It wasn’t long after Disney announced its acquisition of Lucasfilm, and intention to produce more Star Wars movies beginning with Episode VII, that Jedi Master Luke Skywalker (that’s actor Mark Hamill, for all the non-SW fanatics reading this) was pressed for information, with regard to insider knowledge he possesses. At the time, the geek-favorite turned revered voice actor revealed that George Lucas had indeed told him ahead of time about plans for a new trilogy - though, apparently he left out that little detail about selling his mon$ter company to the Mouse House.
Since then, new rumors have been popping up around the clock, concerning which veterans of the series are coming back for Episode VII and beyond. ET Online was interviewing Hamill about his direct-to-DVD release, Sushi Girl, when he provided the following about him, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford playing older versions of Luke, Leia and Han Solo:
“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.”
We recently broke down the scenario of Hamill, Fisher and Ford returning for an Episode VII that draws inspiration from the Star Wars Expanded Universe - in particular, the “Legacy of the Force” storyline that picks up 40 years following the events of A New Hope, allowing the new trilogy to pick in real-world time from a story perspective. Hamill expects the film to take a similar approach (ie. focus on the older characters’ offspring, like Han and Leia’s daughter Jaina) with Luke being a mentor to them like Obi-Wan Kenobi was to him. He playfully added:
“… 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.’”
J.J. Abrams is directing Episode VII and expectations are he’ll construct the Star Wars universe using the same techniques from his Star Trek reboot and its sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness – namely, combining practical sets and props with CGI effects on the grand-scale shots and effects-heavy sequences, as opposed to the heavier reliance on digital imagery and tools in the prequel trilogy.
Hamill, for his money, is championing as much old-school technique as feasible:
“I hope they find the right balance of CGI with practical effects. I love props, I love models, miniatures, matte paintings — I’m sort of old school. I think if you go too far in the direction of CGI it winds up looking like just a giant a video game, and that’s unfortunate. … If they listen to me at all, it’ll be, ‘Lighten up and go retro with the way it looks.’”
For more from Hamill (including, which Star Wars character spinoff movies he wants to see), head on over to ET Online.
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Star Wars: Episode VII is tentatively scheduled to open in theaters by 2015.
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Seriously some of you are so pitifully shallow. The man got old and got a belly, like 90 percent of all people do. Why does it matter? Is this a Star Wars movie or a Supermodel Convention? Why does everyone in every movie have to be pretty? Mr Hamill was one of the most legendary characters ever, 2 if you count his voice work as the joker. Have some faith in him and stop worryin about how ugly he is or isnt (which btw he looks just fine).
I Couldn’t Agree More
Where i will agree with you that his attractiveness isn’t that important. The fact that he is clearly quite out of shape will really ruin the story and world. He’s a jedi master, dedicated to a life of focus and discipline. I don’t think a jedi could get fat or would allow themselves to be. It would be like how in the newest star trek movie old spock showed up out of shape would totally take everyone out of the film.
Side note can Vulcans even gain weight? they all seem thin from what i can remember….lol
I think you should give Abrams and crew a little more credit. 1) A belly is easily concealable under garments such as the Jedi robe and cloak; 2) Hamill will probably do some extensive training to get back in shape before the shooting begins.
Time to hit the gym Mark! I’m sure if he’s signed on he would get in pretty good shape. Carrie Fisher…yeah, that would be a tough sell.
Yeah, I don’t think he’ll ever get back to what he used to look like but I thinkif does end up joining (my fingers are crossed that he does because Luke was always my favorite) he may try to loose a few pounds just to look a tad bit thinner same with fisher Ford has always been in pretty good shape for his age in my opinion he had the biggest carrier of the three of them.
I’m guessing you haven’t seen Indy 4. Ford’s action scenes are quite painful to watch. Actually, the whole movie was, but you get my point. Each time he had a physical stunt to perform, I was thinking “oh man, stop doing this to yourself!”
I was about to post the same thing. Even older they still need to look like heroes.
Why don’t you pay a visit to any WWII or Nam vet and see if they still look good?
when 60 years old you reach, look as good you will not
Why has my comment been awaiting moderation for an hour?
You say weird stuff sometimes….?
