Reporting by Josh Horowitz

Back in the dark times when “Star Wars” fans didn’t know who would direct “Episode VII,” “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” director Brad Bird was considered a major contender and even met with Lucasfilm about the project.

But ultimately, he chose to stick with “Tomorrowland” — then called “1952″ — which had attracted George Clooney to the project just after Bird’s name entered into the “Episode VII” discussions.

At New York Comic-Con, attendees got the first glimpse at the movie Bird choose over “Star Wars,” and MTV spoke with the filmmaker about the choice he had to make.

“We were already deeply into ['Tomorrowland']. George had committed to it, and we were down the road a bit,” he said about the timing of his choice. “For a moment there, I thought that it would work out to do this and go right into ['Episode VII']. It was supposed to be summer of this coming year. There was no way to make that schedule and give this film the attention that it deserved, so I had to step away.”

The missed opportunity is just another story of bad timing, but Bird has some perspective on the whole ordeal.

“I know ['Episode VII'] is going to be terrific and everything, but I’m really happy to do this film,” he said. “It’s rare to do a film of size that’s original, so those opportunities can’t be missed either.”

“Tomorrowland” opens in theaters on May 22.

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“Star Wars Rebel: Spark of Rebellion” introduced us to the latest TV adventures of the galaxy far, far away, but the show really begins tonight (10/13) with the episode “Droids in Distress.”

I was able to preview the episode early, and I’m able to tell you that everything that was great about “Spark of Rebellion” is true for the first normal episode. On top of that, there are plenty of great new surprises in store for “Star Wars” fans.

Here’s a spoiler-free preview.

A Big, Obvious Cameo
It was a good thing that characters from either trilogy didn’t show up in “Spark of Rebellion” because it allowed Ezra, Kanan and the rest of the crew to establish themselves. Now that all that is out of the way and we know everybody, some more familiar faces can drop by. That really starts in earnest with this first episode, “Droids in Distress.” C-3PO and R2-D2 play a significant supporting role, but this is still very much the crew’s story. So far, “Rebels” has smartly planted this story in the “Star Wars” universe without beating us over the head with it.

And A Smaller, Geekier, More Awesome Cameo
Apart from R2 and 3PO, there’s another cameo that is so wonderfully geeky that I wouldn’t dare spoil it here. Keep an eye out early on in the episode for a character famous for something outside of the “Star Wars” movies.

The Con
The story for this episode shows off the versatility of the universe and how wisely “Star ...

Based on how creepy everything around you has just gotten, it seems like you’ve stumbled into a horror movie scenario. To make it out alive, you’re going to have to respond accordingly, but first, you need to figure out what kind of terror you’re dealing with.

Kevin P. Sullivan

Writer/editor for MTV. If it involves cowboys, spies, or hitmen, I'm there. All three would be ideal.

@KPSull

As the “Terminator” series has grown, understanding how every installment relates to others has become increasingly complicated. Now, the sort-of reboot “Terminator: Genisys” makes thinks even more mixed up (and I’m not even talking about the title’s spelling problem).

So far this is what we know. The actors playing Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) are both almost 20 years younger than the person playing their son John (Jason Clarke). Also, the robot (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who tried to kill them all and then saved them is about 30 years older now than when he first appeared.

I understand that there’s time travel involved, but there needs to be one hell of an explanation for all of that.

And while he couldn’t spill all the details, when we talked to Courtney, he told us not to sweat them.

“There might be some costume or something like that is reminiscent [of Michael Biehn's Kyle Reese], but it’s like any reboot/sequel/reset — whatever you want to call it — you’re going to have different people playing those roles,” he said. “Obviously, Emilia Clarke is in as Sarah Connor. Jason [Clarke] doesn’t look like Edward Furlong, but I don’t think it matters.”

So essentially, things will match up where it counts, but there’s no accounting for every little detail. I’ll accept that.

“Terminator: Genisys” opens in theaters on July 1, 2015.

Kevin P. Sullivan

Writer/editor for MTV. If it involves cowboys, spies, or hitmen, ...

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Almost 20 years ago, the film “Jumanji” turned a few different locations in New England into an East Coast safari. One of those locations was Keene, New Hampshire, and some of the changes that the film crew made have last to this day.

One such relic is a brick wall in town that still bears an advertisement for Parrish Shoes. A photo of the painting popped up on reddit with an extra touching detail.

When the photo on reddit was taken, there were still some photos of Robin Williams posted to the wall as a memorial to the actor after his death.

The combined hits of nostalgia are a nice reminder of the lasting power of movies – and the people who make them so enjoyable.

Kevin P. Sullivan

Writer/editor for MTV. If it involves cowboys, spies, or hitmen, I'm there. All three would be ideal.

@KPSull

When Jennifer Lawrence broke her silence in Vanity Fair about the theft of her personal photos, she brought personal perspective that the issue sorely needed. She called the situation what it was, “a sex crime,” and she pushed the conversation about how crimes like this should be discussed into a positive, and for some, hard-to-hear direction.

On her October 8 show, Wendy Williams did the opposite of that.

During the #HotTopics portion of her show, Williams decided to weigh in Lawrence’s Vanity Fair quotes, and her sentiments were in-line with some of the internet’s uglier responses to the hacking.

Williams’ issue with Lawrence’s statement mostly stemmed from the fact that the actress condemned everyone who looked at the photos online, saying “Anybody who looked at those pictures, you’re perpetuating a sexual offense. You should cower with shame.”

Related: One Woman Tells Us What It Really Feels Like When Your Nude Photos Leak Online

The daytime host went on the defensive, having admitted to seeking out the photos, and essentially saying that Lawrence no longer has a say whether it’s all right for people to look at her stolen photos. “It’s not your choice, it’s in the cloud, and I’ve looked several times,” Williams said. “So I guess I’m disgusting for looking?”

Well, yeah, she is. That’s kind of the entire point of what Lawrence was saying.

The violation of the crime was never limited to the hacking itself. Jennifer Lawrence never told anyone except for whomever the photos were for that they ...

A lot of weird stuff went down in those classic Disney animated movies you loved growing up, but most of it got chalked up to stuff like whimsy or being part of a fairy tale.

If you take a step back, some of those characters were really messed up, socially irresponsible and throwers of shade, so here is my way too serious look at the strangest characters in Disney movies.

Sneezy in “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”

Sneezy, it’s time to get whatever is going on here checked out. Why the hell are you sneezing so much? You’re a working adult. Go to the doctor. Don’t insist that the six other dwarves be okay with you spreading disease constantly.

Lady Tremaine in “Cinderella”

Seriously, who lives through the death of a spouse and then says to their dead husband’s only daughter “You’re a slave now”? The f–k? (Also, she gets a wand in “Cinderella III”? Also, there’s a “Cinderella 3″?)

Doorknob in “Alice in Wonderland”

From a biological standpoint, I have no idea what’s happening here. Worse than that, we have an anthropomorphized Home Depot purchase that tricks young girls into drinking vaguely labeled potions.

George Darling in “Peter Pan”

What is up with Nana? The father of Wendy, Michael and John have a dog that’s responsible for making the bed, cleaning up and dispensing medicine to the children. And yet, he gets mad because the dog stays in the house and occasionally acts like a dog.

Si and Am in “Lady and the ...