Star Wars Weekly: The Rise of Skywalker breaks records and Galaxy's Edge creeps closer

Time again for STAR WARS WEEKLY, the SYFY WIRE series that rounds up the most important news of the week from a galaxy far, far away. Think of us as your own personal Star Wars Holocron.

THE RISE OF SKYWALKER BREAKS RECORDS

Since no numbers had been forthcoming about the popularity of the trailer for The Rise of Skywalker, Deadline did some digging. And the way they worked it out, it looks like The Rise of Skywalker might be the most anticipated Star Wars film yet.

They found that it more than doubled the traffic of The Force Awakens in its first 24 hours of release and did 20 million more views than The Last Jedi did in that same timeframe. In those first 24 hours, The Rise of Skywalkertrailer racked up an impressive 111 million views.

The thirst for new Star Wars is real and I can’t wait to see how the end of the Skywalker saga unfolds in December.

GALAXY’S EDGE RESERVATIONS

In order to get a sneak peek at the newest Star Wars land at Disneyland, Galaxy’s Edge, you’re going to need a reservation. For the time being at least.

This reservation, that can be made next week starting on May 2nd, will grant you a window of time to get into the park, explore, and go on one of the two flagship rides, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. The other ride, Rise of the Resistance, won’t be open until later in the year.

So, if you want to get into Galaxy’s Edge in its first month, this is the only way to do it.

SPEAKING STAR WARS

You’re going to want to get into Galaxy’s Edge for the sights you’ll see, but I’m not sure people realize just how immersive the park is going to be. One indication we have of the immersion? Well, Micechat is reporting on the vocabulary castmembers will have to use while they’re playing their parts in the park.

It's just one more layer of authenticity that I hadn’t even thought about. Between that, the datapads, and all of the easter eggs in the context of the park, this place is going to be a Star Wars fan’s dream.

THE MANDALORIAN FAN ART

The Mandalorian isn’t even out yet and it’s inspiring all kinds of fan art and poetry. Take a gander:

But The Mandalorian, which comes out on Disney+ in November, isn’t the only thing inspiring fan art. James Hance, the artist behind Wookiee the Chew, made his own piece of fan art inspired by one of the more popular ships in fandom:

The responses have been interesting and split down the middle. Regardless of where you stand on Reylo, Hance is an impossibly capable artist.

DOOKU - JEDI LOST

Star Wars and Del Rey have teamed up for a new style of telling stories in the Star Wars universe and will soon be releasing an audio drama written by Cavan Scott. It’s called Dooku: Jedi Lost and will explore the origins of everyone’s favorite Separatist leader with a full voice cast.

After what we learned about Dooku in Claudia Gray’s excellent Master & Apprentice, many of us are dying to know more about the history of this secret Sith apprentice and this drama promises to give it to us.

They’ve released a preview of the audio over at StarWars.com.

The audio drama comes out on April 30th.

BRIE LARSEN AND MACE WINDU

Brie Larsen seems like a first-rate Star Wars fan and she had a great story about Samuel L. Jackson and his Mace Windu lightsaber on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

It’s been great watching her on tour for Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, because Star Wars keeps coming up. Maybe she’ll end up in a galaxy far, far away sooner than later.

Until next week: May the Force be with you!