Entertainment
The secrets behind 'Skeleton Crew's' suburban planet, the first in 'Star Wars' history
This story contains spoilers for “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” Episode 3.
There’s more to At Attin than meets the eye.
The peaceful and orderly planet introduced in “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” is not just the suburban homeworld of Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and KB (Kyriana Kratter). The third episode of the Disney+ series reveals that At Attin is a mythical planet that has been hidden from the galaxy since long before the events of the original “Star Wars” trilogy and the war between the Empire and Rebellion.
Described as one of the “Jewels of the Old Republic,” At Attin is among the “planets of wonder” that were “hidden for their own protection.” According to Kh’ymm (voiced by Alia Shawkat), who was tapped to help the lost kids trying to find a way home, it’s the only one of these planets that wasn’t destroyed long ago.
This means that even though the series, like “The Mandalorian,” is set during the time of the New Republic — i.e. after the events of the original “Star Wars” trilogy — At Attin’s origins are rooted in an era that spanned for thousands of years before it.
The latest revelation is “just the tip of the iceberg,” says Jon Watts, the head writer and executive producer of “Skeleton Crew” along with Christopher Ford. “There’s so many little reveals and twists and turns along the way.”
KB (Kyriana Kratter), left, and Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) zipping through the town on a speeder in “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.”
(Lucasfilm Ltd.)
“Skeleton Crew,” which premiered earlier this month, follows a quartet of kids who are trying to find their way home after being unexpectedly flung into the galaxy on an old starship they stumbled upon in the woods in their neighborhood. Accompanying them are a grumpy droid (Nick Frost) that they found aboard the starship and a mysterious, Force-sensitive scoundrel (Jude Law) who they met at a spaceport of scum and villainy.
“We liked the idea of a group of kids that don’t know that much about the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy getting lost in the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy,” says Watts. They’re “experiencing it for the first time [in] the story of their journey home.”
For these specific kids, home is At Attin, where they live in neighborhoods with tract housing and lawns, take the bus or their bikes to school and interact with various service droids. In At Attin, Wim is a latchkey kid who dreams of Jedi adventures with his reliable best friend Neel. Fern is a bit more rebellious, often zipping through the streets on her speeder with her best friend KB.
But it‘s not long after the kids find themselves out in space that there are hints that At Attin is no ordinary place, including how others react to the planet’s name as well as to Wim’s retro lunch money.
Watts and Ford had envisioned the kids’ hometown as a place that they would want to leave “not because it was dystopian or … so desolate” — like Luke Skywalker’s Tatooine or Rey’s Jakku — but because of its “benign conformity.”
“The houses are all kind of the same, it’s safe and everyone has what feels like a boring job,” says Watts. “School is boring and you don’t want to do homework. You know that there’s a bigger adventure out there somewhere. You just don’t know how to get it.”
Concept art for “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” by Jama Jurabaev.
(Lucasfilm Ltd.)
It was while they were working through the designs and layout of the homes and neighborhoods that At Attin developed into a suburb.
“I wanted the houses to be really cool and ‘Star Wars’-y,” says Ford. “We had a bunch of different designs, but we couldn’t really judge them until we put them in a row. And when you have them in a row, it totally changed how they felt … As soon as you put them in a row, it creates just this immediate quick read of suburbs.”
For At Attin, says production designer Doug Chiang, the “Skeleton Crew” team started with a place “that was somewhat familiar in terms of what ‘Star Wars’ design is, but twisting it a little bit.”
“Suburban Star Wars is something that we’ve never seen before,” Chiang explains. “But the aesthetic was also locked away in time because the planet was hidden.” This meant they were able to lean into the 1970s and ’80s aesthetic of the original “Star Wars.”
The pop cultural touchstones that both Chiang and his fellow production designer Oliver Scholl mention are “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982) and “The Goonies” (1985). But beyond these universally recognized neighborhoods, they also looked at real-life places including the retrofuturistic Brasilia, the brutalist architecture at an Armenian airport and the works of architects like Kenzo Tange and Tadao Ando for inspiration.
A view of At Attin in “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.”
(Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Because the kids being bored on At Attin is key to the story, the production designers had to resist the urge to be overly playful.
