Ever since the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney was announced last month, we’ve been hearing brilliant news – rumours as well as concrete – surrounding the Star Wars franchise.
The first real concrete piece of news was that the studios would be developing a new trilogy, and we then heard that Michael Arndt had been hired to write the long-awaited Star Wars Episode VII.
More recently, we heard last week that Simon Kinberg and Lawrence Kasdan had been hired to separately write and produce two films, which at the time we believed to be Episodes VIII and IX.
THR are now reporting, however, that whilst they have indeed been hired as writers and producers, those films might not necessarily be the next two Episodes to complete the trilogy.
Instead, they could become the basis for spin-offs focusing on side characters, à la the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
If that means that we might get a Yoda film somewhere down the line, I am totally on board. As much as I’m not up to scratch on my Star Wars knowledge, I know enough to know that a Yoda film could potentially be awesome.
The studios are officially declining to comment, but if their sources are right, it would certainly be an interesting way for the development of the Star Wars universe.
Lucasfilm was acquired for just over $4bn., and if Disney can produce not only a new trilogy, but more character-based films as well, they’ll be looking at a much, much bigger potential for the franchise in the years to come.
As of yet, we remain uncertain about who will be taking the helm for Star Wars Episode VII, which is set to be first out of the gate, eyeing a 2015 release.
Matthew Vaughn was the first prediction to direct, and we caught up with Jason Flemyng last night, who may well have let slip that Vaughn has got the job – it remains unofficial, but Flemyng has a long history with Vaughn, and with any luck, we’ll be hearing something official very soon.
