# Star Wars will continue its saga, with new episode led by JJ Abrams and Disney, slated for 2015, but will it arrive on schedule?



## keithlock (Feb 5, 2013)

Plans for 7th, 8th, and 9th episodes of Star Wars, and perhaps even some stand-alone films centered around specific characters, namely Yoda, Boba Fett, and/or Han Solo, are in discussion, and perhaps set in motion. Disney acquired Lucasfilm for a reported $4.05 billion, announced late last year, and has since announced plans to release the 7th Star Wars film sometime in 2015, with a new one every 2-3 years thereafter, but who will be cast? Will there a be the nostalgic return of familiar faces?








Mark Hamill, now 61, was approached to continue on through the series. Suggesting some disappointment with the episodes he was not in, he commented that he would prefer the new ones were "more carefree and lighthearted and humorous," the way the first three, err, second three, were. He also commented that he would like all the old cast to be included. This includes, Harrison Ford (Han Solo), now 70, and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), now 56. It has been mentioned that their roles may be written out, rather than recast, if it is decided that they are not to come back.

Unconfirmed rumors place all original cast - Hamill, Carrie, Harrison, Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), and Tony Daniels (C3PO) - in the upcoming episode for 2015. There has be more solid "evidence" however that Harrison Ford will be back to play a "significant" role. JJ Abrams, who reinvented the Star Trek franchise, has been officially confirmed as director of at least the 7th film in the series.

Much more than the movie franchise, Star Wars has reached out to fans with action figures, comic books, cartoons, video games and more over the past 3-4 decades. The new mobile Star Wars pinball games is getting a lot of news attention as of late. And besides the rumors and attention surrounding upcoming and standalone episodes, people are remembering the late makeup legend Stuart Freeborn who is famed for creating Yoda, Chewbacca and Jabba the Hutt in the Star Wars films. Also, after the U.S. government denied a petition to build a Death Star, news is now surrounding the $30 million open-source Death Star funding project on the crowd-funding platform Kickstarter.

Whether news reporters are writing about (and Star Wars fans are reading about), the possible delay in the release of the 7th episode, the new Lucasfilm co-chair Kathleen Kennedy, the 3D releases of the previous Star Wars episodes being postponed or omitted, the possible live action Star Wars TV series by ABC, the rumor that Disney will resurrect Darth Vader, or reviews on the season finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 5, "The Wrong Jedi", the fact remains, you will unlikely find a person on Earth, fan or not, that has not heard of Star Wars, and a new Star Wars fan, I'm sure, is born every day. It is a franchise that will touch everyone in some way. I, for one, have memories of watching one of the first episodes at the drive-in, on the roof of my aunt's old station wagon as a kid, with 6 other neighborhood kids attending my cousins birthday sleepover party.

_Enjoy the video below, a humorous musical poking fun at the possible confusion between Start Trek and Star Wars with JJ Abrams as director_






*Further reading/sources:*
Return of the Jedi? Mark Hamill set for talks to reprise Luke Skywalker
Report: Harrison Ford signs on to play Han Solo
Report: Harrison Ford signs on to play Han Solo

_Photo Credit: Lucasfilm_


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

As a fan of the original 3... a sub-fan of the new 3... I'm torn about how I'd like them to proceed with the casting. On the one hand it would be cool to see the old gang back together... but on the other hand, that could be a disaster. Especially considering how Carrie Fisher has made a living, recently, making fun of Star Wars!

If anything, it would be a triumph to inject new life and interesting characters into a Star Wars world that has the look and feel of the original 3, IMO.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

What I am hoping they do is have all but Mark Hamill play bit parts - the "training the next generation" storyline to me seems the best bet to set up the franchise for the long haul.


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## typ44q (Apr 7, 2008)

ALMFamily said:


> What I am hoping they do is have all but Mark Hamill play bit parts - the "training the next generation" storyline to me seems the best bet to set up the franchise for the long haul.


I am very excited about the future of Star Wars and was thrilled to hear that JJ Abrams got the job as director.
It would be fun to see Mark Hamill take on a Yoda like role in training the next generation of Jedi!


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## gorb (Sep 5, 2010)

I'm very excited for the new ones. Definitely a huge fan of the original trilogy, but not a fan at all of the prequels. I'm eager to see what Disney and JJ Abrams will do.


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## Ovation123 (Mar 6, 2011)

In the vein of the YouTube short posted above, I read an interview with Bruce Greenwood (Captain Pike in Abrams' Trek) where he came up with a funny idea for a cameo for his character:

Pike is seen walking, in full Trek uniform, purposefully down a corridor, turning toward a room filled with Wars characters. He looks in, says "sorry, wrong room" and pulls back from the door. Won't ever happen, but sure would be funny.

I also wonder how many virtual heads on the internet would explode :explode: if, in one of the rumoured spin-off movies about a young Han Solo, Chris Pine was cast as Han. :laugh:


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## orion (Sep 18, 2009)

I am very excited as many of you are to see what they come up with. I would think it is just too important to screw up. But even if they do I think the special effects will still rock


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## sdurani (Oct 28, 2010)

Ovation123 said:


> I also wonder how many virtual heads on the internet would explode :explode: if, in one of the rumoured spin-off movies about a young Han Solo, Chris Pine was cast as Han. :laugh:


I wish Karl Urban was younger; he'd make an excellent Han Solo.


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