Contrary to the less than stellar reception to prequels 1-3 in the Star Wars universe received, the latest installments have new fans hooked and old fans re-invigorated. Both Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens and Rogue One (an anthology entry) received strong reviews from critics and movie-goers and were box office titans for the years of their respective releases. The next chapter of the ‘Sequel Trilogy’ is currently in post-production and is slated for release in American theatres on December 15, 2017. Despite their best efforts, producers fell victim to some leaked photos during a portion of their shooting schedule in the beautiful city of Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Speculation is high that the European city was providing the backdrop for a new (to us) planet in the galaxy far, far away. The planet is apparently called Canto Bight and, just as Coruscant was a planet occupied by an entire city, Canto Bight has been referred to as a ‘casino planet.’
Sci-Fi movies and TV series seem to lend themselves to gambling due to the genre’s similarities with classic Western storytelling. Therefore it is no surprise that sci-fi viewing lends itself so easily to video game crossovers or online casinos. Whether it’s video games of the Avengers or the slot game Battlestar Galactica that graces the Guts website, a game that has three game modes and includes images of the original cast, you can bet that producers won’t pass on available alternative platforms. Sci-fi gaming has been seen before in other movies and TV series but perhaps not as much as you might think. Let’s take a look:
Source: Battlestar Galactica Facebook
The original Star Trek series was more of a political allegory, showing a united human race of the future. The show tackled the political and social issues of the day in the human’s interactions with other races in the universe. Besides phasers and tricorders, one of the most memorable things we saw was the multidimensional version of chess which would go on to be seen in many of the movies and spin-off series. In Deep Space Nine, the entrepreneurial Ferengi Quark owned the local watering hole, which also contained a futuristic combination of playing cards and roulette called tongo. Also featured was a fascinating game called chula that required players to roll dice and play a board while their teammates played the game from a virtual position.
The short-lived but popular Firefly series gave us one universe where you would expect to see a fair bit of intergalactic gambling, given its heavy integration of the Western genre. Yet, apart from a billiards table with holographic balls and a low budget version of quidditch, we didn’t really see much in the way of gambling or creative conceptions of games of the future.
The reboot of Battlestar Galactica featured a large space liner that served as a one-stop rest and relaxation destination. Appropriately called Cloud 9, the ship featured a large, enclosed bio-dome, theatres, bars, and of course, a casino. While the ship was a major setting throughout the first two seasons, the casino, or its employees, were never really highlighted. Similarly, the city of New Vegas in the Babylon 5 series was not a focal point.
Movies often use casinos or, more specifically, bars with gambling options, as locations for characters to meet and gain intelligence or other things crucial to the plot. Sometimes, high-stakes games of chance are required for the antagonists to proceed on their journey. With producers making a big commitment to film part of the new Star Wars movie in Europe, one has to think that the new planet of Canto Bight will play a prominent role in the film.
Add to that rumours that exciting new cast addition Benicio del Toro will be playing a character closely associated with casino implies some pretty exciting scenes for fans.
