The latest Homing Beacon has arrived and today we get to talk about the kick off for the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. What a year 2007 will be, brimming with so many Star Wars milestones. A decade ago, the Star Wars Special Edition Trilogy was debuting on the big screen. The 501st Legion of costumed fans first donned their helmets as a group, and the Official Star Wars website began looking beyond the original films and tracking the production of prequels. Two decades ago, fans could blast into the stratosphere on a Star Tours trip for the first time. And three decades ago, the Star Wars saga began...
To kick off the 30th Anniversary celebration in a huge way, George Lucas wrangled 200 costumed Star Wars fans, set them marching to the high-stepping beat of Grambling State University's world-renowned Marching Tigers band, and bracketed them with truly impressive floats depicting the natural beauty of the saga in the first-ever appearance of Star Wars in the Rose Bowl parade. Much of starwars.com's coverage so far in 2007 has understandably been about this momentous event, and the stories below highlight the efforts that went into pulling off the endeavor, with special focus on the amazing 501st Legion.
Garrisons from around the world have recorded their hellos and New Year's greetings during the parade, and a new video has been greeting daily starwars.com visitors. If you've missed some of the daily missives, a compilation video of the various greetings will soon wing its way to starwars.com's community section.
In other news of a decidedly darker pallor, the Legacy of the Force series of novels have given fans an unprecedented opportunity to leave their mark on the Star Wars galaxy. In an upcoming book, Jacen Solo -- son of Han and Leia -- will continue down the path to darkness and adopt a "Darth" name as he resurrects the Sith past that has so colored his family's bloodline. The editors and authors of the series are looking to fans to create Jacen's Darth names. Last year, starwars.com took in submissions, and later in January, you'll have your chance to vote on the final five finalists. To get you inspired, be sure to check out the newly revealed cover to Sacrifice, the fifth book in the series.
In an adventure-packed world not so far away as Star Wars, it looks like everyone's favorite globe-trotting adventurer will be dusting off his trusty fedora. Over the holiday break, fans of Indiana Jones were given a surprise treat with the long-awaited announcement that Indiana Jones IV is finally a go. Visit http://www.indianajones.com for more details.
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