Speaking of Aisha and Lando, I'd be happy to see her as his daughter.

Lando....the only black man in space.

Talking about black men in space. I seriously thought Vader was a black guy cuz of James Earl Jones doing the voice. I was shocked when I saw that it was an old fat white guy. I remember being a little kid and wondering how weird that was to NOT have JEJ as Vader.

"And Jedi's the most insulting installment! Because Vader's beautiful black visage is sullied when he pulls off his mask to reveal a feeble, crusty, old white man! They tryin' to tell us that deep inside we all wants to be white! "

Yeah, but Lando got to fly the Millenium Falcon!

[raises hand] What's a nubian?

Of course Billy Dee will be back. He's voiced Lando multiple times on Robot Chicken so he's not one of the actors that tries to distance himself from the character. Maybe he's just smart enough to know how popular the character is and how many people know him due to Lando. Sure he's done other roles but how many of those characters are remembered? He isn't a Alec Giness that yells at kids for not knowing his other roles.

I remember Billy Dee from those infamous Colt .45 malt liquor commercials from the '80s.

I've seen him in other movies besides the two(?) SW movies he did but I have to think about which ones first. He was in LADY SINGS THE BLUES with Diana Ross, but I don't recall what else offhand. Oh yeah, that "Negro Baseball" movie with him and Richard Pryor, THE BINGO LONG TRAVELING ALL-STARS AND MOTOR KINGS.

"Well isn't that true?"

Batman Returns?

Not Returns, Batman '89.

Harvey Colt 45 Dent people!

I never had this experience. I guess all that time as a kid I never saw JEJ in other films, or if I did I didn't link his voice work with his face.

This remains one of those facets of SW fandom that I only get in a peripheral kind of way.

You're right of course. Dunno what I was thinking.

I hope Episode 7 is subtitled "Revenge of the Phantom Menace"

Brad Bird tweeted that he's not directing it. I don't know if he passed on the project or was simply squashing the rumor.

Carrie Fisher also mentioned at a book signing that her return as Leia was "common knowledge", but her publicist later stated that the comment was made in jest. Nothing is confirmed.

Total Film already listed a UK release date of July 17, 2015. Lord knows where they got that info from.

how about DJ Caruso or Andrew Stanton?


I'm starting to feel like it doesn't matter who directs it... regardless of who it is, the higher ups will make sure that it still "looks" like a Star Wars movie. They'd never do Tarantino or Fincher as they have really distinct direction styles which would make the new movies feel out of place with the OT/PT.

Yeah, I was wondering what they'd do since Avengers 2 was set for May 2015, afaik.

I've been reading up on Joe Johnston and didn't know he designed the Boba suit and directed the Rocketeer, Jurassic Park III, and Captain America. I think he'd a good choice. I think Kennedy said it was down to two directors, maybe Johnston and Vaughn.

Mark Hamill is whiter than white, how could his father be a black man? Never understood the confusion.

That was the Dark Empire comic story...

He's already working on 1952 right now so he wouldn't be able to.

He's a white guy but Carrie Fisher is whiter than Hamill.

Being the little kid I was. When I knew the voice was Jones. I thought Vader was Jones in the suit as well. Especially cuz I liked him a lot for some reason...probably cuz of Conan. So yeah, not knowing that the man in the suit can also not be the voice...can be weird to experience as a little kid.

It also isn't weird to believe that a black guy is a white guy's dad, especially when you're a little kid. Where, depending on how you perceived it, race wasn't a big deal to you at times.

Which is also set up at Disney. They could have made it work if both parties were willing.

Again, it's kind of a huge burden to take on and I can see why more established directors with other projects in the pipeline are taking a pass. Most of these guys are fans themselves and no one wants to be the recipient of all that fanboy rage if the film ends up mediocre, or worse. One article mentioned that Lucasfilm already approached and were rejected by J.J. Abrams. Really? I know the guy has his followers, but I'm a purist who believes that Trek and Star Wars talent shouldn't mix (outside of a sci-fi convention).

I'd definitely prefer Matthew Vaughn over any of the names that have been rumored to be in the running. I'm betting they actually have the director selected and are just playing it close to the chest for the time being. Michael Arndt was already onboard and had submitted a lengthy treatment before his name was even mentioned as one of the possible writers.

It never crossed my mind. As a kid, I knew Prowse was in the suit, because I read everything SW, & expected to see him. Though not explained back then, I always thought JEJ voice was created by voice synthesizer in mask.

Michael Bay. At least you know the explosions weren't created in a computer.