Mark Hamill Knew About The Star Wars Sequels…

File under: this is how rumours start – apparently George Lucas invited Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher to lunch back last August to tell them about Star Wars Episodes VII to IX.

Will this Jedi return?

“[He] asked Carrie [Fisher] and I to have lunch with him and we did,” Hamill tells EW. “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 Episodes VII, VIII and IX,” I was just gobsmacked. ‘What? Are you nuts?!’”

But hold on a minute if the cogs in your mind are beginning to grind into motion. It might be easy to put two (Star Wars stars) and two (free meals) together and ponder: “Hmmm, so Lucas must have been discussing whether they’d be happy to re-appear as Luke and Leia…” EW, though, reckons that, “He also doesn’t know what involvement – if any – he’ll have in future Star Wars films.”

Then again… he would say that, wouldn’t he? (Cue suspicious, “Hmmmmmm…” and stroking of chin.)

He says he’s as surprised as anyone about the sale to Disney, though: “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.”

• Star Wars Episode VII – What Can We Expect in 2015?
• Tweets Of The Week Star Wars reaction special
• Star Wars Episode VII – The SFX Team Reaction