Well, well! Red Dot Diva just published an article about the first wave of guests for Star Wars Celebration Europe (London) 2023 , and more guests were just announced by Official Pix. Official Pix are the folks in charge of the autograph hall and photo opportunities.
The additional guests announced are Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker/ Darth Vader), Denis Lawson (Wedge Antilles), Mads Mikkelsen (Galen Erso), Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan), and James Arnold Taylor (voice actor in The Clone Wars, Tales Of The Jedi)!!
For an idea of price range, Hayden Christensen's auto and photo op are going at £209.99 each. Katee Sackoff's photo op is at £109.99, and autograph at £99.99, while Vivien Lyra Blair's are priced at £84.99 and £74.99 respectively.
It's time for belt tightening time so that Red Dot Diva can save up enough for some of these tickets!
Star Wars Celebration is an official Lucasfilm event that brings together Star Wars fans from all over the world to enjoy everything about the franchise. The bi-annual event is organised by ReedPop, who are also the organisation behind New York Comic Con.
Red Dot Diva had tickets for Star Wars Celebration Anaheim (SWCA), which was supposed to happen during summer of 2020. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the event was cancelled and postponed to May 2022. At that time, Red Dot Island continued to be on lockdown regarding out-going flights till a few months later. That means that Red Dot Diva was not able to make it to Anaheim last year either.
Fortunately, her good friend and Star Wars buddy Ashley managed to help score 4-day tickets for Star Wars Celebration Europe (SWCE) 2023. SWCE is set to light up the galaxy at London's ExCeL Centre from 7 to 10 April 2023! After all that pent-up Star Wars feels, Red Dot Diva is more than ready to party with the fans who will be converging at the event hall that Easter weekend. Finally, she will be travelling overseas for the first time in 3 years since the pandemic lockdown began.
With just two more months to the event, SWCE has announced the first wave of celebrity guests. They are veteran Star Wars actor Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), fan favourite Ashley Eckstein (voice of Ahsoka in The Clone Wars, and Rebels series), the amazing Dee Bradley Baker (he voices all the clones in The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Bad Batch), Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian), Indira Varma (Tala Durith in Obi-Wan Kenobi), Matt Lanter (voice of Anakin Skywalker in The Clone Wars), and the adorable Vivien Lyra Blair (“baby” Princess Leia in Obi-Wan Kenobi).
Red Dot Diva met Anthony Daniels before at NYCC a few years ago. She also counts herself lucky to have had fan encounters with the late Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) at SWCE (London) 2016. Of the guests announced for SWCE 2023, Ashley Eckstein and Vivien Lyra Blair are on Red Dot Diva's "I Want" list for autographs and photos. However, she knows that this list of guests is just the beginning.
SWCA 2022 saw Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) headlining the autograph hall and photo opportunities. Red Dot Diva is hoping he will return as a guest at SWCE. The tickets for meeting Ewan McGregor will be pricey for sure, but hey... how else will she ever get the opportunity to meet Ewan in the near future?
Other celebrities on her wishlist includes Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan) and Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico). Yes, Red Dot Diva already have a KMT selfie/ wefie as well as an autograph when she was here to promote The Last Jedi, but it would be lovely to have a more "professionally taken" photo with her.
Also, a series called "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew", starring Jude Law was announced at SWCA. The series is set in the same timeline as The Mandalorian and Ashoka. Will Jude Law make an appearance at SWCE?? *fangirl screams* Red Dot Diva has a crush on him for decades!
And some good news for those who need to get passes to SWCE 2023. More additional single day tickets are up for grabs at this link: SWCE23.com/BuyTickets.
Who do you think will be announced as guests for SWCE 2023 next?
A new year means more new TV shows to watch! There are several series already set to return in 2023, like The Blacklist, Star Trek: Picard, The Mandalorian, The Gilded Age, and (sob!) the last season of The CW's The Flash, but if you intend to add more spice to your daily entertainment hour, there is a pile of new shows that will premiere in 2023.
Based on USA premiere dates starting from January to March 2023, Red Dot Diva recommends 5 shows that you can add to your watch list. Do note that not all shows and channels are available in Red Dot Island. Paramount Plus is one of them, so you would either have to find your own way to watch these, or pray that they will turn up on either Netflix, Amazon Prime or Disney+ SG.
Scroll down to check out Red Dot Diva's recommended list!
MAYFAIR WITCHES - 8 January 2023 (AMC)
AMC brought the late Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicle books to life with the Interview With The Vampire series last year. There were several changes made to the characters and storylines, but the sexy and very bloody adaptation about the vampires Lestat, Louis and Claudia stayed mostly true to the books.
Deciding to continue with Anne Rice's expansive 18-book universe, AMC followed-up with a series called Mayfair Witches, and has marketed the IP Immortal Universe. Those who have read the books are familiar with the close connection between the occult, the covens and how the vampires came to exist.
In Mayfair Witches, Alexandra Daddario plays Dr Rowan Fielding, a neurosurgeon who becomes aware of her ties to the Mayfair matriachal family line, and learns about her supernatural gifts. She gets to know the mysterious and seductive immortal Lasher (Jack Huston), but also feels the pull of her protector Ciprien Grieve (Tongayi Chirisa). One other character to look out for is Diedre Mayfair (Annabeth Gish), the family's most powerful witch.
