Senior Star Wars
Stars to return for sequel?
It’s bad enough that there’s going to be another Star Wars film. It’s even worse that it’s going to be made by Disney. Worse still are the hints that some of the original cast will be returning to reprise their roles.
Rumours are flying around Hollywood that Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford will be stepping back into their (pretty old) shoes as Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo respectively. This is all very nice and nostalgic but the average ago of the trio is now 62, and thoughts of them fighting anything are a little far-fetched.
Having said that, none of the three roles have been confirmed by producers. However, Hamill has revealed that he has had a number of meetingswith both the film’s creative consultant George Lucas and it’s executive producer Kathleen Kennedy. In a recent interview, Hamill didn’t go quite so far as to confirm his involvement in the movie, but did drop several rather heavy hints that Carrie Fisher, at least, is on board.
“Part of me is cautious,” Hamill confesses, “Saying ‘let everyone keep their nice memories if they have nice memories and don’t try to go back and do it again.’ But the other side of me, the adventurous side, thinks, ‘if everyone’s in, how could I miss this?’”
Hamill also spoke about his concern that the new film will rely too heavily on CGI, which he hopes will not be the case.
“There’s nothing wrong with CGI,” he explains, “But I think you have to have a balance because the camera perceives the width and the depth and the weight of a miniature or a model.”
It seems, however, that Hamill is reassured that the film will be a success by the presence of Michael Arndt (award-winning writer of Little Miss Sunshine) as the movie’s scriptwriter. “It always starts with the script,” enthuses Hamill, “and that’s why I’m so encouraged by Michael Arndt’s involvement because I respect his writing so much. He’s a big fan of these movies, so hopefully we can make something that doesn’t make everyone want to find us, cut off our heads and throw it right in our faces.”
Star Wars: Episode VII is expected to arrive in UKcinemas in 2015.