Two days on and the fallout is continuing from the Disney/Lucasfilm acquisition deal. Over the past 24 hours we’ve seen a few more interesting bits of information come to light.
First up, fans of Timothy Zahn’s very popular ‘Thrawn Trilogy’ novels will be let down to hear that those books will not form the basis of the upcoming “Star Wars: Episode VII”.
A source confirms to E! Online that George Lucas’ story treatments, which are being used for the upcoming trilogy, are original works and specifically NOT adaptations of any pre-existing “Star Wars” novels.
That doesn’t rule out elements from the books making an appearance (depending upon the script writer) but does mean those keen to see the Thrawn storyline realised on the big screen – you’re out of luck.
Next, those calling George Lucas names for all the money he’s making out of this deal should probably stop now. Turns out Lucas will donate the majority of the proceeds to his philanthropic endeavours says THR. In the past he’s donated to the likes of the Film Foundation, Stand Up To Cancer, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The biggest news of the day though comes from Luke Skywalker himself, actor Mark Hamill. EW spoke with Hamill following the news break and, while the sale to Disney was as big a surprise to him as anyone, the announcement of the “Star Wars: Episode VII” plans was not.
In fact, Hammill says Lucas told him and actress Carrie Fisher last Summer that the sequel trilogy was moving forward with Kathleen Kennedy handling them:
Last August, he asked Carrie and I to have lunch with him and we did. I thought he was going to talk about either his retirement or the Star Wars TV series that I’ve heard about-which I don’t think we were going to be involved in anyway, because that takes place between the prequels and the ones we were in and, if Luke were in them, he’d be anywhere from a toddler to a teenager so they’d get an age-appropriate actor-or the 3-D releases.
So when he said, “We decided we’re going to do Star Wars: Episode VII, Star Wars: Episode VIII, and Star Wars: Episode IX,” I was just gobsmacked. “What? Are you nuts?!” [laughs] I can see both sides of it. Because in a way, there was a beginning, a middle, and an end and we all lived happily ever after and that’s the way it should be-and it’s great that people have fond memories, if they do have fond memories.
But on the other hand, there’s this ravenous desire on the part of the true believers to have more and more and more material. It’s one of those things: people either just don’t care for it or are passionate about it. I guess that defines what cult movies are all about. We’ll see. I’m anxious to know what’s going on, but the main story [yesterday] was the sale to Disney. I have mixed feelings about that, but they haven’t done badly by Marvel and the Muppets and Pixar. It’s one of those big decisions that at first seems unusual but then the more you look at it, the more it makes sense.
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