LOS ANGELES: “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is still a few months away from hitting theaters, but BB-8-happy fans are about to get a glimpse at a new character as a part of a three-day marketing rollout of toys and products inspired by the film.
The Walt Disney Company said Thursday that the global event, dubbed Force Friday II, will feature an augmented reality treasure hunt called Find the Force. Using the Star Wars app in the 20,000 participating locations in 30 countries, fans can snap photos of the Find the Force symbol to find old favorites, like Admiral Ackbar, and discover a new character from “The Last Jedi” too.
Augmented reality, which superimposes interactive images onto a person’s real-world surroundings using their smartphone or other device, became a sensation with the hit video game “Pokemon Go.”
“Star Wars has always championed new technology, and we are excited that augmented reality will allow fans to experience the universe in a whole new way,” said Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy in a statement.
It is a departure from the Force Friday blitz in 2015, which featured an 18-hour live-streamed unboxing of the products in promotion of “The Force Awakens.”
Force Friday II runs from Sept. 1 through Sept. 3. There are 15 total AG characters to find across the three days.
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” blasts into theaters on Dec. 15. It is the eighth installment in the core “Star Wars” franchise that follows the force-sensitive Skywalker family.
Star Wars toy launch to unveil new ‘Last Jedi’ character
Star Wars toy launch to unveil new ‘Last Jedi’ character
Arts festival’s decision to exclude Palestinian author spurs boycott
- A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival
SYDENY: A top Australian arts festival has seen the withdrawal of dozens of writers in a backlash against its decision to bar an Australian Palestinian author after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, as moves to curb antisemitism spur free speech concerns.
The shooting which killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14 sparked nationwide calls to tackle antisemitism. Police say the alleged gunmen were inspired by Daesh.
The Adelaide Festival board said last Thursday it would disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week in the state of South Australia because “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi.”
FASTFACTS
• Abdel-Fattah responded, saying it was ‘a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship.’
• Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival.
Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
Among the boycotting authors, Kathy Lette wrote on social media the decision to bar Abdel-Fattah “sends a divisive and plainly discriminatory message that platforming Australian Palestinians is ‘culturally insensitive.'”
The Adelaide Festival said in a statement on Monday that three board members and the chairperson had resigned. The festival’s executive director, Julian Hobba, said the arts body was “navigating a complex moment.”
a complex and unprecedented moment” after the “significant community response” to the board decision.
In the days after the Bondi Beach attack, Jewish community groups and the Israeli government criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to act on a rise in antisemitic attacks and criticized protest marches against Israel’s war in Gaza held since 2023.
Albanese said last week a Royal Commission will consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia. Albanese said on Monday he would recall parliament next week to pass tougher hate speech laws.
On Monday, New South Wales state premier Chris Minns announced new rules that would allow local councils to cut off power and water to illegally operating prayer halls.
Minns said the new rules were prompted by the difficulty in closing a prayer hall in Sydney linked to a cleric found by a court to have made statements intimidating Jewish Australians.
The mayor of the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield said the rules were ill-considered and councils should not be responsible for determining hate speech.
“Freedom of speech is something that should always be allowed, as long as it is done in a peaceful way,” Mayor Frank Carbone told Reuters.
