Mark Hamill in Talks for New ‘Star Wars’ Films
Could it be the return of the Jedi who returned in Return of the Jedi? Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy, has told Entertainment Tonight that George Lucas has inquired whether he’d be interested in appearing in the forthcoming Episode VII.
“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,” Hamill said. He’s waiting to meet with Michael Arndt, who’s writing the screenplay for Episode VII, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who took over after Disney bought the Star Wars franchise last fall for more than $4 billion.
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“I can tell you right away that we haven’t signed any contracts,” said Hamill. “Both have had meetings set that were postponed – on their end, not mine. They’re more busy than I am.”
Hamill is in the dark regarding a new storyline for Luke Skywalker, but he did speculate on some plot points for an aging jedi. “I’m assuming, because I haven’t talked to the writers, that these movies would be about our offspring – like my character would be sort of in the Obi-Wan range [as] an influential character,” he said. “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.'”
Hamill said he would love for the next three movies in the saga return to the less portentous tone of the original series. “I said to George that I wanted to go back to the way it was, in the sense that ours was much more carefree and lighthearted and humorous – in my opinion, anyway,” said Hamill. “And another thing I’d want to make sure of is are we going to have the whole gang back? Is Carrie and Harrison and Billy Dee and Tony Daniels, everybody that’s around from the original [returning]? I want to make sure that everybody’s on board here, rather than just one.”
Hamill is the latest Star Wars actor to express interest in the new movies. Harrison Ford is reportedly interested in reprising his role as Han Solo in future Star Wars films. Ian McDiarmid, who played Emperor Palpatine in both previous trilogies, told the Birmingham Mail he hasn’t ruled out a return. Ewan McGregor, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episodes I-III, has said he would be willing to make a spin-off based on his character.