TMZ got a chance to speak with Billy Dee Williams and asked him a few questions about the upcoming Star Wars: Episode 7...
They asked him if he would be willing to come back and be part of the new movie. He answered that he would be there if the want him and that a lot of people would love to see Lando come back.
Unfortunately he revealed that still no one has contacted him about the new Star Wars movie. And not only that but he was completely unaware that the movie is already filming and that it's set 35 years after ROTJ.
He also said that he can't think of better producer and director for Episode 7 and that he has confidence in Disney.
Many people thought that he left DWTS because of the Episode 7 filming. He sounded pretty honest in the video so obviously that is not the case. The chances to see him in Episode 7 are getting slimmer. At least they should call him for a cameo. I doubt that they will erase his character just like that.
He recently did some voice work for the new TV series Star Wars: Rebels so he is still in the game.
Source: TMZ
still keeping my fingers crossed
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing obvious about that interview. Dude almost looked like he was smirking the entire time -- he's got to know more than what he told us. I also get the feeling he's a better liar than Carrie is. I would not recommend coming to any conclusions based on that video.
DeleteThat's got to be annoying to have a surprise interview while you're grocery shopping.
He'll be in it. Or they'll have a pretty good explanation in the movie of why he isn't there. Who knows, maybe he'll show up in the sequel to 7 like he showed up in the sequel of a new hope
ReplyDeleteI don't see this as necessary. I love Lando Calrissian, but I don't think we need an explanation of where he's at. I think the only characters that would require that would be Han, Leia, Luke, Chewbacca, Artoo, and Threepio.
DeleteI won't be surprised at all if there is no mention of Lando at all in Ep. VII. And I highly doubt he'll appear after VII just because VIII and IX will be about the next generation and not give much to the older generation (I imagine).
it could actually be cool if the saved him for ep.8 ,but i hope Nien Nunb now is Lando´s fulltime co-pilot, i love that character & the way he "talks"
DeleteDont you see that theres a difference im the way he answers the question and how the big 3 do? You would have to be a real deadbeat lowlife moron to think that they're gonna recast mark carrie and harrison
ReplyDeleteYou guys, He was aware of the new Star Wars filming because he made a cameo with JJ Abrams on the Jimmy Kimmel show or something like that, right? He's just playing with the interviewer.
ReplyDeleteHe's obviously better at keeping his mouth shut and not letting on in anyway that he will be back, unlike Fisher and Ford.
ReplyDeleteIf Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford used the same reply... "they haven't contacted me yet" then that would be more believable instead of the way that they have handled the questions on TV shows and interviews.
I guess fans would be shitting themselves by now though if all the big cast members simply replied "they haven't contacted me yet", lol.
Let the man get his groceries in peace!
ReplyDeleteAmen. Guy was kind of a jerk to do that to him.
DeleteIt's TMZ. I would expect nothing else. Anything less would be civilized.
DeleteYeah, my first thought was, "leave the poor man alone!" He can't even get groceries without some guy up his ass with a camera.
DeleteMy second thought was, Billy Dee was full of crap. He knows how to act dumb and courteous at the same time, and then got out of there. I'm hoping he'll get some kind of cameo in episode VII.
Big Daddy Dave
"They invited Peter Mayhew, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford"
ReplyDeleteSounds like the interviewer is attempting to trick Billy Dee Williams and maybe slip-up about his involvement.
Obviously Billy Dee is no fool.
"And not only that but he was completely unaware that the movie is already filming and that it's set 35 years after ROTJ."
ReplyDelete@ 2:20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDkC_EkEUCg
This video is from May last year. What I meant is that Lando is unaware that Episode 7 has already begun filming. Not that he is unaware of the existence of Episode 7.
DeleteIt sounded like he was completely bullshitting the guy... It's obvious he is aware they are filming, he said he didn't know the big 3 were invited back either which is bullshit, and he's obviously trying to be vague and saying i don't know to everything. He obviously knows something, even if he's not going to be in 7, but in 8 or 9, just as other actors can't say whether they're in the running or not...
