Official Info Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher were told August last year

No they dont

I don't think we can read too much into this. Given how long this has clearly been on the works I suspect it will turn out George told quite a lot of his closest friends. I'm sure Spielberg and Coppola will have known for a while.

Telling Mark and Carrie was probably just a case of a friend tellings friends about something exciting thats happening in his life.

Lucas met with Mark and Carrie this past summer, not last year. This all happened during CVI.

They are old friends, read it all the time that the trio from OT always in touch with Lucas. Read that long time back, if anyone remembers that Lucas did asked Fisher to doctor scripts for the prequels and she told him to just do it, his way.

But, speculating what went on in that lunch date, is anybody's guess. The relationship between the OT cast and Lucas will be stronger than the cast from the PT because the OT is where it all happened and where they all grow together.

B

Darth, I don't know where the kid got the notion.

Yeah, that actually might happen...I am happy you cleared things up for us.

For those who question why Harrison Ford wasn't involved in the meeting I might have a pretty simple answer.

Lucas, Hamill and Fisher all live in southern California and are all relatively active in the entertainment industry. Ford, however, is not active in the "Hollywood" scene. He lives on a ranch in Wyoming most of the time and is pretty particular about the projects he appears in. The story says Lucas, Hamill and Fisher had lunch together where they discussed the new films. I think the answer regarding Ford's absence would be that he doesn't live near them. Lucas has no reason to "snub" Ford or exclude him in any way. I have no idea as to their personal relationship, but they both have a very lucrative business relationship that dates back decades and I doubt either of them would want to do anything to hurt that foundation. From a logistics stand point it would be much easier for Lucas, Hamill and Fisher to get together in person.

I have never seen Ford say anything negative about Star Wars and he participated in the DVD releases with interviews about the character and his experiences. I doubt he would have any philosophical objection to appearing in a new trilogy and the decision would likely come down to the film's story, the character's importance and obviously the money he was being offered for the role.

Obviously we're going to know soon, we've already heard from Hamill. No doubt Fisher will talk and everybody will be trying to get a comment from Ford about all of this.

This is what I've been thinking. If the "lunch" was last year (2011), that's about the time that Carrie Fisher started her health kick/weight loss. Could that have been in order to get in better shape to reprise Leia? I think it's possible. And, back at CV, Mark joked with GL that he'd love to reprise Luke if he ever did Ep. VII. I really think that this has been in the works for several years and they are just now announcing it.

^ It wasn't; it was this August (2012).

It would be just magnificent to see Luke Skywalker again, in any shape or form. Imagine the moment he appears onscreen in the theater. The thunderous applause. Gives me shivers!

All will be revealed...in due time.

Mark hamil is a b class actor getting barely some roles in low budget movies. Do you realy think Disney will allow him even to come on their sets? I dont think so.

In Terminator Salvation they made a complete CGI Arnold Schwarzenegger. New Disney Star Wars will be CGI and Remake the Original ANH with a "modern story". Maybe Some Changes on Chewbacca or the Millenium Falcon. Maybe Han Solo beeing a Woman (Hanna) and replacing Leia completely. Maybe Lovestory between Luke S. and Hannah Solo the female Smuggler....

This is modern. Mark my Words people. Disney will steamroll this...

Hamill has been well-known as the Joker for the last 20 years; his on-going vocal performances have been lauded by fans and critics in several high-profile animated films and series. Your imaginary scenario in which Disney bars him from the set and remakes Star Wars digitally with a female Hanna Solo is based on what appears to be personal spite and aimless mental meanderings, not a working knowledge of the film industry.

But he is somewhat of a 'b class' actor. Visiting his IMDB profile will tell you such.

I didn't dispute that he's a "B-list" actor, so re-stating it gains no new ground. He is also much beloved by fans and has been lauded by critics for his vocal work since 1992. Is there some reason that you think Star Wars requires A-list actors? Are you aware that the likes of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, to name only two from among dozens, have never been more than B-list character actors?

Your whole post is complete nonsense. I assume you know that and you're just trying to be an instigator.

Man, good thing they didn't put that b-actor Leonard Nemoy in the last Star Trek. Amirite?

I would love to see Hamill, Fisher, and Ford reprise their roles as Luke, Leia, and Han. If TPTB are doing episodes VII-IX, a third trilogy to complete a trilogy of trilogies, then it doesn't make sense that they won't appear in at least one of the films if just to tie the three trilogies together. At the vey least, Luke should appear as a Jedi Master, it's what we've all been waiting for for nigh on 30 years. Lucas didn't sound like he was just going to toss the EU out the door, so maybe this means that Ben or Jaina will be the new young protagonists and Luke & Leia will take on the wise old sage roles.

Yeah, they've been working on these movies for a while...at least 6 months. My guess is more like a year though. That's why they can have it in theaters by 2015.

Not sure if this has already been posted, but here's an interview with Mark Hamill on the recent events done by IGN:

I think that is going to be the direction. A young(er) Skywalker or set of Skywalkers will carry on the new trilogy. I also think that Luke will meet a tragic end like Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. I as well wonder if Mara Jade will be part of it all, but that would require a lot of back story that they do not have the time to tell. I'm chancing to say that the Skywalker line will be carried on by Han and Leia's offspring; no extra explanation required there.

I tend to agree with you on this point. It is intriguing that Lucas contacted Mark. Why would he do this? It seems to me that Mark will be in Episode 7 in some capacity.