Mark Hamill Discusses STAR WARS: EPISODE VII

We recently heard that Harrison Ford will be reprising his role as Han Solo in Star Wars: Episode VII, and that Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher will also most likely be coming back. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight Hamill clarified that no one has officially signed on for the next Star Wars movie, but they are currently in talks with Lucasfilm, so it's only a matter of time before they do! Here's what Hamill had to say,

They're talking to us. 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. … I can tell you right away that we haven't signed any contracts. We're in the stage where they want us to go in and meet with Michael Arndt, who is the writer, and Kathleen Kennedy, who is going to run Lucasfilm. Both have had meetings set that were postponed -- on their end, not mine. They're more busy than I am.

Hamill says he doesn't really know what the next movie will be about, but I think it's safe to say that he knows more than he's allowed to tell us,

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. … 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.'

In response to the rumors surrounding Harrison Ford coming back, the actor goes on to say that he thinks everyone should come back for the next Star Wars film rather than just one actor, saying...

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.

I think the whole cast should be brought back as well, and I'm sure they will be. He then gives his thoughts on the direction he'd like to see the movie go in terms of tone and its use of special effects,

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....hope they find the right balance of CGI with practical effects. I love props, I love models, miniatures, matte paintings -- I'm sort of old school. I think if you go too far in the direction of CGI it winds up looking like just a giant a video game, and that's unfortunate. … If they listen to me at all, it'll be, 'Lighten up and go retro with the way it looks.'

I couldn't agree with him more! That's exactly how I would want to see the future Star Wars movies made!

J.J. Abrams is directing the film based on a script by Michael Arndt. Star Wars: Episode VII is scheduled to hit theaters in 2015. Disney and Lucasfilm are planning a new trilogy with a new movie coming every other year, with other stand alone Star Wars film being released in between.