海角大神

It wasn鈥檛 long after Disney announced ,聽and intention to produce more聽 movies beginning with Episode VII, that Jedi Master Luke Skywalker (that鈥檚 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 聽-聽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. 聽was interviewing Hamill about his direct-to-DVD release, Sushi Girl, when he provided the following about him, Carrie Fisher and playing older versions of Luke, Leia and Han Solo:

鈥淭hey鈥檙e talking to us. George [Lucas] wanted to know whether we鈥檇 be interested. He did say that if we didn鈥檛 want to do it, they wouldn鈥檛 cast another actor in our parts 鈥� they would write us out. 鈥� I can tell you right away that we haven鈥檛 signed any contracts. We鈥檙e 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 鈥� on their end, not mine. They鈥檙e more busy than I am.鈥�

We recently broke down the scenario of Hamill, Fisher and Ford returning for an Episode VII that draws inspiration from the 聽- in particular, the 鈥淟egacy of the Force鈥� 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鈥� offspring, ) with Luke being a mentor to them like Obi-Wan Kenobi was to him. He playfully added:

鈥溾�� When I found out [while making the original trilogy] that ultimate good news/bad news joke 鈥� the good news is there鈥檚 a real attractive, hot girl in the universe; the bad news is she鈥檚 your sister 鈥� I thought, 鈥榃ell, I鈥檓 going to wind up like Sir Alec [Guinness]. I鈥檓 going to be a lonely old hermit living out in some kind of desert igloo with a couple of robots.鈥欌��

J.J. Abrams 聽and expectations are he鈥檒l聽construct the Star Wars universe using the same techniques from his聽Star Trek reboot and its sequel, 鈥� 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:

鈥淚 hope they find the right balance of CGI with practical effects. I love props, I love models, miniatures, matte paintings 鈥� I鈥檓 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鈥檚 unfortunate. 鈥� If they listen to me at all, it鈥檒l be, 鈥楲ighten up and go retro with the way it looks.鈥欌��

For more from Hamill (including, which 聽movies he wants to see), head on over to聽.

Sandy Schaefer blogs at .