Another thing I hope they do with this new movie or really this new trilogy is make the light saber fights less correographed like they wherein the prequels I mean in the prequels I thought they were cool when the Jedi where in their prime but I liked the light saber fights in the originals because they were cool to me for one thing but also they seemed more doable like you didn’t need to be a ninja to make a cool Jedi, just my personal opinion you are all entitled to yours. Another thing I hope they do is construct a more relatable Jedi community in other words I want the Jedi to be more relatable because I always felt that out of the whole saga originals and prequels both combined Luke was the only relatable Jedi because he was flawed he could get angry and lash it out he could wine complain and all of that seemed realistic to me the prequels didn’t have a lot of that I didn’t think, I personally hope they can bring something like that to the movie
Man, you really need to learn punctuation. Honestly, this is painful to read.
Seriously some of you are so pitifully shallow. The man got old and got a belly, like 90 percent of all people do. Why does it matter? Is this a Star Wars movie or a Supermodel Convention? Why does everyone in every movie have to be pretty? Mr Hamill was one of the most legendary characters ever, 2 if you count his voice work as the joker. Have some faith in him and stop worryin about how ugly he is or isnt (which btw he looks just fine). Ridiculous.
He doesn’t look just fine. No one is saying he has to look like he did but he is playing a fantasy character not the average middle aged pot bellied guy.
And hitting the gym prior to filming is not an over the top idea.
I never said it was an “over the top idea”. Of course shaping up a bit for the role is expected but it sickens me when peoples first reaction is “YOU CANT CAST THEM THEYRE OLD FAT AND UGLY NOW”. Who the hell cares? Of course if its gonna be a role with any action he will need to slim down but if not is it a big deal if hes a bit heavy? Noone in the Star Wars Universe gets fat?
@Scrarecrowe
I totally get what you’re saying, and i think i wrote this in another of my comments but whoever heard of a fat Jedi? They gotta be somewhat in shape, cant just be strolling around with their beer-bellies and asthma inhalers if they wanna catch some Siths.
When people get old, Jedi or not, they tend to stop being able to jump all over the place. Watch episode V again and tell me if you expect THIS Yoda to be the crazy grasshopper he used to be in episodes II and III…
The way I see it, if Hamill ends up in VII, he’ll be a Jedi master much akin to Ben in IV, serene and collected.
I agree,you are 100% correct.
Amen mate! The shallow comments about looks are very lame. Imagine Mr Hamill happened to check out some of these comments here (he’s a film/comic geek like us, and does check out websites like these, or so I’ve heard)?! I’d be like f@ck you lot – I’m outta this thing. Stick to your pretty looking but ZERO charisma and acting ability modern teen ‘stars’. What will some of you idiots look like in your mid 60s? Give the man abreak, AND perhaps a little respect too? He’s a damned legend, and a very cool guy! I hope he gets starring role in the Episode VII, not just some cameo… An older grizzled Luke would be fantastic! I always thought his was the most nuanced and interesting character in the original films.
And yea for 61 years old, he does in fact look just fine.
Deffinately agreed
It would be cool to see Luke with a beard a la Obi-Wan Kenobi. But yeah, no fat Jedis please!
And yea for 61 years old, he does in fact look just fine.
He looks a wreck for 61 as does fisher and when you consider Alec Guinness was 5 years older than both of them in a New Hope – then you realise just how much substance abuse ages you.
I don’t think he’s a “wreck” but I will say that time hasn’t really been kind to Hamill.
A lot of that though he can change with the help of a personal trainer and dietician.
I’m sure that he will be a lot more fit if he actually gets the part.
He looks AWFUL. This is going to be painful.
That pic makes him look like Meat Loaf in Fight Club… Bob… Bob had…
Time to lay of the twinkies. They will only lead you to the Dark side
All of the Twinkies are gone
I had a twinkie from one of those shops in the UK that sell American sweets. How can you guys eat that sh*t? Not to mention your chocolate is terrible. You’re lucky you’re not in the EU, France and Belgium tried to ban us from calling our chocolate “chocolate” because it wasn’t up to their standards (and that they wanted to get a sales boost for themselves!)
(^-^)
Agree 100% with you, pretzels and twinkies are nasty as is the USA chocolate. I went to the M&Ms factory in Vegas and thought all my Christmases have come at once, I bought a massive bag of Star Wars ep 1 special edition peanut ones, all the Darths on the front, got outside and ate one – terrible! I launched the whole lot in the bin, 30 bucks wasted!!
are you serious? peanut m&m’s are not pure chocolate, they have a candy coating over milk chocolate with a peanut in the center. if your going to compare european chocolate to u.s chocolate you should at least pick a brand that is pure chocolate. its like comparing pure chocolate ice cream too rocky road. personally I hate pure chocolate, I prefer hershey’s with almonds, m&m’s, and twix. also I was never a twinkie fan, I was more of a hostess cupcake fan. pretzels were invented by an italian monk…and there is nothing wrong with them especially the yogurt covered pretzels. btw i have a few friends in the uk who beg me to send them u.s treats everything from soda, cereal, and diff variety’s of chocolate and candys.