“It can’t be too exciting, because we need to transport that idea across to the audience that this is mundane,” says Scholl. “But it’s mundane in a ‘Star Wars’ context. So it has to be exciting, but still carry across [that] they want to see what’s out there beyond the screen in the sky.”
Plus, the design of At Attin had to fit naturally into the ever-expanding world of “Star Wars.”
“The designs have to speak to a broader universe and it has to make sense,” says Chiang. “A lot of the homework that we do is really to make sure that we figure out all the logic in terms of the evolution of each of these places so that there is an inherent internal logic to ‘Star Wars’ that makes sense within the world we’re developing.”
Practically, At Attin‘s design took cues from urban planning, with consideration given to where housing would be in relation to people‘s workplaces, residents’ commuting needs and even water sources.
What’s “really great about ‘Star Wars’ in general is that it’s a lived-in future,” says Scholl. “It’s not this abstract, everything is chic and clean and it doesn’t feel real. You can imagine that [At Attin has] been there for a long time. That many generations of kids have been born there and went to that school there.”
Concept art for “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” by Jama Jurabaev.
(Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Scholl explains that At Attin features a rectilinear grid plan city center, wrapped by suburbia in a more circular pattern that “is recognizable from space.” Without mentioning specifics, he hints that at least some of the design is related to At Attin’s larger mysteries.
When asked about what other secrets At Attin may harbor, Watts teases that “we made choices for a reason.”
“Us choosing to create At Attin the way it is, and it having similarities to suburbs, there’s a kind of a nostalgia to that,” says Ford. “But in a lot of media, a lot of stories, suburbs are also hiding something. There’s a darker side to it, and that’s all intentional.”
Entertainment
Stagecoach 2026: How to watch Friday’s livestream with Cody Johnson, Ella Langley, Bailey Zimmerman
Choosin’ to stay home instead of trekking out to Indio for this weekend’s Stagecoach festival? Don’t worry, you’ll be able to listen to all the country music your heart desires. You can get your country heartbreak on with Ella Langley, Bailey Zimmerman and Cody Johnson, and then rock out with Counting Crows. If you prefer EDM, you can catch Diplo and Dillstradamus (Dillon Francis and Flosstradamus) as Friday’s closing acts.
The festival will be livestreamed on Amazon Music, Amazon Prime Video and Twitch beginning at 3 p.m. On Sirius XM’s The Highway (channel 56), you can listen to exclusive interviews and live performances along with a special edition of the Music Row Happy Hour. The station Y’Allternative will also be covering the festival on Friday evening.
Here are updated set times for the Stagecoach livestream Friday performances (times presented are PDT):
Channel 1
3:05 p.m. Noah Rinker; 3:25 p.m.; Adrien Nunez; 4 p.m. Ole 60; 4:25 p.m. Avery Anna; 5 p.m. Chase Rice; 5:55 p.m. Nate Smith; 6:50 p.m. Ella Langeley; 7:50 p.m. Bailey Zimmerman; 8:55 p.m. the Red Clay Strays; 10 p.m. Cody Johnson; 11:30 p.m. Diplo
Channel 2
3:05 p.m. Neon Union; 3:25 p.m. Larkin Poe; 4 p.m. Marcus King Band; 4:50 p.m. Lyle Lovett; 5:35 p.m. BigXthaPlug; 6:30 p.m. Noah Cyrus; 7 p.m. Wynonna Judd; 8 p.m. Counting Crows; 8:50 p.m. Sam Barber; 10 p.m. Dan + Shay; 10:45 p.m. Diplo featuring Juicy J; 11:05 p.m. Rebecca Black; 11:45 p.m. Dillstradamus
Sirius XM Music Row Happy Hour
1 p.m. Avery Anna; 2 p.m. Nate Smith; 2:30 p.m. Josh Ross; 3 p.m. Cody Johnson; 3:30 p.m. Gabriella Rose; 5:15 p.m. Nate Smith; 7:50 p.m. Bailey Zimmerman; 9:30 p.m. Cody Johnson; 11 p.m. Diplo
Sirius XM Y’Allternative
5 p.m. Ole 60; 6 p.m. Larkin Poe; 7 p.m. Marcus King Band; 8 p.m. Sam Barber
Movie Reviews
Movie Review: The Mortuary Assistant – HorrorFuel.com: Reviews, Ratings and Where to Watch the Best Horror Movies & TV Shows
Forget the “video game movie” curse; The Mortuary Assistant is a bone-chilling triumph that stands entirely on its own two feet. Starring Willa Holland (Arrow) as Rebecca Owens, the film follows a newly certified mortician whose “overtime shift” quickly devolves into a grueling battle for her soul.
