For Star Wars fans, late February and early March have been quite overwhelming. This is because there is probably a 99% chance that Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia are returning to the big screen in 2015. George Lucas, who will act as a producer on the Abrams powered Episode VII, said that “We had already signed Mark and Carrie and Harrison…Or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation. So I called them to say, ‘Look, this is what’s going on.’ Maybe I’m not supposed to say that.” Although not completely official, Lucas’s accidental dropping of hints is enough of an announcement for many.
The news of the original cast returning for Episode VII began with Harrison Ford not more than two weeks ago. On February 15th, rumors started flying around whether in a cameo or a larger role that Harrison Ford would return as Han Solo and that it would be “significant” to the movie. If Ford accepts the deal, he will be even busier. Along with being the most in shape and best aging of the Star Wars cast and obviously being the most successful post-Star Wars, Harrison Ford returns from a leave of absences with FOUR films (to name a few, Enders Game, Paranoia, and Anchorman 2) coming out later this year, the most recent being the Jackie Robinson biopic 42, coming out in a few weeks.
After hearing just small rumors for a few weeks, Carrie Fisher broke the silence 3 days ago. Fisher was asked during an interview with Palm Beach Illustrated whether she would return for Episode VII, she replied “yes.” Fisher described Leia as being “elderly” in Episode VII and said, “She’s in an intergalactic old folks’ home (laughs). I just think she would be just like she was before, only slower and less inclined to be up for the big battle.” The Internet exploded with talk after this. But the very next day, Fisher’s representative told CNN, “She was joking. Nothing has been announced.” But Fisher still said that she is openly interested in the project and that she hasn’t said yes or no yet.
Now we come full circle to March 7th when Lucas spilled the beans about Ford, Hamill, and Fisher. There are two interesting things about this. First being the date of the announcement, which is odd because on March 7th when Lucas talked about final negotiations was the same day that Fisher’s representative said that she was just kidding. Hmmm, questionable? The second interesting thing is that with Ford and Fisher both having legit casting rumors, Mark Hamill got no singular attention (with the exception of saying he would like to be involved two weeks ago) with the first official news of his casting in the past three weeks being Lucas’s interview on the 7th. This is weird because I don’t know… maybe Luke is the main character or something? Although he is no spring chicken, Hamill is necessary to Episode VII, if Fisher and Ford join the project.
Well, with this recent news, the final agreement should come from the actors relatively soon. Abrams and Lucas have been very quiet about how big their roles will be, but Abrams suggests that they will not be the main characters. In 2004 when the sequel trilogy was unlikely to happen, Hamill said that Luke would be like, “Obi-Wan handing the lightsaber down to the next new hope.” Although this news is dated, this seems like the most likely course that Luke, Leia, and Han will take. And now we wait for Peter Mayhews and Anthony Daniels to sign up.
Star Wars Episode VII is slated to hit theaters not exactly at light speed in 2015.
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