Had twix, snickers, all sorts and all the same. You can’t really comment unless you’ve tried our cadburys chocolate, forget Swiss chocolate, ours is the best on the planet!! Hershey’s is nasty too but I like their strawberries and cream sweets. I’ve been all around the world and am yet to find anything as good as a cadburys dairy milk, if you like American chocolate I insist you get on amazon and buy some of ours, it’ll be like having sex for the first time all over again.
The American sweets thing is a bit of a novelty thing for us. But because they are imported they are very, very expensive. So they usually get tried once and never again.
I know someone with American relatives and whenever they come over here the first thing they do is gorge themselves on Cadbury’s chocolate bars and bring a spare suitcase just so they can fill it up to take home.
Alas Hershey’s has bought Cadbury’s and we are seeing Hershey bars in supermarkets now, but I don’t think it’s very popular with the general public.
The government only sold Cadbury’s to Hershey’s on condition that they wouldn’t close our local factory to re-locate it to Poland. They agreed. Bought Cadbury’s, then closed the factory and re-located to Poland…. Ba*tards.
Isn’t it against the law to bring foreign food on US soil in your luggage?
Not yet.
I think that’s vegetables and such. At least I know Austrailia is very strict in that regard incase it upsets their eco system.
Yeah, the restrictions apply to fresh fruit, vegetables, dairy, meat, and a few other things: london.usembassy.gov/ukcustom.html#food
Damn. I’ll try that again, and apologies to one and all for this being WAY off topic: http://london.usembassy.gov/ukcustom.html#food
Mark doesn’t look bad for someone over 60. And if he reprises his famous role…he’s an actor…and will definately get into shape. Carrie fisher can hit weight watchers or jenny craig and get great results. I have faith in these actors if they do reprise their roles…here is hoping.
I’ll be honest. When I saw the then and now pic I thought the same most other people thought. After reading it will be probably 40 years after A New Hope I am fine with him returning. He can be the Obi-Wan-Kenobi of the new generation being ushered in. Now bring on Grumpy Harrison and Chubby Carrie also! lol
they should write his character as an old fat cantankerous drunk who never got over the fact that he was in love with his sister, he’s been living in isolation until ol’ Luke is called upon once again to save the universe. He has to train the new chick, and at the same time he’s retraining himself.
I’ve always loved this guys voice work, and it would truly be awesome to get to see him play something other than the golden boy on screen for once
i think people speculating on the roles the original cast will play, and how they should look, etc., are overlooking the fact that their roles will most likely be cameos or very small roles. fan service or simply continuity linking and no more.
whatever story the film makers come up with will center around a new cast representing a later generation, i.e. young characters that the core theatre going demographic can relate to. old star wars fans will go no matter what, especially if they can see Luke, Han and Leia one more time. but teens and preteens don’t have a lifetime indoctrination into the franchise and are apt to be less interested in a story that revolves around a bunch of dilapidated seniors. if it is going to compete with pixar and recent superhero franchises, i’m sure the producers will feel it needs to be fresh, new and young.
Well when I was a kid I had no problem with Obi-Wan being old. Besides, they will probably focus on their children anyway.
well, that was my point. in the original, luke was a teenager, which i guess means leia was too, since they are twins. Obi-Wan was his initial guide and dies. I’m just hoping the protagonists will be young adults and not children. i doubt Hamill will get a role as sizable as Alec Guinness had, even if a lot of us older fans would enjoy that.
We have to do things the right way.. Start with the original cast, then pass the torch to the next generation.. its the only way to please all 3 fanboy generations
I’m looking forward to Star Wars 7. I hope the film makers come up with fusion-powered X-wings. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUrt186pWoA
I smiled at Hamill’s comment talking about balancing CGI and practical effects. I miss the practical scenes they did back 40 years ago. CGI overhaul unfortunately becomes something of a main focus above most things. I pretty much figured practical sets were long dead replaced with CGI. And man, are these comments more shallow than a pond.
I’m being serious right now. Guy’s one of my idols. Effin’ lay off with the stupid comments. They prequels were painfully dumb in a lot of ways, so don’t mess up Joker-Luke being in them!
