Star Wars: Episode 7 - CONFIRMED FOR PRODUCTION!

Harrison Ford has recently said he'd be on board for being in the Star Wars episode VII movie:

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-tal ... 29069.html

In the article it also says that Mark Hamill and Carrie Fischer are enthusiastic about the possibility of being in the film too. I think it's the way to go, at least to pass the torch to the next set of actors in VII & IX.

I'd like to see these movies go in the direction of the post-original trilogy novels and the Jedi Knight video games. You know the ones with Kyle Katarn? Those were pretty good follow up stories in my opinion. What do y'all think?

Wow that's really surprising... Last interview I remember with him where they talked about Star Wars, he didn't want to talk about it and was very short...

I wonder if it has anything to do with it being Disney, and not Lucas, at the helm???

It might.

I never read the novels, but from what people told me and what I read online, I think this would be really good too.

It would definitely show a pattern of the dark side always be able to corrupt even the best.

I read some of the novels too but that was a long time a go and can't remember much. There was that scene in "Empire Strikes Back" where Luke goes in the cave, battles a dark lord, and when he cracks open his adversary's helmet in the end, we see his (Luke's) face. Does that maybe forebode that he will go over to the dark side?? I hope not!

Would really prefer to have original scripts for the new episodes so there would be no spoiler alerts by reading the novels. Finding out about things for the first time in the movies would be more exciting.

Purely rumour, but it's been suggested that Michael Arndt is a strong contender for writing Episode 7. Not a bad writer considering he wrote Little Miss Sunshine, a quirky coming of age comedy (great film) and The Hunger Games (ok, but not great). They're the only two of his i've seen. For now i'll hold judgement. I admit, if true, he's an unusual choice but no more unusual than it was to get Sam Mendes to direct the latest 007 film or Russell T Davies to write Doctor Who. It could work, at least there's more to Michael's CV than Toy Story 3.

http://www.vulture.com/2012/11/star-war ... riter.html

Joel wrote:Purely rumour, but it's been suggested that Michael Arndt is a strong contender for writing Episode 7. Not a bad writer considering he wrote Little Miss Sunshine, a quirky coming of age comedy (great film) and The Hunger Games (ok, but not great). They're the only two of his i've seen.

It says on IMDB he only wrote for "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" which is still filming apparently.
Looking at his other writing credits on IMDB, Toy Story 3 (screenplay) is a good one and might be why he has connections to Disney (with the head of Pixar now being a top dog there).
But yeah not an extensive list on IMDB so nothing to judge by.
http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm1578335/

It seems as though when asked directly, Carrie Fisher seems happy to reprise her role in Star Wars should she be approached which takes it beyond the rumour piece from before. That is, assuming the quote is real:

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingne ... 73555.html

Michael Arndt now officially confirmed:

http://www.leafyisle.com/forum.php

I never had any doubts that Carrie Fisher would return, if asked... She can't get much else in the lines of work, a cameo here and there, a spokesman here and there, nothing solid...
None with Mark Hamill either since he loves it so much...

It's Harrison Ford I'm a little shocked at... I wonder if it is because it will have less Lucas involved??? Maybe Ford and Lucas didn't get alone very well??? Anyone know of any bad blood between them???

Bafitis wrote:
It's Harrison Ford I'm a little shocked at... I wonder if it is because it will have less Lucas involved??? Maybe Ford and Lucas didn't get alone very well??? Anyone know of any bad blood between them???

There was a little bit, although it would seem contradicted by the work on Indiana Jones that came after Star Wars. Apparently he had approached Lucas during Return Of The Jedi insisting that Han Solo should die and Lucas disagreed. I wouldn't call it bad blood as such but more some creative differences. Maybe Harrison sees this as his last opportunity to kill Han once and for all lol

Harrison Ford actually thought Han should have died at the end of The Empire Strikes Back to give more weight to it.

Conan O'Brien's making some funny "What if __________ directed Episode VII?" skits. So far I like Michael Moore's Vader & Me and Todd Phillips'(The Hangover/Part II) Star Wars: Episode VII, Part II best.

Maybe he was just bitter he didn't pick the stock options like Mark Hamil did.

But seriously, with the novels, I feel I do know too much of the story already, even without reading them.

It would be nice to have a big surprise in the movies.

Ok, some actual news from Kathleen herself: http://kotaku.com/5960715/disney-wants- ... t=54302873

Lucasfilm’s co-chairman and soon-to-be president, Kathleen Kennedy, has told employees she wants the company to produce two or three films a year (it’s averaged fewer than four per decade)...

WHAAAAAAAT? Surely they couldn't mean Star Wars films.

and first up is Star Wars: Episode VII for 2015, which will pick up sometime after Darth Vader gave his life to overthrow (figuratively and literally) the Emperor and save Luke in 1983’s Episode VI— Return of the Jedi.

Awesome.

Yes, the plan is to return to the characters in the first trilogy (1977–83). Whether the original actors will have significant roles or merely be on hand to pass the baton to a new generation of actors—something Lucasfilm tried with mixed success with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Disney with TRON: Legacy—is unclear.

Awesome. Glad to see that there is a plan to get the original cast back. Honestly, The only reason someone would be disappointed is if they see the cast as they are now and STILL expect their characters to be doing what they did in the classic trilogy. If anything, if the writing addresses the passage of time that has passed by since ROTJ, their appearances will be an asset to the story because we'll see a cast aging gracefully rather than desperately trying to reclaim a moment in their lives that is well behind them. Plus, it has to happen at sometime anyway.