J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan Wish Fans a Happy Star Wars Day

Unless you've been sleeping under a tauntaun it's been pretty hard to avoid the Star Wars Day festivities. The fan event has already led to the release of the full Star Wars Rebels trailer, and to some pretty good deals on Star Wars merch available everywhere. But in terms of big surprises and announcements...well, not much of those. What we are getting is this short little selfie video from J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan wishing fans a happy Star Wars Day.

It's not much but Abrams does sort of confirm that more casting announcements are coming, and Kasdan seems to indicate they are still working on the script which hopefully won't be a big deal.

NASA is also getting in on the fun with this fun little video featuring everyone's favorite astromech droid, R2-D2 as he stops an Empire plot to jam a crucial transmission. Enjoy.

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J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan Take Over Writing on 'Star Wars: Episode VII'

The lack of concrete information on J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII has led to a great deal of speculation that the reason is due to little actual progress being made on it. When Comic-Con and the Disney-based D23 came around and we got nothing, those rumors only persisted, and we've heard very little about the Michael Arndt's script, which should be just about completed if a spring 2014 start date was to hit its mark. And now that date, along with the summer 2015 release, may be in doubt as Arndt has been replaced on the film.

According to StarWars.com,  Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams having taken over the co-writing duties from Arndt, who has been attached since shortly after Disney's acquisition of LucasFilm. Kasdan has been a part of the Star Wars universe a long time and wrote The Empire Strikes Back, generally considered the best of the franchise. He's also been working with Simon Kinberg on the many spinoff films that are in the works.

If there were any problems to be found with the work Arndt had done, you'd never know it by what Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy's words on the news...

"I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and J.J. working on the script. There are very few people who fundamentally understand the way a Star Wars story works like Larry, and it is nothing short of incredible to have him even more deeply involved in its return to the big screen. J.J. of course is an incredible storyteller in his own right. Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point and we have an amazing filmmaking and design team in place already prepping for production."

A script change isn't always a sign of disaster, and it may just be that Abrams and Kasdan have ideas they want to see implemented. Or they simply didn't like what it was Arndt may have turned in and called for an overhaul. Who knows? But at the very least this threatens to push things back a little back. 

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'Star Wars' spinoff movies to follow young Han Solo and Boba Fett

And just like that, Disney's plan for the Star Wars universe is coming into focus. The last two days have seen a flurry of information, not necessarily about Episode VII, but on the franchise as a whole. Just a couple of days after a Yoda spinoff film was rumored, which was basically confirmed by Disney CEO Bob Iger who said that multiple stand-alone films were in the works, now comes word of exactly what those projects will entail.

EW reports that two of these projects will center on Boba Fett and a young Han Solo. Presumably this would be along with the Yoda project, so that's three we can bank on right now. The Han Solo film will take place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, and will feature the return of Harrison Ford to set it up the story as a framing device. Ford had been rumored to come back months ago, along with Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.

The Boba Fett project is a bit sketchier. It could take place on either side of The Empire Strikes Back, and personally I'd prefer to see him after, lugging around Han Solo in carbonite. Actually, I'd like to see him immediately following the whole Sarlaac pit incident in Return of the Jedi. 

I have my doubts if these solo films are a good idea or not. Boba Fett is already over-exposed as a character. He's sort of like the Wolverine of the Star Wars universe. All of the mystery that made him cool is long gone. Disney may be better served creating whole new characters who can be built into the larger framework for future movies, but those obviously aren't as immediately marketable.It remains to be seen what Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg have in store, but the chronology allows them to bring back anyone they want. Maybe even Darth Vader, like some are already speculating? And what about that samurai-influenced film Zack Snyder recently denied being involved with? That rumor didn't just come out of nowhere.

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Disney confirms 'Star Wars' stand-alone movies

In one fell swoop we basically see two Star Wars-related news bits confirmed, and by Disney CEO Bob Iger no less. Presumably he would know a thing or two about what Disney has planned.
He revealed today that they are indeed planning a series of Star Wars stand-alone films based on specific characters, which he says are not part of the overall saga. Here's his quote...

"There has been speculation about some stand-alone films that are in development. I can confirm to you today that, in fact, we are working on a few stand-alone films. Larry Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are both working on films derived from great 'Star Wars' characters that are not part of the overall saga. We still plan to make Episodes 7, 8, and 9, roughly over a six-year period of time, starting in 2015. There are going to be a few other films released in that time, too."

So basically this all but confirms today's earlier story about a spinoff Yoda film, while also putting a stamp on last fall's rumors regarding Kinberg and Kasdan. They'll also be consulting on J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII, so they're going to be hip deep in Jedi for years, at least through 2012 according to CNBC.

This is a pretty big deal, and reveals a lot about Disney's overall plan. Which characters do you want to see get their own film? Me, I'm rooting for Bossk.

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Are Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg writing 'Star Wars' spinoffs?

Ready for your Star Wars rumor of the day? We're probably due considering Colin Trevorrow put talk of his involvement to definitive rest yesterday. Last week we learned that Lawrence Kasdan(The Empire Strikes Back) and Simon Kinberg(Jumper) had been hired to pen Episodes 8 and 9, with Michael Arndt already on board for Episode 7. Well, that may not be what's happening at all.

THR's sources tell them that Kasdan and Kinberg may actually be developing spinoff projects, rather than official "Episodes". These spinoffs would focus on different aspects of the Star Wars universe, and would fit into Disney's plan to take an approach similar to what they've done with their superhero line. This would also make sense considering they want to have a new film every 2-3 years.

Disney clearly is going to flood the market with Star Wars material, so learning that spinoffs may already be in the works isn't exactly shocking.  I'm just curious if this will involve the TV series, and any of the scripts for that which are probably laying around someone's office right now.

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Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg scripting future 'Star Wars' sequels?

With Michael Arndt already on board to pen Star Wars: Episode VII for a release in 2015, Disney and LucasFilm may already be looking towards the future of the franchise. Deadline's little birdies have learned that franchise scribes Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg have been approached to possibly begin work on Episodes 8 and 9.

Kasdan is a very familiar face around the LucasFilm halls, as he wrote both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, along with Raiders of the Lost Ark. So he would presumably fit pretty neatly back into the universe he had an important hand in crafting. Kinsberg is stranger to major tentpole flicks, either, having written both X-men: The Last Stand and X-men: First Class, along with the upcoming sequel X-men: Days of Future Past.

If they're already getting the ball rolling on sequels that means we can probably expect to hear a director announced shortly(I predicted Thanksgiving day), with casting news soon to follow. If Kasdan's again tackling the trilogy's middle chapter does that mean it'll be a bit darker in tone the way 'Empire' was? I sure hope so.

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