You’re dumb in a lot of ways.
Because I thought the prequels were painfully dumb in a lot of ways?
I would argue that’s a fact, if not common knowledge.
I’m sorry that I think Mark Hamill is awesome?
People need to watch what they say. Marky Mark was cast in Transformers 4 because people kept talking about a rumour and Michael Bay went “Hey, that’s not a bad idea.” For better or for worse.
That’s just one example. I could name others but people would get distracted and say “Yeah, well, X was for the better, because Y, therefore Z.” I am bound to disagree.
Don’t think that conversations on the Internet go unnoticed. Assume what you say will be taken at least somewhat seriously.
Let’s encourage conversation that gets Mark Hamill in these.
Come at me, troll, or step down and lay off.
The article was about Mark Hamill and then you brought up the prequels for some reason, just because you’re still butt hurt about them doesn’t mean you can bring them up all the time.
It’s always useful to remind people of past mistakes so as not to repeat them.
I don’t care what any of you say… Mark needs to hit the damn gym! How do you expect him to swing a saber and not have a stroke? If he doesn’t get in shape, then we will have a fake, slow, obviously choreographed saber fight. If he is in shape, he can do most the work himself, and not ruin the illusion of the scenes.
Mark Hamill is absolutely 10000% right.
1) it is better for the actors cuz they can interact with the props and miniatures
2) Better to know what is real and not so that you can stop saying how sh***y the cgi is
3) They can bring back yoda as a puppet
The main reason why , to me, star wars prequels sucked is because they used too much cgi. It did not take risks and relies on characters who do not have a sense of humor. SOMEBODY FREAKING TAKE HAMILL’S WORD FOR IT. Because if they do, this trilogy will make you say,”What prequels?” i know i will:)
Uhh… Yoda is dead, remember? And though I do agree about the “less green screen, more props” thing, if I had to I’d go for CGI Yoda over puppet Yoda. I mean, have you watched episodes V and VI lately? One can’t help but notice he’s a puppet. His eyelids, lips and ears are clearly mechanical, his moves are somewhat erratic and very unrealistic. And the latitude regarding what you can make a character do is much more restricted with a puppet than with CGI.
You can blame the prequels for a lot of things, but Yoda is actually one of the few benefits of CGI.
Okay, i get it Yoda is dead. But the reason why i liked him better as a puppet is because he was authentic. i had a hard time watching the prequels because everything was cgi. Hell, even the end of episode 3 was cgi. You have billions of dollars man! it wouldnt kill ya for going to that desert and at least try and make it look real? My point is that i thought that yoda would’ve been that pacifistic monk like mentor that doesn’t fight. But again i would like to apologize for being wrong about yoda. I know he’s dead. But bring back the puppets man. I get cgi-ing the backdrop and everything, but creatures could be authentic and real. I don’t wanna see cgi cartoon taun taun, I WANT REAL TAUN TAUN, SO THAT I COULD F**KING PET THAT ANIMAL.
Yoda feels much more authentic to me in the prequels, though he was computer-generated and not “real.” It has to do with the seamless, more natural flow of his moves and expressions, whereas in V and VI the illusion is ruined by the fact that we can clearly see he’s a mechanical puppet. This is why I never enjoyed Dark Crystal, even as a kid. A matter of suspension of disbelief. Also, Yoda’s voice was much more cartoony in the original trilogy.
You can’t pet a puppet through the screen anyway
I don’t care what any of you say… Mark needs to hit the damn gym! How do you expect him to swing a saber and not have a stroke? If he doesn’t get in shape, then we will have a fake, slow, obviously choreographed saber fight. If he is in shape, he can do most the work himself, and not ruin the illusion of the scenes.
was this a coincidence!?!?
Looks like one of the more insidious forms of spam: someone hijacking your comment in order to get people to click the link in the user name. Clearly the “As edward said, i ca n’t bileve my horse maide $584000, hav yuo triied hungarianmafia.org” posted under the second comment on every single thread isn’t doing enough for them…
In fact it’s already happened on this page. If you scroll up, Scarecrowe’s post was copied by “wedding dresses under 300″ a couple of days ago.
I agree Mark Hamill is the same person he was back them. He’s just older. I for one would love to see him, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford in the new Star Wars movie. I am a huge fan.
I watch the movies all the time, the documentaries, interviews and celebrations.
Mark Hamill was the first actor I had a crush on and Carrie Fisher was one of my favorite childhood actresses.
Any movie where Harrison Ford gets the girl is a good one.
Princess