Lucas originally envisioned "Star Wars" as a single feature, but his 200-page screenplay proved too unwieldy. He then began tinkering with his story line, cutting it apart, sorting our all the various subplots. The script finally was pieced together as three distinct trilogies.
"There are essentially nine films," Lucas said. "The first trilogy is about the young Ben Kenobi and the early life of Luke Skywalker's father when Luke was a young boy. The first trilogy takes place some 20 years before the second. About a year elapses between each story of the first trilogy. The whole adventure - encompassing the three trilogies - spans about 40 years."
Three years ago, Hamill signed up for three "Star Wars" films, of which "The Empire Strikes Back" is the second. The third - still in the planning stage - will be called "The revenge of the Jedi," and Hamill worries that these titles will suggest the various Pink Panther sequels to audiences.
If things work out, these three movies will eventually constitute only a third of the projected nine-movie "Star Wars" saga, but Hamill doesn't plan to be in any of the others.
The "Star Wars" George Lucas has created in his mind will take nine movies to tell. "Star Wars" is actually "Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope," the first movie of the second trilogy. "The Empire Strikes Back" is "Star Wars, Episode V," while "The Return of the Jedi' is episode VI. The first trilogy deals with the young Darth Vader and the young Ben Kenobi. At the end of the first trilogy, Luke Skywalker is four years old. Only the robots - R2D2 and C-3PO - will be characters in all the movies.
He chose to start in the middle because the first trilogy is, he says, "more plot-oriented, more soap-operaish." He adds that the "central core problem" of "Star Wars" hasn't even been stated yet. Although he originally saw Star Wars as six movies, his "dream" was only for "Star Wars" to do well enough so that he could finish the three movies in the second trilogy. "If people had laughed 'Star Wars' off the screen, I'd have been less surprised than I was at what did happen," he says. "Until the day it opened, I felt it would do $16 million and, if I pushed hard, I could make 'Empire.'"
Like Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Ford has already signed up for the third "Star Wars" film, which is tentatively entitled "The Revenge of the Jedi." This will conclude the middle trilogy of the nine-part series, and Ford does not know whether it signals the end of Han Solo. It is up to George Lucas, the creator of the saga.
"He has an idea of doing one (involving what happened to Solo) about 15 years from now, when I'll be 53. That's something I'd like to do."
Thereafter, Lucas will go back to the first trilogy, starting with a story so far back that it does not include Darth Vader.
If interest sustains, Star Wars could be in production well into the 1990s. David Prowse figures he'll get killed off (by Luke Skywalker?) in the seventh or eighth story.
"It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers," George Lucas said in a written statement. "I've always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime."
Lucas said he will work as a creative consultant on Star Wars Episode 7, the first of a planned new trilogy of live-action Star Wars movies. It is targeted for release in 2015, Disney said.
Disney hopes to essentially relaunch the Star Wars film franchise, which had its last installment in 2005 with Revenge of the Sith. Following the three planned sequels, the company envisions releasing even more Star Wars movies at a rate of a new film every two to three years.
Future movies may not be sequels but movies that focus on fringe characters. Disney also believes there is potential for a television series.
