Disney: At least 3 new 'Star Wars' films on the way
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - One of the many intriguing sub-plots in "Star Wars" lore is just how many sequels moviemaker George Lucas originally wanted to make.
The most popular conception is that Lucas envisioned nine movie-length episodes, broken into three separate trilogies to be released over 20 to 40 years. Under this line of thinking, the original "Star Wars" purportedly was always intended to start the middle sequence of the intergalactic saga.
Now an entertainment force even more powerful than Lucas is finally going to turn what once seemed like a myth into a prophecy.
The Walt Disney Co. vowed to make at least three more "Star Wars" movies with Tuesday's announcement that it's buying Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion. The next installment is due out 2015, a decade after Lucas released the sixth "Star Wars" movie, "Revenge of the Sith," and declared it would be his last.
The possibility of there being at least nine Star Wars movies began to surface in media reports dating back to the late 1970s, but the idea really began to gain traction in a 1983 book by Denise Worrell called "Icons: Intimate Portraits." The book quotes Lucas saying he intended to make three "Star Wars" trilogies: one dealing with the social and political (the set that fans believe covers the movies released from 1999 through 2005), another would cover personal growth and self-realization (topics covered in original trio of films) and the final stanza would delve into moral and philosophical problems.
There are also indications that Lucas may have even flirted with making even more than nine "Star Wars" movies. In a 1978 article, Time magazine reported that Lucas would make the sequel that became "The Empire Strikes Back" and then possibly build upon the fable in 10 more films.
This theory gained further credence years later during a 2004 public appearance by Mark Hamill, the actor who played the grown Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy. Hamill was quoted as saying that Lucas told him in 1976 that his grand plan called for four "Star Wars" trilogies. Hamill said Lucas even asked whether he wanted to be in "Star Wars IX" when it came out 35 years later, according to reports of his comments.
But before "Revenge of the Sith," came out in 2005, Lucas sought to shoot down the notion that he ever wanted to extend the franchise beyond six films.
"This was never planned as a nine-episode work," Lucas told MTV. "The media (pounced when) I made an offhand comment, 'It might be fun to come back when everyone's 80 and do another one of these' But I never had any intention of doing that."
As for his more recent vows that he would stop at six, Lucas said that's still true. In selling to Disney, he said he is entrusting the lucrative franchise to a new generation of filmmakers. Kathleen Kennedy, the current co-chairman of Lucasfilm, will lead that effort, with Lucas serving as creative consultant.
The most popular conception is that Lucas envisioned nine movie-length episodes, broken into three separate trilogies to be released over 20 to 40 years. Under this line of thinking, the original "Star Wars" purportedly was always intended to start the middle sequence of the intergalactic saga.
Now an entertainment force even more powerful than Lucas is finally going to turn what once seemed like a myth into a prophecy.
The Walt Disney Co. vowed to make at least three more "Star Wars" movies with Tuesday's announcement that it's buying Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion. The next installment is due out 2015, a decade after Lucas released the sixth "Star Wars" movie, "Revenge of the Sith," and declared it would be his last.
The possibility of there being at least nine Star Wars movies began to surface in media reports dating back to the late 1970s, but the idea really began to gain traction in a 1983 book by Denise Worrell called "Icons: Intimate Portraits." The book quotes Lucas saying he intended to make three "Star Wars" trilogies: one dealing with the social and political (the set that fans believe covers the movies released from 1999 through 2005), another would cover personal growth and self-realization (topics covered in original trio of films) and the final stanza would delve into moral and philosophical problems.
There are also indications that Lucas may have even flirted with making even more than nine "Star Wars" movies. In a 1978 article, Time magazine reported that Lucas would make the sequel that became "The Empire Strikes Back" and then possibly build upon the fable in 10 more films.
This theory gained further credence years later during a 2004 public appearance by Mark Hamill, the actor who played the grown Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy. Hamill was quoted as saying that Lucas told him in 1976 that his grand plan called for four "Star Wars" trilogies. Hamill said Lucas even asked whether he wanted to be in "Star Wars IX" when it came out 35 years later, according to reports of his comments.
But before "Revenge of the Sith," came out in 2005, Lucas sought to shoot down the notion that he ever wanted to extend the franchise beyond six films.
"This was never planned as a nine-episode work," Lucas told MTV. "The media (pounced when) I made an offhand comment, 'It might be fun to come back when everyone's 80 and do another one of these' But I never had any intention of doing that."
As for his more recent vows that he would stop at six, Lucas said that's still true. In selling to Disney, he said he is entrusting the lucrative franchise to a new generation of filmmakers. Kathleen Kennedy, the current co-chairman of Lucasfilm, will lead that effort, with Lucas serving as creative consultant.
How sanitized will Disney make the movies? Will the worse injury to a human be a chipped finger nail?
Waiting with anticipation for 3 flops in a row.
I foresee one of the new characters for the new movies being a large mouse with a high pitched voice.
A long time ago, in a theme park, far far away...........................
In America, when you beat a dead horse, money comes cascading out of its corpse like a pinata.Â
None will compare to the original 3.Â
There is plenty of storyline they can use, and Marvel movies haven't suffered so I am going to remain optimistic. Â The most likely is Grand Admiral Thrawn from the Timothy Zahn books, a popular post Emperor baddie. Â The series would need some work as the writing was a little weak, but it had the right elements for a good series. Â
 @Deejay Mcallister The book with Grand Admiral Thrawn would be a great movie!
Hopefully...
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 Disney follows the story lines in the books after "Return of the Jedi" I read alot of those books in the 90's and the story lines were really good. I thought then that they would make great movies.
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Enjoy one of the funniest Star War parodies of all time.
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You have a collect phone call from...
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http://video.adultswim.com/robot-chicken/an-empire-to-run.html
Dear Disney:
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No Jar Jar
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No Ewoks
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No seven-year old slave "race car" drivers
 @Howard Beale To be fair, I think the podrace in Episode 1 is probably the best part of that movie. It's all the other stuff around it that's stupid.
 @Howard Beale Agreed!
I'm hoping for the best on this. I wasn't a fan of the more recent movies. I just pretend they weren't made and still focus on the originals. I will simply do the same if the new movies are bad.
Can't be any worse than the prequels turned out.
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"This was never planned as a nine-episode work," So why did you get someone to write books for episodes 7-9 back in the 80s/90s?
Well...if they'll be anything other recent Disney flicks we can look forward to:
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A scrappy teenage princess as the hero. The princess will have a dead or missing mom and dopey dad. She will be the smartest person in her village and all the women are smarter than the men. She will be courted by a doofus who she rejects. Falls in love with a handsome rogue. Gets caught up in a war or similar intrigue where she will display awesome sword or bow and arrow skills. The action will be broke up by several musical numbers as will the romantic scenes. Lots of small, cute critters that can be easily turned into toys. An over riding preachy ecological theme where the main villain doesn't respect nature, or women.