Rumor Patrol: Star Wars Saga Blu-rays Landing September 27?

Two weeks ago, Lucasfilm detailed the Star Wars hexalogy Blu-ray offering, providing an unspecific ETA for when fans will see the discs on retail shelves: “The most anticipated Blu-ray release ever – the Star Wars Saga – emerges from light speed this September 2011.”

Now, online mega-store Amazon has updated the pre-order pages for all three sets: The Original Trilogy, The Prequel Trilogy, and The Compete Saga with a proposed release date of September 27, 2011.

Four months ago, at Star Wars Celebration V, George Lucas announced that Star Wars would (once again) get an updated release - this time on Blu-ray. Ever since the film sets were first made available for pre-order, two weeks ago, the 9 disc “Complete Saga” has steadily climbed to #4 on Amazon’s Movie & TV Top 100.

While rabid Jedis and Sith Lords around the world were probably hoping that a release date of “September 2011? would eventually turn into 12:01 am September 6th (or, using their collective powers of persuasion, January 11th), if Amazon is correct, the Blu-rays will land at local retailers in the last week of September.

That said, it wouldn’t be the first time that Amazon has picked an arbitrary placeholder release date for a product’s pre-order page – since an actual release date certainly looks more legitimate than “September 2011? for less-informed customers. For example, inFamous 2 (a game we’re covering on the Game Rant side) will, according to Amazon, be available on December 31, 2011 – despite industry estimates placing the game as a midsummer release (six or so months earlier).

After all, if the online seller were to select a placeholder date for the Star Wars Blu-rays (or any other pre-order), it would need to be toward the end of the proposed release period rather than earlier. Lucas promised the Blu-ray sets would arrive in September 2011 and September 27th would be the last possible release date within that month. If Lucasfilm were to announce the official release date as September 6th, 13th, or 20th, Amazon pre-order customers would simply get their order sooner. No harm, no foul.

We’re certainly not saying the Blu-rays won’t be released on the 27th of September; however, at this point, it seems just as likely that Amazon’s date is nothing more than a placeholder – waiting, just like the rest of us, for an official announcement from Lucasfilm.

Follow us on Twitter @iambenkendrick and @screenrant and let us know who you think.

The Star Wars Blu-ray sets will be released sometime in September 2011.

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Rumor Patrol: Dan Aykroyd Talks Anna Faris & Bill Hader for ‘Ghostbusters 3′

Dan Aykroyd talks about ‘Ghostbusters 3' and the possibility of casting Anna Faris and Bill hader in lead roles.

In this writer’s opinion, Ghostbusters 3 is another one of those long-in-development sequels that will probably be, at best, extremely disappointing. Remember Live Free and Die Hard? Remember Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Has there ever been an instance of a twenty-year-old sequel that was as good or better than the original?

Still, I’m holding out hope for a miracle, which is precisely what it’ll take for Ghostbusters 3 to be better than Ghostbusters the first. According to Bloody Disgusting, Dan Aykroyd stopped by WGN Radio to chat about, amongst other things, the status of the second Ghostbusters sequel.

Aykroyd confirmed a number of rumors that have been making the rounds across the Internet over the past few weeks. First, yes, they are in the process of casting for the third film — specifically, those actors who will play the new generation of Ghostbusters? — and they’re open to the idea of casting new faces. Second, yes, they are interested in Anna Faris and SNL star Bill Hader, who Aykroyd referred to as “strong possibilities,” though he reiterated nothing was concrete as of yet. Curiously, Will Forte, another SNL veteran who has been rumored to be up for a part, was not mentioned.

This news comes hot on the heels of Entertainment Weekly claiming that the Ghostbusters rumors regarding Anna Fenris, Will Forte, and Bill Hader being cast are just that — rumors and nothing more.

A few things: I absolutely don’t want to watch a Ghostbusters movie sans the very reason I enjoyed the original. Sure, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, and even Sigourney Weaver have all, at the very least, tentatively agreed to be in Ghostbusters 3, but I don’t want to be teased with minor parts from some of my favorite characters ever. A glorified cameo for Bill Murray as Peter Venkman would be worse than no Bill Murray at all (at least in my opinion).

But — if the filmmakers are absolutely determined to pass the Ghostbusters torch to a new generation of human beings, why in the world would they cast members of the least hilarious SNL cast in the history of SNL (…plus Anna Faris)? Stacking Bill Hader and Will Forte, both of whom I generally like,  against the likes of Dan Aykroyd and comedy-god Bill Murray only compounds the fact that there’s no comparison whatsoever.

As a matter of fact, there are only a couple ways I’d be fully onboard with the concept of a new generation of Ghostbusters.

Cast the gang from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I’m not even talking about just casting the actors here, I’m talking about literally plucking the characters from It’s Always Sunny — Mac, Dennis, Dee, Frank, and, of course, Charlie — and making them the new Ghostbusters.Cast a bunch of pretty boys like the Jonas Brothers, Shia LaBeouf, and Justin Timberlake, have them screw the pooch something terrible as the twenty-something Ghostbusters, thus forcing the nigh-on-elderly Ghostbusters – -Egan, Ray, Winston, and Pete — to return in the last forty minutes to save the day.

Whatever happens with Ghostbusters 3, which may begin filming in May 2011, there’s not much we the fans can do but hope that it all turns out for the best. While you read this article, did you manage to come up with an example of a twenty-year-old sequel that was as good as or better than the original? Because I sure didn’t…

Sources: Bloody Disgusting & Entertainment Weekly

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