Well, let's be honest, it really can't be any worse.

Rumor: Toy Story 3 screenwriter scripting Star Wars: Episode VII
November 8, 2012 By Earnest Cavalli

Assuming Vulture is to be believed, the screenwriter for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII may very well be Michael Arndt, an Oscar winner best known for writing Pixar's Toy Story 3.

Ever since news broke that Disney had purchased Lucasfilm, and has plans to release three new live-action Star Wars movies over the course of the next decade, the geek masses have been alternately celebrating with abandon and racking their brains for any snippet of information that might reveal who exactly Disney will tap to work on this crucially important continuation of George Lucas’ world-famous sci-fi saga. To wit, this article published only yesterday which claims that Harrison Ford may return to reprise his role as Han Solo in Episode VII.

In reality of course, nobody outside of the expansive Disney family has any idea who might be tapped to work on this project, but that won’t stop journalists and fans alike from clinging to anything that could possibly be construed as a hint. Thus, Vulture reports that Disney wants to hire Michael Arndt to script Episode VII. According to unnamed, “informed sources,” Arndt has already completed a “a 40- to 50-page treatment for the film and is likely to be at least one of the writers when the Disney/Lucasfilm project begins shooting in 2014.”

Though you may not be familiar with Arndt directly, you’ve certainly seen his work. He wrote the indie hit Little Miss Sunshine, and provided screenplays for both Toy Story 3 and the upcoming Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire. Further, he’s also apparently penned screenplays for an upcoming film based on The Disney Channel’s Phineas and Ferb cartoon series, and a Pixar film that IMDB calls “The Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside the Mind.” Obviously we know nothing about that last project, but based on Pixar’s past efforts it’s likely to be delightful fun for the whole family.

With Arndt’s credentials established, we should probably mention the two other aspects of Vulture’s claims. While the Disney/Lucasfilm deal seemingly caught everyone by surprise, Vulture claims that talent agencies were hit hardest. Instead of using this as an opportunity to pitch their writer clients to Disney for the coveted script writing gig, these agencies were informed that Arndt had already been working on that aforementioned treatment for quite some time prior to Disney’s announcement. Intriguingly, now that the treatment is complete, Vulture believes it will shortly be sent out to a swath of big-name Hollywood directors to gauge their interest in helming this movie. Names listed in Vulture’s report include JJ Abrams, Brad Bird, and Steven Spielberg.

As with all rumors, we caution you to take this news with a huge grain of salt. We have no reason to doubt any of Vulture’s claims, but without official confirmation, all of this will remain a rumor until such time as Disney sees fit to solidify some of these ethereal details. That said, if Vulture is entirely correct, Episode VII could be an even bigger event than we’d previously imagined. A new Star Wars film written by one of the guys behind Toy Story 3 and helmed by the beloved director who brought us Jaws, E.T. and Jurassic Park? If that doesn’t get you worked up into an excited lather, then your sense of whimsy has been dead for years.

Disney discovers the secret to printing money, announces at least two Star Wars spin off movies after Episode VII

When there’s smoke rising out of a galaxy far, far away, you can rest assured that there’s a fire burning away there as well. Rumors have sped about the internet like so many X-Wing fighters since Disney announced its $4.05 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm, and the biggest of these have turned out to be true. Director J.J. Abrams said he would not direct Star Wars Episode VII, the first film in a new trilogy continuing the story that ended in 1983’s Return of the Jedi, even as widespread reports said he would. One month later, Abrams was confirmed as director. Another persistent rumor: The new trilogy would not be the only new Star Wars film. The story went that Disney would give Star Wars the Marvel Comics movie treatment, with spinoff movies focusing on individual characters. That turned out to be true as well.

“Lucasfilm is officially announcing new spinoff films that will expand the mythos and depths of the Star Wars universe in previously unexplored ways,” reads Lucasfilm’s statement, “One of the standalone films will be written by Lawrence Kasdan, screenwriter of The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and co-writer of Return of the Jedi while the other will be penned by Simon Kinberg, writer of Sherlock Holmes and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The movies will be separate from the upcoming Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, on which Kasdan and Kinberg are also consulting, and are expected to be released sometime after Episode VII. Each standalone film will focus on a specific character, and two spinoff films are currently confirmed.”

Kasdan and Kinberg were actually confirmed to be working with Disney and Lucasfilm on the new Star Wars movies back in November, but at the time it was unclear which of the films they would be working on.

Just who will these spinoff films focus on? Considering the validity of past Disney Star Wars rumors, one of them may in fact be Zack Snyder’s Seven Samurai-inspired take on the universe. Vulture reported in January that Snyder would direct the film once he’d finished his current projects, but Snyder’s representation vehemently denied it. “While he is super flattered because he is a huge fan, Zack is not involved in any way with the new Star Wars,” said Snyder’s representation, He is currently in post on his two films Man of Steel and 300: Battle of Artemisia.” Abrams proved that just because a director says no to Star Wars before an official announcement, that doesn’t mean he isn’t doing it.

Other rumors suggest that the spinoffs could focus on Yoda or mobster Jabba the Hutt. The Star Wars franchise is a printing press of money waiting to be fired up for Disney and the newly re-energized Lucasfilms. It wouldn’t be surprising to hear of further stand alone movies as well. There is always the risk of over-saturating the market, but with one of the most loyal and passionate fan bases of any entertainment property in the world, Disney may be in for a good couple of years.

Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/sta ... z2KfSCTU72

Well, it was only a matter of time before this news became a bit more concrete, but, according to El Mayimbe over at Latino Review, who has an exceptional batting average when it comes to his scoop accuracy, the deal is done for Harrison Ford to reprise his role as Han Solo in STAR WARS - EPISODE VII.

This was rather inevitable with Ford commenting that he'd be open to a return back around the time the STAR WARS sale to Disney was announced, complete with those plans for three new films being made in the core saga. For a guy who's tried awfully hard to distance himself from the Original Trilogy over the years to come around like that with willing participation, you knew The Mouse and Lucasfilm were going to make sure they locked up the beloved smuggler for whatever story J.J. Abrams will be kicking off in EPISODE VII. Plus, with rumors of a Han Solo origin story being floated around as one of the ideas for a STAR WARS stand-alone, it only makes sense to get the character fresh in people's minds, particularly younger generations of potential STAR WARS fans, who may not be as familiar with Solo.