What Makes It Work
The film expertly balances the stomach-churning procedural work of embalming with a spiraling demonic nightmare. Alongside a mysterious mentor played by Paul Sparks (Boardwalk Empire), Rebecca is forced to confront both ancient evils and her own buried traumas. And boy, does she have a lot of them.
Thanks to a full-scale, practical River Fields Mortuary set, the film drips with realism, like you can almost smell the rot and bloat of the bodies through the screen.
The skin effects are hauntingly accurate. The way the flesh moves during surgical scenes is so visceral. I’ve seen a lot of flesh wounds in horror films and in real life, and the bodies, skin, and organs. The Mortuary Assistant (especially in the opening scene) looks so real that I skipped supper after watching it. And that’s saying something. Your girl likes to eat.
Co-written by the game’s creator, Brian Clarke, the movie dives deeper into the demonic mythology. Whether you’ve seen every ending or don’t know a scalpel from a trocar, the story is perfectly self-contained. If you’ve never played the game, or played it a hundred times, the film works equally well, which is hard to do when it comes to game adaptations.
Nailed It
This film does a lot of things right, but the isolation of the night shift is suffocating. Between the darkness of the hallways and the “residents” that refuse to stay still, the film delivers a relentlessly immersive experience. And thankfully, although this movie is filled with dark rooms and shadows, it’s easy to see every little thing. Don’t you hate it when a movie is so dark that you can’t see what’s happening? It’s one of my pet peeves.
The oh-so-awesome Jeremiah Kipp directs the film and has made something absolutely nightmare-inducing. Kipp recently joined us for an interview, took us inside the film, discussed its details and the game’s lore, and so much more. I urge you to check out our interview. He’s awesome!
The Verdict
This isn’t just a cash-grab; it’s a high-effort adaptation that respects the source material while elevating the horror genre. With incredible special effects and a powerhouse cast, it’s the kind of movie that will make you rethink working late ever again. Dropping on Friday the 13th, this is a must-watch for horror fans. It’s grisly, intelligent, and genuinely terrifying.
Entertainment
Former Live Nation executive says he was fired after raising ‘financial misconduct’ concerns
A former executive at Live Nation, the world’s largest live entertainment company, is suing the company, alleging that he was wrongfully terminated after he raised concerns about alleged financial misconduct and improper accounting practices.
Nicholas Rumanes alleges he was “fraudulently induced” in 2022 to leave a lucrative position as head of strategic development at a real estate investment trust to create a new role as executive vice president of development and business practice at Beverly Hills-based Live Nation.
In his new position, Rumanes said, he raised “serious and legitimate alarm” over the the company’s business practices.
As a result, he says, he was “unlawfully terminated,” according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
“Rumanes was, simply put, promised one job and forced to accept another. And then he was cut loose for insisting on doing that lesser job with integrity and honesty,” according to the lawsuit.
He is seeking $35 million in damages.
Representatives for Live Nation were not immediately available for comment.
The lawsuit comes a week after a federal jury in Manhattan found that Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had operated a monopoly over major concert venues, controlling 86% of the concert market.
Rumanes’ lawsuit describes a “culture of deception” at Live Nation, saying its “basic business model was to misstate and exaggerate financial figures in efforts to solicit and secure business.”
Such practices “spanned a wide spectrum of projects in what appeared to be a company-wide pattern of financial misrepresentation and misleading disclosures,” the lawsuit states.
Rumanes says he received materials and documents that showed that the company inflated projected revenues across multiple venue development projects.
Additionally, Rumanes contends that the company violated a federal law that requires independent financial auditing and transparency and instead ran Live Nation “through a centralized, opaque structure” that enables it to “bypass oversight and internal checks and balances.”
In 2010, as a condition of the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger, the newly formed company agreed to a consent decree with the government that prohibited the firm from threatening venues to use Ticketmaster. In 2019 the Justice Department found that the company had repeatedly breached the agreement, and it extended the decree.
Rumanes contends that he brought his concerns to the attention of the company’s management, but his warnings were “repeatedly ignored.”
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