Anne Rice's gothic tale about the witches depict the continuing fight against patriarchy, and the horror of what those closest to you can or are willing to do to you. Red Dot Diva cannot wait for more of the witches' bloodline and history to be revealed in the series, and have characters from both shows interweave at some point, just like the books.
What is your take on Mayfair Witches so far?
THE LAST OF US - 11 January 2023 (HBO)
One of the most anticipated TV shows in 2023 is HBO's adaptation of the award-winning and internationally acclaimed action-adventure game The Last Of Us.
Fans are even more eager to start watching the live action series because of actor Pedro Pascal. This time, instead of being a space Dad in The Mandalorian, Pedro Pascal will be a zombie apocalypse Dad as Joel, a grumpy smuggler tasked to take a teenager Ellie (Bella Ramsey) to a vigilante group called the Fireflies. Somehow, Ellie is immune to the Cordyceps fungi infection that has inflicted human civilisation, and the Fireflies believe that she is the cure. Through several ups and downs across the dangerous landscape, the two form a close bond, like father and daughter.
Early reviews has indicated that this show is one of the most faithful game to TV adaptations so far. Having Neil Druckman, who is one of the directors of the game itself as showrunner, together with Craig Mazin, is probably one of the factors why The Last Of Us series is going to be a hit with gamers and pop-culture fans alike.
Local fans will be happy to know that The Last Of Us will start streaming 16 January 2023, on HBO Go.
JUNJI ITO MANIAC - JAPANESE TALES OF THE MACABRE - 19 January 2023 (Netflix)
Horror fans, do not forget to start bingeing on Netflix's Junji Ito Manica - Japanese Tales Of The Macabre, starting 19 January.
The anthology series features 20 stories by horror manga artist Junji Ito, which will be adapted to anime for the first time. Junji Ito has built up a cult following with this collection of creatively scary ideas and disturbing visuals. Yes, his iconic, immortal man-killer Tomie is also included in the upcoming series!
Shinobu Tagashira, who directed a previous anime TV adaptation Junji Ito “Collection”, is returning as director and character designer for Netflix's anthology. For the list of voice actors and episode titles, follow the Twitter thread announcement by Netflix here:
Sometimes feeling utterly terrified by horror stories make you feel even more alive. So, Red Dot Diva is looking forward to bingeing or part-bingeing on this. (It really depends how much creepiness she can bear at one go!)
it's a new spooky piece of key art for Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre!
joining the tales are four more Junji Ito classics: "Ice Cream Truck," "Tomb Town," "Library Vision," and "Headless Statue" pic.twitter.com/xCQFfOWueQ
Missed watching Sarah Michelle Gellar (SMG) regularly on your TV screen? Red Dot Diva is a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, and there has been a huge hole in her heart ever since the series came to an end. (This is regardless of how the unfortunate revelations concerning creator Joss Whedon in the last few years.)
SMG will be back to the supernatural realm in a new series called Wolf Pack by creator Jeff Davis. The series is an adaptation of the books by Canadian author Edo van Belkom, and not a spinoff of Davis' other werewolf drama series, Teen Wolf. SMG is also Executive Producer of the show.
After a California wildfire, two teenagers Everett (Armani Jackson) and Blake (Bella Shepard) discover the existence of a dangerous creature, and their lives are changed forever. They also get to know fraternal twins Harlan (Tyler Lawrence Gray) and Luna (Chloe Rose Robertson) who were adopted by a park ranger after a similar wildfire incident. An arson detective Kristin Ramsey (SMG) picks up an investigative trail, and later reveals that she has been keeping track about this savage beast for some time.
TRUE LIES - 1 March 2023 (CBS)
Back in the 90s, Arnold Schwarzenegger found his way to making action-comedies after skyrocketing to fame as the Terminator. One of these movies was spy action comedy film True Lies, with co-star Jamie Lee Curtis. A ridiculously fun movie, and always worth a nostalgia watch for Red Dot Diva.
Fast forward 30 years later, and CBS has
ordered a series by Matt Nix, which is inspired by the movie, and will bear the same name. Matt Nix has also created and written Burn Notice, one of the best spy TV series in recent times.
Similar to the original movie, computer consultant husband Harry Tasker (Steve Howey) is hardly home, and his language professor wife Helen (Ginger Gonzaga - last seen in Disney+'s She-Hulk series!) is feeling bored and unfulfilled with her mundane life. The couple is definitely going through a marital crisis until they were attacked and kidnapped by some very bad people during one of their date nights. Helen then finds out about her husband's double life as a secret agent, and gets recruited to his spy agency as well. Now, the husband and wife team gets assigned on covert missions to save the world.
Red Dot Diva thought the teaser trailer looks like a whole lot of fun. The dialogue is punchy, the action is so well done, and the leads have a palpable chemistry.
Oh, and as a bonus, Red Dot Diva says that the Chainsaw Man anime series based on Tatsuki Fujimoto's manga books, will start streaming 1 February 2023 locally on Netflix. Previously, it was not known when and which platform the show will be shown here, but now you have the important deets!
What other brand new shows will you be adding to your list for the first part of the year?
