Entertainment Weekly was able to nab a quick interview with Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill. When asked about Disney purchasing LucasFilm, Hamill says he was caught off guard like all of us. But the other news that there would be future Star Wars films was not a surprise to him at all. Mark reveals to EW that he and Carrie Fisher met with the bearded Jedi, George Lucas, just this past summer. During this meeting Lucas let them in on a secret, plans were already in motion to make Episodes VII, VIII, and IX.
Entertainment Weekly: So you met with George this past summer and he told you about his plans to make another trilogy?
Hamill: Yeah, last August, he asked Carrie (Fisher) and I to have lunch with him and we did. I thought he was going to talk about either his retirement or the Star Wars TV series that I’ve heard about—which I don’t think we were going to be involved in anyway, because that takes place between the prequels and the ones we were in and, if Luke were in them, he’d be anywhere from a toddler to a teenager so they’d get an age-appropriate actor—or the 3-D releases. So when he said, “We decided we’re going to do Episodes VII, VIII, and IX,” I was just gobsmacked. “What? Are you nuts?!” [laughs] I can see both sides of it. Because in a way, there was a beginning, a middle, and an end and we all lived happily ever after and that’s the way it should be—and it’s great that people have fond memories, if they do have fond memories. But on the other hand, there’s this ravenous desire on the part of the true believers to have more and more and more material. It’s one of those things: people either just don’t care for it or are passionate about it. I guess that defines what cult movies are all about. We’ll see. I’m anxious to know what’s going on, but the main story [yesterday] was the sale to Disney. I have mixed feelings about that, but they haven’t done badly by Marvel and the Muppets and Pixar. It’s one of those big decisions that at first seems unusual but then the more you look at it, the more it makes sense.
EW: When you had lunch with George, did he get into any details with you about where the story would go in the next three films, or whether you would have a part in them?
Hamill: Well, no, he was just talking about writers and the fact that he wouldn’t be directing. I guess he wanted us to know before everybody else knew. He said, “Now you can’t tell anybody!” [laughs] Even now I’m nervous about saying anything. I just don’t know!
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