Why should I care you ask? Because “Kathleen Kennedy, current Co-Chairman of Lucasfilm, will become President of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Additionally she will serve as the brand manager for Star Wars, working directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build, further integrate, and maximize the value of this global franchise. Ms. Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant. Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015, with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future.”
There it is. Star Wars Episode 7 will be out by 2015. For those of you new to the Star Wars Universe, and by new I mean those that came along for the second trilogy of films, you might not be too excited by the news. But for us who go way back to the beginning, when the original Star Wars enthralled us way back in 1977, it is a confirmation and thrill to know that the franchise that we have always known was supposed to be three trilogies will be created after all.
Unlike a lot of fans, I wasn’t disappointed with Episodes I, II, and III. Sure, there were some goofy things going on, and we had to deal with Jar-Jar Binks, but we knew what needed to happen in order for us to logically get to the events in Episode IV. I thought the descent of Anakin Skywalker into evil was well played and though it was not as good as the original trilogy, we knew that it wouldn’t be from the beginning. The entire reason that Lucas made the second trilogy first was because “That’s where all the action is”, according to George back in the day.
So, now we prepare to move into the future. The new movies are supposed to feature the further adventures of Luke, Han, and Leia. To my recollection, the third trilogy was originally intended to be the stories of their children in the new republic and who knows maybe that is where we are headed. The only constant was supposed to be the droids, who were supposed to appear in all nine films. However many more questions arise with this news, as there is now a huge stack of literature that lays out much of the future in the Star Wars galaxy. Will they stay true to this future? Or will we see a disappointing set of stories outside of the carefully laid out timeline maintained by Lucasfilm these many years?
There are those who might not be aware that whenever an author created a new Star Wars novel, they were given a list of established biographies and events that they had to operate within according to what had already been established. I hope they intend to stick to this, as the events are now part of the established lexicon.
Will we see Luke recreate the Jedi Academy?
Will Han and Leia have twins? (The twins form the backbone of many stories in the post-empire era)
Will we see the death of Chewie?
How about a Rogue Squadron movie?
There are so many other questions that I hope Disney will care enough about to answer. Don’t give me new, younger versions of the main characters. I want to see the original actors back in all their old and grizzled glory as mentors to a new generation of characters.
Back during the original trilogy, George told us that there were three trilogies planned, and I’ve always held on to this with a hope for more Star Wars in the future. Once the second trilogy of movies came out, George changed his tune and said that he never intended to make nine movies and stop bugging him about it. But I remember, and I knew the day would come when we would see a new movie. To be honest, I thought it wouldn’t happen for years as George seemed so set against it, so to now see that this will actually happen, and in fact will be out in two years, excites me greatly and makes me feel just like I did when I was a wide-eyed youth, sitting in the Will Rogers Theater with a box of popcorn sitting forgotten on my lap, gazing up in wonder to the screen at probably the greatest film of my young life.
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