Little is known about Episode IX, which has a script being written by Trevorrow and Derek Connolly. Earlier this month, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy said that the late Carrie Fisher would not appear in IX as Leia.
Both Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars story opened in mid-December, as will Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Dec. 15, 2017). Disney and Lucasfilm now want to test the summer corridor (prior to Force Awakens and Rogue One, all the Star Wars films opened in summer.) Before announcing the date for Episode IX, Disney had already dated the untitled Hans Solo spin-off for May 25, 2018.
The good news for geeks: There will be less of a gap between The Last Jedi, which is technically Episode VIII, and Episode IX, than there will be between Force Awakens and Last Jedi, or two years. Mark Hamill may have spilled the beans about his iconic Star Warscharacter years ago while doing an interview with the late film critic Gene Siskel around the time Return of the Jedi was released. In the unearthed interview, Hamill said George Lucas explained to him his layout for the prequels and also told Hamill to be ready, because he had plans for Skywalker many years down the road.
«George has talked to me very marginally about doing something at the turn of the century in the last trilogy, but it wouldn’t be on the same plan of existence,» a young Hamill explained to the Chicago Tribune journalist.
Siskel cut in, «What it sounds like is he offered you a job to play a father [with] a Luke Jr. around the year 2000.»
Shaking his head in agreement, Hamill replied, «You’re a very clever man, Mr. Siskel.»There’s been endless speculation about Rey’s (Daisy Ridley) parentage in the new trilogy, with Luke put forward as a prime candidate for the role of her father. Lucas is not involved with the new trilogy after he sold the property to Disney in 2012, but he did share his story plans with Lucasfilm. Director Rian Johnson wrote December’s script for The Last Jedi, and though the story has likely completely changed since Hamill gave the interview decades ago, it is still fun to mull over the possibilities of Luke being a dad. The Last Jedi is due out in December.