ReplyDeleteBilly Dee Williams: Master of the Sabaac face.
ReplyDelete♫ He lost his ship ♫
DeleteYou win the internets today.
DeleteI think he will be back if not in VII then VIII, or IX . He is just fooling around no way Billy D Williams Doesn't come back he way a huge part of Star Wars :)
ReplyDelete"But I would imagine at some point Lando will show up somewhere..."
ReplyDeleteNobody else caught that?
No, I was distracted by the cloud city flashbacks in my head. Love that he sounds pretty much the same and didn't ruin his voice over the years.
Deletei wonder if they will have an explanation for Carries voice being so different?
DeleteHow many old people does it take to change a lightbulb? We don't need Lando back too.
ReplyDeleteWho said there was any light bulb changing in EP VII? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie rool tootsie pop?
Delete"One....
DeleteTwo.....
Crunch......
The world may never know......"
♫ I've heard the only spot still to be cast is one of the younger roles. I think he'll appear in EP8 and 9. The entire cast is in place but one role, I really doubt that role is Lando and they still haven't contacted him. ♫
ReplyDeleteLando comes back in VIII, who ya gonna call when it is all going down? LANDO that is who! ;)
ReplyDeleteWe don't need lando. Han Leia and Luke were the principle cast. And if they are bringing chewie, 3po, and r2 back also, they're already pushing it a little bit. I'd geek out to see Lando but it's best if he is left at the end of episode 6.
ReplyDeleteIf Lando doesn't come back I'm turning in my NAACP card.
ReplyDeleteHe will be getting on a bit if they wait till Eps 8 or 9. Best use him now in Ep.7 and maybe kill him off in the Millennium Falcon crash, the same crash that leaves Chewbacca paralysed after losing his legs.
ReplyDeleteI think what makes this blog so attractive is that it's old school. Build a common place where fans can get straight news and talk straight (hello open comment system) and the people will flock every time. I really see this as proof that modern, ad-filled sites, as slick and pretty as they may be, are about as irrelevant as they were a decade ago, when the net was filled with sites like the one you're on now. It's akin to an fx driven movie with a hollow story. You can have visual clout, but at the end of the day, what the people really care about......
ReplyDeleteI think it'll really suck if the whole crew is in there and Lando's missing. It just won't feel right. I am hoping this is a ruse on his part.
ReplyDeleteHes playing the TMZ parasite (reporter, or whatever they want to be called). I highly doubt that he has been so actively involved with ABC and Rebels, without being in Episode VII. He plays the character whenever he gets the chance. Any videogame, show or commercial. Hes done it all. Hes playing stupid
ReplyDeletei think it would be better if he came in episode 8.
ReplyDeleteso we would have something else to look foward too, instead of all the old cast being in 7.
These TMZ henchmen disgust me. Bitterness? Billy Dee is the smooth cool guy.
ReplyDeleteMy Monopoly money is he'll be in VIII. We need the geek out scene of Han and Lando together in the cockpit with Chewie and Nine Nunb manning the quad guns.
ReplyDeleteMadness. He is shopping please let him do his own busniss.
ReplyDeleteBut regarding Star Wars 7. I hope he is in the movie. He had a big part in Empire and Return so let him have a moment in the new movie.
Besides he is 77 now so don't bring him in episode 8 or 9. It's now or never.
That was painful to watch. Leave the poor guy alone and let him do his shopping in peace, for goodness' sake.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, I think he's lying. :P
He's not aloud to say anything but if he's not apart of the story then he just isn't in it.....
ReplyDeleteThey gotta be careful about loading it up with too many oldies, man- or else it will be 'Star Wars- The Geriatric Years'...fun for us hardcores, perhaps, but not necessarily a good commercial move if they want lots of young people to come..
