George Lucas sat down at lunch with Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher roughly a year ago to tell them of plans brewing within Lucasfilm for a sequel to Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Both actors expressed interest in the project, and apparently they aren’t the only Original Trilogy stars willing to return to a galaxy far, far away.
Entertainment Weekly is reporting a “highly placed source” within either Lucasfilm or its new owner, Disney, as claiming Harrison Ford aka Han Solo is “open to the idea of doing the movie,” that movie being Star Wars: Episode 7, currently in the planning phases in preparation for its 2015 release. The source confirms that Ford, Hamill and Fisher are all ready to join the project if the chips fall in the right places and their presence is requested.
Hamill and Fisher’s willingness comes as no surprise to anyone whom has followed their post-Star Wars careers. Hamill has become somewhat of a geek legend with his voice work, most notably as the twisted animated Joker in the Batman Animated series. He and Fisher have always been open to talking about their roles in the original Star Wars films, whether with the media or at various fan events.
Ford, however, has never spoken kindly about his iconic role as Han Solo. Though Solo arguably helped launch Ford’s career into superstardom, Ford has always talked negatively about the character and would just as soon not talk about the “scoundrel” at all.
Fisher, Hamill and Ford’s actual involvement right now is anyone’s best guess. Lucas has apparently already mapped out the next three Star Wars films and turned over that blueprint to Kathleen Kennedy, the shepherd of the ambitious undertaking. The big question is “when” the films are set and how old Luke, Han, Leia, Lando and the rest of the gang will be at that time. One would think a 30-year gap between films would be required to pull the original cast back in. If that’s the case, Han and Leia could have an adult Jedi child or children running around, ready to be passed the torch – or lightsaber as the case may be.
The Star Wars: Episode 7 story is still very much in its infancy. Whether the film turns out to be any good or not doesn’t dismiss the fact that each tiny bit of news surrounding the project will be carefully dissected over the next two plus years. Maybe, just maybe, we will found out who either the writer(s) or director are by early next year.
Source: EW
