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Report: Kennedy tells Lucasfilm employees they plan to make “two or three films a year”

The Star Wars issue of Entertainment Weekly isn’t out yet, but apparently Kotaku got an early peek at it – and they’re reporting that Kathleen Kennedy says that Lucasfilm wants to make “two or three films a year.”

The full quote appears in the comments, from Luke Plunkett:

Lucasfilm’s co-chairman and soon-to-be president, Kathleen Kennedy, has told employees she wants the company to produce two or three films a year (it’s averaged fewer than four per decade), and first up is Star Wars: Episode VII for 2015, which will pick up sometime after Darth Vader gave his life to overthrow (figuratively and literally) the Emperor and save Luke in 1983’s Episode VI— Return of the Jedi. Yes, the plan is to return to the characters in the first trilogy (1977–83). Whether the original actors will have significant roles or merely be on hand to pass the baton to a new generation of actors—something Lucasfilm tried with mixed success with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Disney with TRON: Legacy—is unclear.

Two or three? Well, we can probably assume we’ll get three in 2014 – the 3-D re-releases of the original trilogy. But somehow, I doubt that’s what she’s talking about… Disney seems mostly focused on Star Wars, but that’s… A lot of Star Wars. (Market saturation much?) If they are all Star Wars, anyway.

… Or this could all be a misquote of the original thing we heard about one movie every 2 to 3 years. Personally, that’s what I’m hoping for.

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Roundup: Entertainment Weekly gives Star Wars the cover

Media. The cover of this week’s new issue of Entertainment Weekly is – surprise! – devoted to Star Wars. This means that anyone who hasn’t already heard about Episode VII will see it at the grocery story and pester us about it! Hooray!

Screenwriting. Curious about Michael Arndt? Scott Myers at Go into the Story has devoted a series of posts to his comments on screenwriting. (via)

Directors. We already figured this from his comments last week, but J.J. Abrams has out and out denied that he’s up for Episode VII. Please save all your lens flare jokes for Star Trek into Darkness.

Your moment of bwah. With the new (last?!?) Twilight movie encroaching, of course someone asked Robert Pattinson if he’d like to be in Star Wars. His answer? “Oh, absolutely. In a heartbeat.” Love or hate him, consider yourself warned. (via)

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Speculation: Could Brenda Chapman be involved in Episode VII?

Lucasfilm hired Brenda Chapman – who was the writer and original director for Brave at Pixar- in August. Reports were that she was consulting on a ‘mystery project’ for Lucasfilm Animation…. But in the wake of the Disney sale and sequel trilogy announcements? Bleeding Cool notes some of her recent tweets – including a link to a Time story on Episode VII. Could she be involved with the new films somehow? ” We will just have to wait and see what happens,” she tweeted to one such inquiry.

Of course, it’s worth noting that all of Chapman’s credits are in animation – she directed Dreamwork’s The Prince of Egypt – and Episode VII already has a writer. But ‘consultant’ does cover a lot of ground, and the timing is pretty curious…

And yes, this is pure, unbridled speculation – even Bleeding Cool admits she might really be working on that fairy musical we’ve barely heard about, or something else entirely. Still, an interesting prospect.

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Who could direct Episode VII? No word yet, but lots of possible candidates

Now that we have a writer for Episode VII, our next likely announcement will be the director – and there are lots of possible candidates floating around. So let’s thank Empire for creating a handy chart of who’s ruled themselves out, who’s dancing around the possibility, and a whole lot of wild cards. (via)

Kathleen Kennedy and George Lucas talked about some of what they’re looking for in a director in a video released last week.

Meanwhile, Indiana Jones producer Frank Marshall, Kennedy’s husband, says that they’ve narrowed it down to “a couple of candidates.”

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Crazy-ass Episode VII rumor du jour: Darth Vader returns, and Obi-Wan killed your father

‘Industry insiders’ tell Express.co.uk that Darth Vader will be returning in Episode VII.

“He’s an integral part of the franchise. Replacing him is virtually impossible,” explains a film mole.

“The plan is for him to return and play a significant role in the new films.”

Lest we forget, Darth Vader died – as Anakin Skywalker – in Episode VI, Return of the Jedi. And I’m sure this can be fanwanked to hell and back – flashback? Zombie? Reincarnation? – but for now, let’s just remember that sometimes a rumor is just a rumor.

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Out this week: The Old Republic slogs on with Annihilation

It’s yet another Sith-heavy week for new releases. Out Tuesday is the latest Old Republic novel, Drew Karpyshyn’s Annihilation. And on Wednesday, Lost Tribe of the Sith: Spiral #4.

And after these, we’re down to just one more book release through the end of the year – Fate of the Jedi: Ascension in paperback on November 27th. Of course, there’s always Timothy Zahn’s Scoundrels on January 1st…

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EUbits: Denning’s Crucible date shifts again – but not far

Release dates. Troy Denning’s Crucible has appeared in the Random House catalog with a date of July 9 – last we heard, it was the 2nd. But remember, we’re far enough out that it may still change again.

Comics, currently. Brian Wood talks about his Star Wars comic with Westfield Comics. (You can take a look at the cover for issue #2 at Newsarama.) And CBR has a look at Doug Wheatley’s cover for Dark Times: Fire Carrier.

Interviews. Fangirl talks to Drew Karpyshyn, while the latest installment of Jedi Journals has Del Rey’s Erich Schoeneweiss – recorded before the Episode VII announcement.

Comics, history. CBR’s Comic Book Legends Revealed looks at the rumor that George Lucas was not so pleased with Jaxxon the giant green rabbit, among other Marvel hearsay.

The blogside. If wacky old Marvel isn’t crazy enough for you, Tosche Station’s Nanci has continued her Jedi Prince retrospective with Zorba the Hutt’s Revenge, Mission from Mount Yoda, and Queen of the Empire.