R2-D2 Confirmed For Star Wars Episode VII
Posted by Dustin on November 19, 2013 at 03:53 PM CST:
When the image was first posted I pretty much knew he was coming back. I jokingly emailed some friends because one of the fellows standing there looks just like one of our Rebelscum team members. One person replied that he knew the guys and that they were R2 Builders. This got me to thinking, would they possibly be using a fan built R2-D2? If you have ever attended a Star Wars Celebration you know how accurate these guys are with their droids. Plus if they are shooting in Europe, it would be much cheaper to find local talent from the R2 Builders than to ship several droids from California.
Well today the official Star Wars Blog let the world know that yes, R2-D2 will be in Star Wars Episode VII, and he is fan made!
Here's some of the post.
Meet Lee Towersey and Oliver Steeples, Star Wars fans and members of the worldwide R2-D2 Builders Club. They create fully functioning, film-accurate astromech droids like the R2-D2 seen in the photo, and they?re officially part of the Creature Effects team for Star Wars: Episode VII. They didn?t apply for their jobs, but still had what is probably the best reference one could hope for.
?It all started when Kathleen Kennedy toured the R2-D2 Builders area at Celebration Europe this past summer in Germany,? says Steeples, who finished his first R2-D2 in 2007, after 10 years of collecting parts and researching. ?She posed for pictures with us, looked at all the droids we?d built and was very complimentary. I mentioned that the R2-D2 Builders in the UK were available if required, as a semi-joke. When I was contacted to work on the film by [executive producer] Jason McGatlin, it was on her recommendation.?
Steeples, from Berkshire, England, and Towersey, from Middlesex, England, are working full-time on Star Wars: Episode VII at Pinewood Studios (where the Twitter photo was taken), focusing solely on astromech-building ? for now. Keeping an astromech droid in working condition throughout the production of a film is a challenge, as it?s filled with gears, lights, and electronics; Steeples and Towersey were chosen because of their expertise and experience, both having worked on Star Wars?-themed commercials for the UK appliances megastore Curry?s. ?We know the pressures of filming, prepping, and being able to assure reliability throughout the shoot,? says Towersey, who built the droid seen in the tweet. ?We have a good knowledge of Artoo, with a large stock of parts for reference and drawings, plus we know what is involved throughout the whole building process, as well as potential problems we need to avoid.? Despite their impressive understanding of how to construct an astromech droid and keep it functioning, Steeples and Towersey still have a goal for Star Wars: Episode VII: to build a better R2-D2.
This is terrific news in my opinion. I love the fact that they are using a physical unit versus making him CGI. While I loved some of the R2-D2 CGI scenes in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, others felt campy, and unneeded. To check out the full article, click here.
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