The Verge - The new 'Star Wars' films: can Disney restore the franchise to its former heights?

J.J. Abrams expects John Williams to score 'Star Wars: Episode VII'

2013-05-01T00:13:25Z

J.J. Abrams, director of the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII, believes that legendary composer John Williams will reprise his role for the much-anticipated sequel. In comments made at a press conference for Star Trek Into Darkness, Abrams praised the work of current collaborator Michael Giacchino, but said that Williams is likely to return to Star Wars.

New 'Star Wars' films to be released every summer, beginning with 'Episode VII' in 2015

2013-04-17T19:15:00Z

Are you ready for a barrage of Star Wars films? Disney hopes so: according to multiple outlets, the company has just announced at CinemaCon that it will be releasing a new film in the universe every summer, starting in 2015. We had previously heard that Episode VII was destined for a 2015 release, but with today's development plans have become much clearer. Episode VIII should come out in 2017, followed by Episode IX in 2019. Meanwhile, the standalone films that will focus on particular characters from the Star Wars franchise will be slotted between each of those movies. Rumors say that those films, which would be released in 2016, 2018, and possibly 2020, could center on Yoda, Han Solo, and Boba Fett. Such a condensed release schedule...

George Lucas confirms 'final stages of negotiation' with original 'Star Wars' actors

2013-03-08T02:11:05Z

Last October, George Lucas sold his production company Lucasfilm to Disney — and along with it, every piece of the Star Wars saga. Bloomberg Businessweek has a compelling look at the process behind the purchase, and what it meant to both Lucas and Disney CEO Bob Iger.

As the director moved toward selling the company, he tried to position Lucasfilm to continue successfully without him. Part of that involved opening discussions with Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher to do new Star Wars films. "We had already signed Mark and Carrie and Harrison — or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation," Lucas told Bloomberg Businessweek. His statements seem to confirm the recent rumors of Ford and Fisher's returns, despite...

Carrie Fisher to return as Princess Leia in 'Star Wars: Episode VII' (update)

2013-03-06T00:31:02Z

We've heard word that Harrison Ford will return as Han Solo in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII, but that wouldn't be quite the same without his partner Princess Leia. There's good news, though — it looks like Carrie Fisher has told Palm Beach Illustrated that she will indeed reprise the role of Luke Skywalker's sister. When asked what kind of part she envisaged the character playing in the new movie, Fisher said:

Harrison Ford rumored to return as Han Solo in new 'Star Wars' film

2013-02-15T18:18:30Z

Star Wars film rumors are flying hard lately, ranging from the now-confirmed reports that J.J. Abrams will be directing Episode VII to the refuted claim that Zack Snyder would be helming a film. The latest, if true, is big: according to Latino Review, Harrison Ford will "officially" return to play Han Solo in an upcoming Star Wars movie. Latino Review isn't a huge name in media, but they've broken major news before: among other things, they published a credible review of a planned Halo script and revealed that Loki would play the main antagonist in The Avengers.

El Mayimbe of Latino Review implies this isn't a tentative decision: "His deal is done, it's just a formality right now, they haven't really announced it yet," he told Fox News...

Disney CEO confirms spinoff 'Star Wars' films are in the works

2013-02-05T23:03:06Z

It's well known at this point that Disney and Lucasfilm are actively working on a new entrant in the Star Wars film franchise, known as Episode VII, as well as planning to continue the series beyond that. But in addition to keeping the linear Star Wars movies going, Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed that the much-rumored standalone movie is also in development. Speaking to CNBC, Iger said "I can confirm to you today that in fact we are working on a few standalone films, Larry Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are both working on films derived from great Star Wars characters that are not part of the overall saga." Additionally, Iger reiterated the plans to release Episodes VII, VIII, and IX over the course of six years starting in 2015....

'Star Wars' producer: 2015 release not certain, 'the timetable we care about is getting the story'

2013-01-31T05:02:01Z

Since word first broke of Disney's $4.05 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm, the estimated release date for the forthcoming Star Wars: Episode VII has been 2015 — but according to Lucasfilm co-chair Kathleen Kennedy that may not be set in stone. The Hollywood Reporter has an extensive profile on Kennedy, covering her long-standing collaboration with Steven Spielberg and including how she convinced director J.J. Abrams to take the Episode VII job. She describes a clandestine meeting with the filmmaker and the writers on the project last December. According to Kennedy, Abrams was "flipping out" when he learned that Toy Story 3 scribe Michael Arndt and The Empire Strikes Back screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan were involved.

When pressed on the...

J.J. Abrams wants 'Star Wars' sequel to tell 'personal, intimate, and emotional' story

2013-01-30T12:41:56Z

Now that Lucasfilm has confirmed J.J. Abrams as the director of Star Wars Episode VII, fans everywhere are wondering what direction the Star Trek director will take the beloved sci-fi franchise. Star Wars Blog has collected some of Abrams' comments from the past six years, reminding us of the deep appreciation that the director has for Star Wars and sci-fi in general.

Back in 2008, Abrams said that his favorite thing about the films is their "ability to tell an incredibly personal, intimate, and emotional story against a backdrop of conflict and battle that's planetary and massive." He added that he wants to see "a story about characters that I am desperately entertained by and definitely care about... keep that story as focused as...