MAY THE 4th. BE WITH YOU.

May the 4th be with you. Star Wars VIII to be filmed in UK, Osborne to announce

The eighth episode of Star Wars is to be filmed in the UK, with production based at Pinewood Studios, George Osborne is to announce on Monday.

“May the 4th be with you,” the chancellor will tell Star Wars fans as he tries to associate the Tories with the annual celebration of the film franchise launched by George Lucas with the ground-breaking first movie in 1977.

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Osborne will announce that Lucasfilm will invest about £100m in the film, creating an estimated 3,000 jobs. It will be the fourth Star Wars sequel to be shot in the UK. Star Wars Episode VIII, to be directed by Rian Johnson, will start filming in 2016 with a release date scheduled for 2017.

Osborne will say: “This investment by Lucasfilm … is a huge vote of confidence in all elements of movie-making in Britain – from the visual effects designers to the lighting technicians and from the carpenters to the costume designers.

“The creative industries make a huge economic and cultural contribution to the UK. That is why in budget after budget as chancellor, I announced measures to support the industry.

“We are committed to backing this sector and the decision by Lucasfilm to continue to make the UK the home of Star Wars production is why we are right to believe that Britain is the best place in the world for the creative industries.”

Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, said: “We are looking forward to continuing the new generation of Star Wars movies in the UK.”

There was, though, one blow for the franchise over the weekend, after it emerged that Josh Trank had pulled out of directing a Star Wars spinoff.

The director of Chronicle and the upcoming Fantastic Four movie was to direct the second Star Wars Anthology film, which is due out in 2018.

“After a year of having the incredible honour of developing with the wonderful and talented people at Lucasfilm, I’m making a personal decision to move forward on a different path,” he said in a statement on StarWars.com.

Last month, excitement surrounded the release of the trailer for Star Wars Episode VII, the first film to be released since Disney purchased the franchise from Lucasfilm for $4.05bn (£2.5bn) in 2012.

The trailer featured a glimpse of what appeared to be Darth Vader’s helmet, as well as an ageing Han Solo – played again by Harrison Ford. Both Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, who starred in the original trilogy, will also return to the franchise.

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 The film is being directed by JJ Abrams, who – it has been rumoured – has decided to return to some of the older film-making techniques, rather than rely heavily on CGI.

He hinted that there would be more of a blend than in many contemporary sci-fi films, saying that “there are a lot of situations where we went very much old school, and in fact used CGI more to remove things than to add things”.

The chancellor’s message to Star Wars fans – “May the 4th be with you” – pays homage to the film and to Margaret Thatcher.

The famous original line – “May the force be with you” – has been delivered at least once in every Star Wars film. But in Tory minds, 4 May will always be remembered as the day in 1979 when Thatcher entered Downing Street as prime minister for the first time.

Say “May the 4th Be With You” out loud and you’ll hear the pun that Star Wars fans worldwide have turned into a rallying cry to proclaim their love of the saga. It’s the worldwide day to say “May the Force be with you” to all, and celebrate the beloved Star Wars story that binds our galaxy together.

One of the earliest known records of “May the 4th” used in popular culture is in 1979, as described here by author Alan Arnold while he was chronicling the making of The Empire Strikes Back for Lucasfilm:

Friday, May 4

“Margaret Thatcher has won the election and become Britain’s first woman prime minister. To celebrate their victory her party took a half page of advertising space in the London Evening News. This message, referring to the day of victory, was ‘May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations,’ further proof of the extent to which Star Wars has influenced us all.”

Once the Internet allowed Star Wars fans around the world to connect with one another, May the 4th soon became a grassroots tradition each year, with fans online and offline proclaiming it “Star Wars Day.”

While the idea of May the 4th did not start with Lucasfilm, the film company that created Star Wars has fully embraced the spirit of fandom that makes the day so special. StarWars.com as well as the official Star Wars social media channels (hashtag #StarWarsDay) help spread the word and showcase fan activity. More and more official partners have offered sales, giveaways and exclusives, and have hosted parties and other activities to mark the day.

May the 4th kicks off a season of celebration, particularly since the month of May has always been important to Star Wars fans. The six live-action movies of the Star Wars saga debuted in May (starting with the original Star Wars on May 25, 1977). The month of May includes George Lucas’ birthday (May 14, 1944), and has been the traditional start date of the popular Star Wars Weekends at Walt Disney World Resort.

With the exciting launch of a new trilogy of movies beginning with Star Wars: The Force Awakens coming in the near future, this day to celebrate the saga and its amazing fans is certain to become even bigger each year.

Los seguidores de la saga de 'La guerra de las galaxias' están este lunes de fiesta. En todo el mundo se celebra el Día de Star Wars con toda una serie de eventos que van desde encuentros de fans disfrazados de jedis, soldados imperiales u otros de los personajes de la película hasta maratones de cine. En Twitter, el lema 'MayThe4thBeWithYou', ('Que el 4 de mayo te acompañe', variante del 'May the force be with you' o 'Que la fuerza te acompañe' en castellano) se ha convertido en uno de los 'trending topics' del día.

Desde hace ya varias décadas, los fans de la saga creada por George Lucas celebran el nacimiento de la legendaria franquicia. Pero, ¿por qué el Día de Star Wars se celebra el 4 de mayo?

Según explica la web oficial de 'Star Wars', una de las primeras alusiones a la fecha del 4 de mayo se produjo en Londres cuando, el 4 de mayo de 1979, el Partido Conservador británico publicó en el 'London Evening News' un anuncio felicitando a Margaret Thatcher por haber ganado las elecciones y haberse convertido en primera ministra del Reino Unido. "May the 4th be with you, Maggie. Congratulations", (Que el día 4 te acompañe, Maggie (diminutivo de Margaret). Felicidades).

JUEGO DE PALABRAS

La frase dio lugar a un juego de palabras entre la frase emblemática de 'Star Wars ('May the force be with you'), el número 4 (fourth) y el mes de mayo (may). Con la consolidación de internet y, con ello, la interacción de los fans de 'La guerra de las galaxias' en todo el mundo, arraigó la idea de celebrar el 4 de mayo el Día de Star Wars.

El mes de mayo ha sido tradicionalmente, recuerda Lucasfilm, la productora de la saga, un mes especial para la saga. Las seis películas se presentaron en mayo --el 25 de mayo de 1977 se estrenó la primera cinta--, el 14 de mayo es el cumpleaños de George Lucas y es la fecha en la que los parques de atracciones de Walt Disney empiezan sus populares 'fines de semana de 'Star Wars'.

NUEVO 'MERCHANDISING'

La idea no surgió pues de Lucasfilm, pero estos sí se sumaron al espíritu de este día, como prueba su página web que dedica varios artículos al tema. Asimismo, son numerosos los comercios en todo el mundo que ofrecen ventas especiales y descuentos de todo tipo de productos relacionados con el universo 'Star Wars'.

Para celebrar el evento, Walt Disney anunció el domingo que el próximo 4 de septiembre las tiendas Disney y otras superficies comerciales empezarán a vender 'merchandising' de la séptima entrega de la serie, que se estrenará el próximo 18 de diciembre.