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for Slow Horses. No, not THAT Will Smith, as the British showrunner acknowledged. Taking the podium, he said, “First of all, relax. Despite my name, I come in peace.”
—The Bear’sLiza Colón-Zayas became the first Latina to win the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and she recognized that moment by saying, “To all the Latinas who are looking at me? Keep believing. And vote. Vote for your rights.”
—John Leguizamo did a lengthy monologue about diversity in Hollywood, noting that he didn’t see a lot of Latinx representation on TV and movies growing up. “Everybody played us but us,” he noted. Then, he praised the diversity of this year’s nominees, saying it made him “almost happy and certainly less angry.”
–Along those same lines, presenter Diego Luna announced the nominees for Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series in Spanish, directly addressing the “more than 50 million Spanish speakers in this country.”
— A number of actors from The West Wing, including Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Dulé Hilland Richard Schiff, reunited to present the Emmy for Best Drama Series and joked about modern politics. Schiff noted that today, interesting storylines could be “plucked right off the news — storylines that writers would have deemed a bit far-fetched, if not utterly ridiculous, 25 years ago.”
–Baby Reindeer‘s Richard Gadd had a message for the entertainment industry. At the podium to accept the Emmy for Best Limited or Anthology Series, he said, “If Baby Reindeer has proved anything, it’s that there’s no set formula to this — that you don’t need big stars, proven IP, long-running series, catch-all storytelling to have a hit. The only constant across any success in television is good storytelling that speaks to our times. So take risks, push boundaries, explore the uncomfortable. Dare to fail in order to achieve.”