ReplyDeleteI hope Lando plays some part in the new trilogy. What strikes me as a bit funny though, is the droids being in it. Logically anyway. Don't get me wrong...I love Artoo & Threepio...(I do in fact want to see them in the new film) and I realize that they have been in every other Star Wars movie and even the Clone Wars TV show. Star Wars wouldn't feel the same without them. However...approx. 60 yrs since EPI and they are still using the same droids?...look how much modern technology has advanced in the real world since the 1950's. Maybe technology doesn't advance as quickly in the Star Wars Universe...or maybe even for the characters it's the nosalgia of it all. I can imagine Luke telling his students, "Yeah, this little guy was in my X-Wing when I blew up the Death Star at Yavin." And then I remember Luke saying that he wouldn't trade R2-D2 on that tech's life in the movie; so maybe that's the reason they're still around. Either way, I couldn't imagine a Star Wars film without them. I just think its funny...sixty years and still kicking (and rolling).
ReplyDeleteWell, perhaps the folks in the GFFA don't get suckered in by the "planned obsolescence" scam the way we do here. ;^)
DeleteThe level of technology seems to be fairly static in the Star Wars galaxy, so droids would not become "obsolete" very soon. "New" technology in Star Wars is not so much fundamentally innovative as variations in scale (you can have a small ray-weapon and call it a blaster, or a gargantuan one and call it a Death Star, but it is really only the size that is new). I believe the Extended Universe features stores set in the deep past, but even thousands of years before the time of the Skywalkers, the galaxy was using much the same ships, weapons, droids and tech generally.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the technology is mostly static in the SW universe. An interesting point though - In the Clone Wars Season 1 episode "Duel of the Droids" a reference is made to R2 being an older model and outdated by the new R3 unit. However, as R3-S6 proves incompetence, and R2 prevails. The continual presence of R2-D2 in Star Wars shows the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality of his owners over time. And since his memory probably has not been wiped since he has been with Luke, I'm willing to bet that he is among the elite, being that he is battle-hardened and has learned his Master on a very personal level over a 30-yr period. As unusual as it is to have a droid for so long with it's memory intact, I believe Luke values his experience over more technologically advanced models. It would be really cool to see R2 given as an inheritance to Luke's son in the new trilogy (R2 having been Anakin's and Luke's personal astromech).
DeleteTMZ?
ReplyDeleteThis is periodism?
Seriously, I would not answer anything to that guy.
"Leave the poor guy alone and let him do his shopping in peace, for goodness' sake."
That's right Starkiller.
Why would he converse with some idiot with a camera when he's just been shopping... Intrusive and wrong.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't pay too much attention to statements like this.
ReplyDeleteJust the other week, the trailer for Phantasm 5 came out. They'd been filming it over the last 5 years. All the while, at conventions and in interviews, the principles all denied that anything was being done, and said they were hopeful for the future. Then all of a sudden, it came.
We could be dealing with a similar scenario here.
Maybe they are old droids..but Luke loves them and keeps them in good repair. Same as a modern person driving a perfect condition classic car from the 1950's.
ReplyDeleteHmm, intersting. Kinda want Lando back. But I'll be fine if he isn't in Ep. . And speaking of SWR (in case you don't know what that stands for: Star Wars Rebels aka SWR) I NEED TO SEND IN MY OC TO DISNEY SOON. Of course they most likely will NOT except it, but it's always good to try.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless (and no rude replies please)
Looking at the picture, my main question is "When the heck did Lando go to Naboo?!?" :) I saw him at Pensacon back in Feb. Didn.t ask about Ep 7 but noticed he still has the swagger to pull off the roll again. As for whether he was being coy or really clueless, I can't call it.
ReplyDeleteffs peaople..they a re bringing peter Mayhew back...why the hell would you think they wouldnt bring Lando back.they HAVE to bring him back..He is the only black man in the galaxy. Disney dont want to release a racist movie :p
ReplyDelete