During CCXP Mexico City, director Jon Watts (Spider-Man: No Way Home) shared with Collider that he’s aiming to bring more practical movie-making magic to his coming-of-age Star Wars space adventure Skeleton Crew. That toolkit will include the stop-motion talents of visual effects legend Phil Tippett.
“I got to use all the cool stuff on my most recent Star Wars show. We had pre-viz, mocap, we shot on the volume, we did everything. But the most fun part was we also used all the old school techniques as well,” he said to the site. “We got Phil Tippett to do stop-motion. We did matte paintings, like real old-fashioned matte paintings. We got an ILM painter out of retirement to come out and do that. So to me, all that stuff is fun, but it’s just another tool, and it depends on how you use it.” Combining both new and old tech is really exciting and it feels like it’s going to give the show that Amblin texture Watts has cited as inspiration. And who better to do it than the teams that started it all?
The show—starring Jude Law, Kerry Condon, Kyriana Kratter, Robert Timothy Smith, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, and Ryan Kiera Armstong—is an ensemble adventure centered on kids trying to find their way back home in a galaxy far, far away. “You don’t need to have really any prior Star Wars knowledge to enjoy it,” Watts said. “But if you do, you can enjoy it on many levels.”
Making a live-action show that’s a fun gateway for the younger crowd within the Star Wars mythology is very exciting and we can’t wait to see more of what to expect in the coming months. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew will be released on Disney+ this Christmas season.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.