AFP

Disney announced a new live-action “Star Wars” series featuring Jude Law at a major fan convention Thursday — but any mention of upcoming films in the beloved sci-fi franchise was conspicuously absent, as the company focuses on its streaming service.

Harrison Ford and Ewan McGregor were among the stars who appeared on stage before a raucous and outlandishly dressed crowd in Anaheim, California for “Star Wars Celebration,” a four-day gathering held every few years, usually tied to new movies.

But television shows dominated the opening presentation, which featured unseen footage from “Andor” and the third season of “The Mandalorian” — plus the surprise announcement of a world premiere for McGregor’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Fans in attendance will be the first to watch two episodes from the series, the day before it launches on Disney+.

McGregor and Hayden Christensen, who both reprise their roles from the “Star Wars” prequel film trilogy for the series about the iconic Jedi master and his apprentice-turned-nemesis Darth Vader, both appeared at the event. 

As for Law, he will appear in the previously unconfirmed series “Skeleton Crew,” created by “Spider-Man: No Way Home” director Jon Watts, it was announced.

“It’s the story about a group of kids — about 10 years old — from a tiny little planet, who accidentally get lost in the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy,” said Watts.

– Fans ‘showed up’ –

Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012 and immediately began pumping out films including a new trilogy, and spin-offs “Solo” and “Rogue One,” but has since slowed its big-screen “Star Wars” output.

The decision followed diminishing box office returns and mixed reviews — and the all-important launch of its Disney+ streaming service.

Disney+ has gained more than 130 million subscribers since its 2019 launch, defying most analyst expectations, and creator of smash hit launch show “The Mandalorian” Jon Favreau thanked “Star Wars” fans for their role in its rapid rise.

“One group, the ‘Star Wars’ fans, showed up when they launched Disney+… you all helped make Disney+ a success,” said Favreau.

Favreau presented footage from the third season of “The Mandalorian,” in which the disgraced bounty hunter — accompanied by Baby Yoda — vows to earn forgiveness “for my transgressions.”

Tony Gilroy, who wrote the Jason Bourne action films, said another new series “Andor” will be set five years before spin-off movie “Rogue One,” and will feature two 12-episode seasons.

Returning star Diego Luna said the series will portray a younger, more selfish version of his character Cassian Andor — a pilot who sacrifices himself at the end of the film to fight the Empire.

“The beauty of this show is, there’s no way they’ll kill me,” he joked.

Favreau confirmed shooting has just begun on yet another series, “Ahsoka,” starring Rosario Dawson.

But while Disney has three “Star Wars” movies on its schedule, and has previously announced films from directors Taika Waititi, Rian Johnson and Patty Jenkins, none were mentioned on stage Thursday.

Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy told Variety there would be “plenty of time to showcase” upcoming movies in the future.

– Indiana Jones –

Instead, the presentation ended with a performance from veteran composer John Williams, who conducted a live orchestra through his latest music for “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Williams — who turned 90 this year — was lauded by Ford, who played Han Solo in the original “Star Wars” films, as well as “Indiana Jones.”

“That music follows me everywhere I go… that music was playing on the speakers in the operating room when I had my last colonoscopy,” joked Ford.

“I passed,” he added, to laughter and loud cheers.

Ford, himself 79, said the fifth “Indiana Jones” film was “almost completed” and confirmed it will premiere in June 2023.

Meanwhile outside the convention center, thousands of hardcore “Star Wars” fans waved multi-colored lightsabers, exchanged gossip on the upcoming shows, and posed for photos dressed as their favorite bounty hunters, droids and Jedi warriors.

“Star Wars Celebration” runs through Sunday.

Closing arguments are to be held on Friday in the bitter multi-million dollar defamation case between “Pirates of the Caribbean” star Johnny Depp and his former wife Amber Heard.

Lawyers will make their final appeals to the jury following dozens of hours of testimony and six weeks of blistering mutual accusations of domestic violence between the celebrity couple.

Judge Penney Azcarate is expected to hand the case over to the seven-person jury Friday afternoon. The panel will be off over the weekend and on Monday, a public holiday, and resume deliberations on Tuesday.

The 58-year-old Depp filed a defamation suit against Heard in Virginia over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”

The Texas-born Heard, who had a starring role in “Aquaman,” did not name Depp in the piece, but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser and is seeking $50 million in damages.

Heard countersued for $100 million, claiming that she suffered “rampant physical violence and abuse” at his hands.

Dozens of witnesses testified during the high-profile trial which began on April 11, including bodyguards, Hollywood executives, agents, entertainment industry experts, psychiatrists, doctors, friends and relatives.

Depp and Heard each spent days on the witness stand during the televised trial which attracted hundreds of fans of the “Pirates” star to the town of Fairfax near the US capital.

