Star Was official

Matthew Wood at Star Wars Celebration London in 2023.

Kicking off the highly-anticipated prequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace arrived May 19, 1999. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, StarWars.com presents “Phantom at 25,” a special series of interviews, editorials, and more.

The first person to watch the initial assembly of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999) wasn’t director George Lucas. It was then-25-year-old Matthew Wood of Skywalker Sound. As he tells StarWars.com, picture editors Ben Burtt and Paul Martin Smith had spent weeks with Lucas at Skywalker Ranch compiling the first rough version of Episode I. Hours long and far from the refined cut that audiences would see, it was up to Wood to review it and make notes about voices that needed recording.

“Paul and Ben ran out their sequences

The illustrious Jabba bids you welcome to the underworld.

Join the scoundrel Kay Vess in the first-ever open world Star Wars game, Star Wars Outlaws, where the Hutt and countless other kingpins and crime bosses are waiting to give you your next big job — or put a bounty on your head if you fail them.

Here are just a few Easter eggs and fun nods we’ve encountered in our first adventures with Kay, Nix, and ND-5.

Gonk fans, this one’s for you. While exploring Crimson Dawn territory on Toshara, you can spot a few gonks with an unexpected add-on: flower pots perched on top of their square heads. If you find these hard-to-locate power droids, get some target practice by shooting the dynamic objects. Just don’t aim too low.

There may be a rancor

Star Wars is for everyone — and that includes Star Wars games.

Whether you are a casual gamer or you have a dedicated gaming chair, Star Wars Outlaws offers a unique chance for players of all levels to disappear into the Star Wars galaxy. As the protagonist of the game, Kay Vess is a sneaky scoundrel just trying to survive. While she may lack Force powers, Kay proves she’s more than capable of completing her missions for various criminal syndicates with a blaster and her good buddy, Nix, by her side.

While Outlaws has plenty of features sure to delight expert gamers, Massive Entertainment and Lucasfilm Games made sure the first-ever open world Star Wars game could also be enjoyed by people who may have not played many, or any, video

A new documentary film arriving later this year will chronicle the life and legendary career of John Williams, the visionary composer behind many of the most iconic film soundtracks in history.

Today the American Film Institute (AFI) announced Music By John Williams, from Lucasfilm Ltd., Amblin Documentaries, and Imagine Documentaries, which will debut with a world premiere at AFI Fest on October 23, before a limited theatrical run. You can also watch Music By John Williams when it arrives on Disney+ on November 1.

Among Williams many credits and accolades, including an astounding 54 Oscar nominations and five wins, the maestro served as composer for the original Star Wars score and all nine films in the Skywalker saga, from Star Wars: A New Hope through Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, plus

We’re just days away from the release of Star Wars Outlaws, and a new trailer for the open world game has us on the edge of our speederbike seats waiting for more. That’s right. We’re just like Nix!

Join up-and-coming scoundrel Kay Vess, modified BX Commando ND-5, and the merqaal Nix in the first open-world Star Wars game arriving next week. The final trailer, an explosive mix of action and suspense, was introduced today at Gamescom alongside conversations with Julian Gerighty, the creative director of Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment, and Humberly Gonzalez, the voice of Kay Vess, as well as over ten minutes of new gameplay.

If you’re planning to attend Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025, you’re already in for one of the biggest celebratory Star Wars events in any galaxy next April. But there are plenty of other ways to connect with the Force beyond the convention floor in Japan. You can visit the castle from The Hidden Fortress, one of the Akira Kurosawa films that inspired Star Wars, or take a walk in the footsteps of real-life samurai who served as the template for the Jedi Order.

If you’re ready to play galactic tourist, we recently spoke with Eri Hirose, a senior director from the Japan National Tourism Organization, to collect some ideas to add to your Celebration itinerary.

Akira Kurosawa Film Locations

With a career that spanned over 50 years and 30 movies, Akira Kurosawa is

Dee Bradley Baker loves a good challenge when it comes to crafting the voice for a new character. “It’s really fun to do characters that are not speaking English in Star Wars,” he tells StarWars.com.

For decades, the longtime Star Wars voice actor has helped create an eclectic group of characters in animated series and video games. From voicing all the clone troopers in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch to the merqaal Nix in the soon-to-be released video game Star Wars Outlaws, if there’s a Star Wars project that needs voice actors, it’s highly likely Baker is a part of the crew.

As the animated series Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures sees the debut of its second season today, Baker, the voice of the fan-favorite character Nubs in the

Tyler Bergantino and Gabby Gonzalez immediately had two things in common when they met. At 6’7” and 6’2”, respectively, they’re both known for being tall influencers with online content centered around their height. And they both loved Star Wars so much they had each named a pet Leia.

Their mutual adoration of a galaxy far, far away came up naturally on their first date a few months ago. And this weekend, they attended D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event dressed in full cosplay.

Bergantino dressed in full Jedi robes, carrying the lightsaber hilt of Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s former Master. And Gonzalez wore a full Padmé Amidala jumpsuit, prepared to fight her way out of the Geonosis arena.

Gonzalez wasn’t always so brave, she admits. As a child, her family loved to

“What if we could go anywhere we want in the whole galaxy?”

This December, we’re ready to get lost in space on a new Star Wars quest asking exactly that.

Today at D23 we got our first look at Skeleton Crew with the first trailer and key art introducing the curious protagonists: Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), KB (Kyriana Kratter), Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), and their motley crew: the mysterious and enigmatic Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law) and the droid SM-33 (voiced by Nick Frost), the decrepit first mate of the Onyx Cinder. The cast also includes Tunde Adebimpe and Kerry Condon.

The series, created by Spider-Man Homecoming director Jon Watts and writer Christopher Ford, who also serve as the showrunners, follows along as the kids get lost in a strange and

First came Darth Jar Jar. Now, Vader swapping his Sith Lord armor for a sleek white version, a bounty hunting C-3PO calculating the odds with glowing red eyes, and a squad of Ackbar Clone Troopers all shouting “It’s a trap!” are all very clear signs that this isn’t the galaxy far, far away that we’re used to. To quote LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy’s Mace Windu: this party’s just getting started.

During D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, the new official trailer for LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy was revealed ahead of a special presentation featuring Dan Hernandez (showrunner, writer, executive producer), Benji Samit (showrunner, writer, executive producer), and James Waugh (executive producer and Lucasfilm senior vice president, Franchise Content & Strategy). Content herding nerfs and sharing tales