Could Hamil come back as a new “Yoda” level jedi, training and reviving the order? Is Fisher still alive? She could come back too, as the new queen…setting up another confrontation between them and what was left of the empire scattered to the stars. You could use flashbacks to explain Palpatine’s past and work it into the motivation of a new, really evil character. Just a thought.

And we have to bring back Han Solo for something…would Harrison Ford do that? I wonder.

H8-all the principles-including Fisher are alive and well. Ford, as well as Hamil, Fisher, and even Billy Dee Williams have publicly stated that they would be completely on board with the idea of returning.

Interestingly enough, the original trilogy had many parallels to the Cold War-the Empire representing in a way the Soviet Union. What happened to the world following the end of the Cold War? There was a power vaccum in the region and the result has been years of regional conflicts and civil wars-which lead to rogue powers rising up (such as the Taliban). The climax of which was 9-11. I can see the Star Wars universe battling the same fate. With the shattered back of the Galactic Empire, there’s a galctic power vaccum-The New Republic scrambles to maintain peace and order against new rogue powers including the remnents of the old Empire (Putin seems resolved to re establish the old ‘Soviet’ Empire). It could pave the way for a new Sith ‘anti christ’ character to rise up and unite these powers under a new Imperial Banner to extract ‘revenge once and for all’ against a young and still vulnerable Jedi Order.

There are two huge questions as to cast and crew at this point. It was recently revealed that JJ Abrams turned down an early on offer to direct. For those of you that don’t know, JJ Abrams is the director of the recently revitalized Star Trek movie franchise. He did, by most critics and viewers opinion, an EXCELLENT job breathing new life into that franchise and he’s proven he can create believable, deep, characters people care about. We also know that Michael Ardt, who wrote Toy Story 3 for Disney, has already writen a 50 page treatment which the script will be based on. There’s the question of composer. The iconic John Williams, while still alive, is towards the end of his career and only occasionally does work almost exclusively with Steven Spielberg. But if not him, who? My vote would go to Hans Zimmer. If anyone saw the Dark Knight Trilogy, they could testify that Zimmer proved in that franchise a mastery for the swashbuckling, dramatic percussion that made the original Star Wars score so iconic.

I would love to see Spielberg step to the plate. Steven and George are very good friends and have collaborated together. Steven Spielberg, with a top notch script, is more than capable of delivering and COULD (considering their professional relationship) be an appropriate torch barer. Spielberg is booked up with project from now until eternity though, so that won’t likely happen. Some rumored to be on the ‘short list’ are Matthew Vaughn, Colin Trevorrow, and Jon Favreau. Quentin Tarrantino was asked about it and basically said he would do it when hell freezes over since its a Disney project. Pardon me while I wipe the the tears from my cheek that we’re not going to see a movie full of bad guys being lightsaber chopped into bloody pieces. Christopher Nolan has been mentioned, but labeled unlikely since he tends not to direct projects he doesn’t actually WRITE himself. Irvin Kirschener, who directing the most critically acclaimed Empire Strikes Back, is rumored to have been approached. He, obviously has proven he can make a successful Star Wars movie. Another name that I’m surprised hasn’t been mentioned (at least not seriously) is Peter Jackson. IMO the two best men for this job are two ‘unliklies’ in Kirschener or Spielberg. Both men have worked with Lucas. Spielberg was ACTUALLY George Lucas’ first choice to direct back in 1976, but a dispute with the Director’s Guild forced Lucas to abandoned that plan.