As things begin to clear a little following Disney's announcement that it's bought Lucasfilm off George Lucas, thoughts have begun to turn to exactly what shape the new collection of Star Wars films that are being planned will take.
There's still lots of speculation doing the rounds, but something that does seem to have a little substance to it is a report that popped up at E! Online yesterday. It quoted a Lucasfilm source as saying the new films aren't going to be based on the existing Star Wars books, rather that "it's an original story". It's an original story that George Lucas has mapped out, although he won't be writing the scripts or directing.
Furthermore, Mark Hamill has been chatting to EW, and he told them that George Lucas invited him and Carrie Fisher to lunch last August. "I thought he was going to talk about his retirement or the Star Wars TV series I've heard about", he admitted. "So when he said 'we decided to do Episodes VII, VIII and IX' I was just gobsmacked". Hamill isn't sure whether or not he'll be involved in the new films, but it looks likely that Luke Skywalker will be (although that's speculation on our part).
Finally, George Lucas himself has said that work has already begun with writers, and it seems as though Episodes VI, VIII and IX will be the end of the originally planned saga. That seems to be the broad hint that's coming through.
Again, as more news comes through, we'll keep you posted.
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