Club Jade

So Mark Hamill tells Buzzfeed, talking about his hopes to get a movie version of The Black Pearl shot before Star Wars production starts. He also talks about his stint on the Criminal Minds season finale, which he live-tweeted last night.

This is from last week, but it’s not like anyone actually watches Leno. Mark’s episode of Criminal Minds, the two-parter season finale, airs tonight.

Like these movies won’t be hits? As the Star Trek Into Darkness junket clips stagger out into the world, Abrams implies to MTV that the Star Wars spinoffs will depend on Episode VII going the distance.

Also from MTV: Damon Lindelof on Abrams and Star Wars, and they even asked Leonardo DiCaprio if he’d like to do future Star Wars. (He famously turned down Attack of the Clones back in the day.)

On that note… Simon Pegg talks about Abrams and Star Wars with Totalfilm – though he clarifies that he has no inside info from Abrams. And yes, they’re still asking random movie folks about Episode VII.

Interview. And finally, for someone who will almost certainly actually be in Episode VII, here’s more from Mark Hamill.

There was plenty to behold for the 30th anniversary screening of Return of the Jedi at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood as part of Entertainment Weekly’s first CapeTown Film Festival. Held on Star Wars Day, May the Fourth, the set of four screenings of the no-longer-final installment of the Star Wars saga brought out fans and celebs alike. With Jedi being my favorite Star Wars film, I was stoked to see it again on the big screen – twice! While we’ve already covered the news of Mark Hamill’s appearance after the evening screenings, there’s plenty more to share, including a visit from The Clone Wars cast and more! (Also check out my full photo album on Flickr!)

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Mark Hamill was the surprise guest at Entertainment Weekly’s CapeTown Film Festival after the Return of the Jedi screening tonight. And naturally there’s already video of him talking about the droids and doing a Harrison Ford impression.

Here are reports from IGN’s Eric Goldman and AICN’s Eric Vespe. He’s talking about him and Carrie being in Episode VII like it’s a done deal. (He hasn’t talked to Ford recently.) From Goldman’s article:

After the crowd cheered this statement, Hamill added, “That’s what the challenge is, is to try and meet expectations of what you guys want. I think there’s nothing wrong with CGI, but I think you have to have a balance, because the camera perceives the width and the depth and the weight – even if it’s a miniature model, the camera just realizes that. So when you have too much CGI and the clouds are CGI and the trees are CGI and the buildings are CGI, you’re getting to a point where the figure in the shot is like a hybrid of an animated film and live-action. And I want it to have an organic look so that we don’t get into Roger Rabbit territory.” He then added, with a laugh, “But I don’t imagine that the priority is what I want!”

He talked about how he believes to focus of the new films will be the next generation, and that his role will be more Obi-wanesque: “Heavy on the Jedi mind tricks, less on the lightsaber duels.”

Vespe stuck around for the second Q&A, where Hamill got asked about the Expanded Universe:

Hamill has never read any of the books or other extended universe stuff. “People say to me, “Dude, you’re married to Mara Jade! She’s smokin’ hot!” I go, “That would have been nice if they had thought of that when I was actually involved! You know, because it’s the ultimate good news/bad news joke. The good news is there’s an attractive woman in the universe, only one, the bad news is she’s your sister.”

Read both recaps – Hamill says we probably know more than he does about VII at this point, but he does still manage to talk quite a bit. Enjoy it while you can… And hope we get an official announcement soon!

UPDATE: Here’s a full video of one of the talks, thanks to Jason Ward!

Bob Iger was talking Lucasfilm on CNBC again, and he told them that there’s still no decision on bringing back the original actors. Or rather, that despite George Lucas’ comments last week, “We haven’t made an official announcement yet.” Indeed.

He does say that there have been “discussions” with the actors, but they’re waiting on Arndt’s script to make a final decision.

In a great story on the Lucasfilm acqusition by Disney in Bloomberg Businessweek, George Lucas more or less admits that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher are returning for the new movies:

Asked whether members of the original Star Wars cast will appear in Episode VII and if he called them before the deal closed to keep them informed, Lucas says, “We had already signed Mark and Carrie and Harrison—or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation. So I called them to say, ‘Look, this is what’s going on.’ ” He pauses. “Maybe I’m not supposed to say that. I think they want to announce that with some big whoop-de-do, but we were negotiating with them.” Then he adds: “I won’t say whether the negotiations were successful or not.”

That may be the big news out of this, but the article itself is a must-read on the process, with extensive input from Lucas and Bob Iger.

Hey, some actual sorta kinda casting news!  Entertainment Tonight spoke to Mark Hamill who revealed that he was approached — by George Lucas himself — about appearing in Episode VII.  And he indicates that he wasn’t the only one who may be coming back:

“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… 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.”

Still, he stresses that no contracts have been signed — which perhaps blows a hole in the Harrison Ford rumor — and that he hopes everyone is on board (Billy Dee Williams and Anthony Daniels included), “rather than just one.”  He also weighs in on what he’d like to see in the sequels, as well as the standalone movies.  Worth checking out the whole interview.

Mark Hamill’s new movie, Sushi Girl, had its premiere last night, so of course Hamill’s being asked about Episode VII.

“I just know that nothing’s been decided, whether we’re in or out,” he said to Coming Soon. But don’t expect any a Carrie-style snarking: “Until I know more about what they have in mind, I think it’s better to let Lucasfilm make the announcements,” he told E!

Meanwhile, SFX asked him where he’d see an older Luke Skywalker:

I remember when we were making the first trilogy I thought… When I realized they were gonna make the princess my sister, I said, “You know where this is headed? It’s headed for Obi-Wan territory, where I’m in a desolate hovel, as an elderly recluse.” But I’ve heard other ideas, like you say – somebody who’s training Jedi.

“I never, ever dreamed that we would do any more movies. And so I really sort of let it go,” he said.

The Mary Sue, via Reddit, spotted this 1983 interview that Hamill did with Maria Shriver. He talks about Return of the Jedi sequels at 3:06. (2004!)