Video and audio recordings of heated, profanity-laced arguments between the couple were repeatedly played for the jury, which was also shown multiple photographs of injuries allegedly suffered by Heard during their volatile relationship.

Hours of testimony featuring medical experts was devoted to a finger injury that Depp suffered while filming the fifth installment of “Pirates” in Australia in March 2015, a month after the pair were married.

Depp claimed the tip of the middle finger on his right hand was severed when Heard threw a vodka bottle at him during an argument. Heard said she did not know how the injury occurred.

Both agreed that Depp went on to scrawl messages on walls, lampshades and mirrors using the bloody digit.

– ‘Monster’ –

Heard said Depp would become a physically and sexually abusive “monster” during alcohol- and drug-fueled binges and resisted her repeated efforts to curb his drinking and drug use.

Heard said Depp had promised to bring her “global humiliation” if she left him, and she has been the target of a vast #JusticeForJohnnyDepp social media campaign.

“I am harassed, humiliated, threatened every single day,” she said, and suffers from panic attacks, nightmares and trauma.

“People want to kill me and they tell me so every day,” she said. “I receive hundreds of death threats regularly, if not daily, thousands since this trial has started, people mocking my testimony about being assaulted.”

The trial has been attended daily by fans of Depp, some of whom have queued for hours overnight to secure one of the limited seats in the public gallery.

Heard was the final witness to take the stand before closing arguments.

Depp testified the previous day and said it has been “unimaginably brutal” to listen to his ex-wife’s “outlandish” accusations of domestic abuse.

“No human being is perfect, certainly not, none of us, but I have never in my life committed sexual battery, physical abuse,” he said.

– Damaged Hollywood careers –

Depp said he brought legal action because he needed to address “what I’ve been carrying on my back, reluctantly, for six years.”

Heard, who was married to Depp from 2015 to 2017, obtained a restraining order against him in May 2016, citing domestic violence.

Depp, a three-time Oscar nominee, filed a libel suit in London against the British tabloid The Sun for calling him a “wife-beater.” He lost that case in November 2020.

Both sides have claimed damage to their Hollywood careers.

Heard’s legal team presented an entertainment industry expert who estimated that the actress has suffered $45-50 million in lost film and TV roles and endorsements.

An industry expert hired by Depp’s side said the actor has lost millions because of the abuse accusations, including a potential $22.5 million payday for a sixth installment of “Pirates.”

A distraught Texas grandmother of a girl killed in the massacre in Uvalde pleaded Thursday for urgent action by US authorities to prevent future school shootings, as the country plunges again into the roiling debate over guns.

Ten-year-old Amerie Garza — a fourth-grader who loved her classes, drawing, and playing with clay — was one of 19 children murdered by a teen gunman at Robb Elementary School in an act of evil that has forever changed this small Texas town.

“My granddaughter was in there. She was an innocent little girl, loving school and looking forward to summer,” Dora Mendoza told reporters after paying respects at a makeshift memorial outside the school.

But the 63-year-old, who lived with Amerie and saw her at an end-of-year ceremony Tuesday just hours before she was killed, quickly made clear she wanted US officials such as President Joe Biden and Texas Governor Greg Abbott not to shy away from working together on reforms.

Biden, who is due to visit Uvalde on Sunday, and Abbott are polar opposites regarding restrictions on gun sales. Like many in the Democrat versus Republican divide, the two also differ on the path to take to curb the nation’s surging gun violence. 

“They shouldn’t just wait for… tragedy to start,” she said. 

“They need to do something about it. They need to not forget us, the babies… Don’t forget them, please,” Mendoza, speaking in a mix of English and Spanish, pleaded through her tears.

“Do something about it, I beg you. I beg you!” she wailed. “All the cries and all these little innocent babies… we don’t know what they went through.”

Amerie’s “abuela” was among several Uvalde residents who came to pray or leave flowers at the school memorial, where 21 small white wooden crosses have been erected bearing names of the 19 children and two teachers who were killed.

Among the mourners was Yaritza Rangel, 23, who brought her four children to lay flowers.

– ‘What if it happens again?’ –

“We’re all hurt. We never thought this would happen here,” where most town residents know each other, she said.

But Rangel, while avoiding politics, did point to three reforms she wants enacted: an expansion of background checks for gun purchases, tightening of security in schools, and raising the minimum age for buying firearms.

“It doesn’t make sense,” she said. “You have to go and wait until you’re 21 to go and buy alcohol. Why are they letting 18-year-olds be able to buy rifles?”

Rangel, whose young nephew was in a Robb Elementary classroom that the shooter tried but failed to enter, is now worried about her own children and says she has been traumatized by the attack.

Her son will be going to elementary school soon, and the prospect of violence keeps her awake at night.

“What if it happens again?”

Dozens of relatives, students and friends have been placing flowers, stuffed animals, candles and jewelry at a second memorial in Uvalde’s town square, which has become a gathering place for residents to unite in their anguish.

