Rumors have been swirling that Harrison Ford has been signed to reprise his role as Han Solo in the upcoming "Star Wars: Episode VII" film, but no confirmation has been given. On Wednesday, while fellow "Star Wars" alum Mark Hamill acknowledged that he too had been approached about the film, his use of the term "we" in his statements seemed to throw cold water on the Han Solo rumor.
Speaking about the idea of a new trilogy of "Star Wars" films, Hamill said:
It's all very, very exciting and so unexpected. I think that's the quality I like about it most -- it's like getting a pair of pants out of the closet you haven't worn in three years and finding a $20 bill in the pocket. It's just so unexpected.
In terms of an appearance by Hamill in the new film, he replied:
They're talking to us. George [Lucas] wanted to know whether we'd be interested. He did say that if we didn't want to do it, they wouldn't cast another actor in our parts -- they would write us out. ... I can tell you right away that we haven't signed any contracts. We're in the stage where they want us to go in and meet with Michael Arndt, who is the writer, and Kathleen Kennedy, who is going to run Lucasfilm. Both have had meetings set that were postponed -- on their end, not mine. They're more busy than I am.
The references to "us" and "we" seem to point to the "gang," meaning Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, and Hamill, as well. It implies that none of the original cast has been signed to the new films, and that all of them are being negotiated with.
Where will the new films fit into the mythos? Obviously, if they use the original actors, the writers aren't going to be focusing on Han, Leia, Luke, and Lando.
I'm assuming, because I haven't talked to the writers, that these movies would be about our offspring -- like my character would be sort of in the Obi-Wan range [as] an influential character. ...
When I found out [while making the original trilogy] that ultimate good news/bad news joke -- the good news is there's a real attractive, hot girl in the universe; the bad news is she's your sister -- I thought, "Well, I'm going to wind up like Sir Alec [Guinness]. I'm going to be a lonely old hermit living out in some kind of desert igloo with a couple of robots."
Except that Hamill must not have read any of the follow-up novels. Eventually, in the books in the "Star Wars" universe, those that are considered canon, Han and Leia, and Luke and Mara Jade, had children.
We may not have seen the last of young Luke Skywalker, though. In addition to "Star Wars: Episode VII," Disney is planning to expand the universe with character based films.
At the end of October, Walt Disney Company announced that it had purchased LucasFilm for $4 billion. It also announced something that fans had been clamored since "Episode VI" -- much further back than "Episode III," the last movie filmed: sequels to the original three films, starting with "Episode VII."
George Lucas had long before said he was not interested in continuing the saga past "Episode VI." He had even set things up so that no films would be made after he was gone.
However, Disney wasn't about the buy the franchise without the ability to add to the mythos.
“Star Wars: Episode VII” is scheduled to hit theaters in 2015.
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