Like the first memorial, it features white crosses with the names of the victims. Meghan Markle, the wife of Britain’s Prince Harry, visited the site on Thursday.

The 40-year-old Duchess of Sussex — wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a blue baseball cap — reached down with her head bowed and placed flowers between two of the crosses.

Some mourners added messages on the crosses, including a young girl who wrote one for victim Jackie Cazares.

“Love you cousin ’till we meet again,” it said.

Texas police faced angry questions Thursday over why it took an hour to neutralize the gunman who murdered 19 small children and two teachers in Uvalde, as video emerged of desperate parents begging officers to storm the school.

In one jolty, nearly seven minute clip posted on YouTube, parents living a nightmare — a school shooting under way with their kids inside — are seen screaming expletives at police trying to keep them away from Robb Elementary School.

“It’s my daughter!” one woman bellows amid chaotic scenes of crying and shoving.

Angeli Rose Gomez, whose children were inside, told The Wall Street Journal she was handcuffed by federal marshals after she and others pushed police to intervene.

In another shorter video, parents at what is apparently the rear of the building complain angrily that police are doing nothing as the country’s worst school shooting in a decade is unfolding.

One woman, frantic about her son, yells to police: “If they’ve got a shot, shoot him or something. Go on.”

Jacinto Cazares, whose daughter Jacklyn died on Tuesday, said he raced to the school when he heard about the shooting.

“There was at least 40 lawmen armed to the teeth but didn’t do a darn thing (until) it was far too late,” Cazares told ABC News Wednesday.

“The situation could’ve been over quick if they had better tactical training.”

Daniel Myers and his wife Matilda — both local pastors — told AFP they saw parents at the scene growing frantic as police seemed to wait on reinforcements before entering the school.

“Parents were desperate,” said Daniel Myers, 72. “One family member, he says: ‘I was in the military, just give me a gun, I’ll go in. I’m not going to hesitate. I’ll go in.'”

– ‘Approximately an hour’ –

The tight-knit Latino community was changed forever when Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old with a history of being bullied, entered the school and gunned down students and teachers with an assault rifle.

Relatives said the husband of one of the teachers killed in the attack died Thursday from a medical emergency — caused by grief over the loss of his wife. The couple had four children.

Facing rapid-fire questioning by journalists on the police response, Victor Escalon of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) said investigators were still working to piece together exactly what happened.

After shooting his own grandmother, Ramos crashed her vehicle near the school, Escalon said, then fired on bystanders before entering through a door that was apparently unlocked.

Officers went in minutes later, but were held back by gunfire and called for backup. A tactical team including US Border Patrol agents entered and killed the gunman “approximately an hour later.”

In the interim, officers evacuated students and teachers and unsuccessfully tried to negotiate with the gunman, who held them back with rifle fire, Escalon said.

– ‘I have no words’ –

Speaking out for the first time, Ramos’s mother Adriana Reyes told ABC News her son could be aggressive when angry but was “not a monster” — and that she was not aware he had been buying weapons.

“I had an uneasy feeling sometimes, like ‘what are you up to?,'” she told ABC Wednesday evening. “We all have a rage, that some people have it more than others.”

“Those kids… I have no words,” Reyes said through tears. “I don’t know what to say about those poor kids.”

Students who went to high school with Ramos said he bullied others as well as being on the receiving end of abuse.

“I do vividly remember him being a bully in school. It wasn’t just that he was getting bullied, he was also the bully,” 18-year-old Jaime Cruz told AFP.

The Uvalde shooting was the deadliest since 20 elementary-age children and six staff were killed at the Sandy Hook school in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.

– ‘Common sense’ –

Gun manufacturer Daniel Defense, which made the assault rifle used in Uvalde, told AFP it will not attend a convention of the powerful National Rifle Association gun lobby this weekend in Houston, in light of the “horrifying tragedy.”

“We believe this week is not the appropriate time to be promoting our products in Texas at the NRA meeting,” said the company, which stated its gun had been “criminally misused” in the attack. 

Pressed on how Ramos was able to obtain the murder weapon, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has brushed aside calls for tougher gun laws in his state — where attachment to the right to bear arms runs deep.

But in the shooting’s wake President Joe Biden — who will head to Uvalde on Sunday with First Lady Jill Biden — has called on lawmakers to take on the gun lobby and enact “common sense gun reforms.”

Gun control activists and lawmakers gathered outside the US Capitol Thursday, vowing no letup in their efforts in the run-up to November’s midterm elections.

“Gun violence prevention is going to be on the ballot,” said the Democratic senator from Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal.

The March for Our Lives advocacy group — founded by survivors of the 2018 Parkland school shooting in Florida — has meanwhile called for nationwide protests on June 11 to press for gun control.