Star Wars Episode 7 News

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Han Solo To Be Central To Star Wars Episode 7???


Echo-07 here with some interesting tid-bits. Obviously, I'm a huge Han Solo fan, hence my call sign, so I'm pretty biased and found this particularly exciting. Check out the nugget after the Hyperspace jump . . .


Last week Viral Hide posted a little rumor that everyone's favorite scruffy-looking nerfherder was going to play a major role in Episode VII and possibly the Sequel Trilogy. In case you over-looked it with all the swirling rumors and news it went something like this:

The new cast members will join returning Star Wars alums Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill. The big surprise, I’m told, is that Ford has a gigantic role in the first of the next three films. Disney hasn’t been commenting on any of this, and today’s no different. Stay tuned.

Well, we now have a little more confirmation of this same rumor from a second source, Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly was on their Sirius Satellite program and basically seconded this rumor:

That Harrison Ford's Han Solo is one of the leads of this story [...] But Han Solo, I think, is the most important of all the Star Wars characters . . . 

Click the link above to hear the rest of the sound snippet, but it looks as though the ol' pirate is back for more than just a glorified death scene.



67 comments:

  1. Hmm. I wonder where this could lead...

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    1. I think Han will be the Leader of the Galactic Republic. With the threat directly involving him as he oversees the people, soldiers and Jedi order.

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    2. No. If anybody is going to be the leader of the republic I would say without a doubt leia, hans's no politician. They are giving him a big role so his death will be a major blow at the end of the new movie. Somebody has to go in this movie. Qui Gon died in TPM, Obi Wan in ANH. I doubt it will be luke. Somebody big has to go

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    3. chewie will die before han solo

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  2. Only contracted for Epidode VII. Major role in Epi. VII. Wanted meaningful, heroic death in VI. Hmmmmmm.

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  3. The number of movies hasn't been confirmed.

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  4. I'm a huge Han Solo fan too but i think it's not the correct way to follow.
    Buuuuuut, if he has the gegantic role only in the first film (death included or something) and then other characters take the major roles, obviously i'll not criticize the decisiĆ³n ;P

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    1. Honestly, I think Han will die but I think it would be too obvious IF he died in Episode VII. IMO he should be kept alive until Episode VIII.

      But I'm just really stoked with excitement that he's coming back at all.

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    2. I am not that happy because Ford is too old to have such a big role

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    4. I'm reaaly tired of "too old" opinions.
      There's no excuse to hate an old actor playing old characters.
      Probably cinema is not your principal hobby to get in, try other staff, cycling, running or something

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    5. I'm a big Ford fan as well as well as being a huge Han Solo fan, but what I wouldn't want to see is Han becoming a kind of Bruce Dern, 'Nebraska' type character over the 3 sequels.

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    6. rules of life...get over it
      in fact you made a good point: Solo being an old space pirate who remebers anything from his past, he is no dangerous at all for anyone, Leia devastated, kids without a father.....

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    7. Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other, and I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen *anything* to make me believe that there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything. 'Cause no mystical energy field controls *my* destiny. It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.

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    8. Famous quote by George W. Bush, no doubt!

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    9. really? a Bush joke was you could think about...

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  5. NOBOY calls han solo a bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I bet Solo's roll is prity much like Kane's roll in the eraly drafts for star wars.
    Solo will ask luke to take care for his sons.
    one of them will be the hero of the new trilogy and the second will turn evil.

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    1. Han Solo was calling everyone else "bitches."

      Han is de Man!

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    2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut04e_Dpnwo

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    3. Micheal - I think you might be right about the Solo kids, but I don't necessarily think that it will be an "evil" solo. I think that one of the Solo parents will die in the end of VII which will force one of them to seek revenge. I think the Hard-Ass solo kid who may be trained in the force has the best shot of balancing the dark side if balance means the acceptance of the Dark Side by the Jedi. I think a cool last scene before the ZOOM fade to "Created by George Lucas" would be one of the solo kids having stolen the falcon jumping to light speed next to a planet with rings to go after revenge.. What would get this movie going is if after the jump to light speed we see the Slave 1 follow shortly after. This would also be cool if it was the first sign of Boba Fett which could setup VIII. This is all of course contingent on the Falcon having not been crashed in the death. I know the Boba Fett thing was a real stretch. But since he had a pretty modest role in Return of the Jedi - I think its obvious fans want him to have survived the sarlac.

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  6. If it's a big role, that 100% means Han Solo dies.

    Crap!

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  7. Ford himself has always said he thought the character of Han Solo to not be very interesting (WHAT? I know, right? Solo is the coolest dude in the galaxy!!!) but I think Abbrams and Kasdan had to re-write the script around Han so that the character would be more appealing for Ford to reprise his role once again.

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    1. Agreed! You may be right, especially since Arndt apparently focused more on the new heroes.

      JJ worked with Ford before on Regarding Henry. I think JJ knows he has to use Ford now while he can.

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    2. That makes sense. Harrison Ford almoust stayed out of ROTJ. He preferred Solo to die in ROTJ, but it didn´t happened. Now, it is very likely that Han Solo (The second badass in StarWars IMO after Boba Fett) will die in one of these new movies. More likely in VIII, since they want the fans to get accustomated with the new characters.

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    3. Well, I think making the role appealing to Ford must've been important, sure. But a check with his name and lots of 0's could've also done the trick, w/o having to make Han the star of the show at the expense of the twins, who are even more important to the overall arc (never heard that the title "A New Hope" referred to some free-spirited, roguish Corellian smuggler).

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  8. I do worry a lot about Han. Harrison Ford is not a great actor anymore and he isn't keen on Han anyway. I think Harrison must have ordered his character to have a large role else he wouldn't agree to do it so they had to compromise. Maybe this is one of the reasons behind the script shake up. Bit annoying as he isn't the most important man in the galaxy. Luke is the last Jedi and Leia is probably the leader of the new republic so will be very important. But Han was always just the wisecracking smart ass sidekick. But hey, who knows what the story is. I'm sure it will all work out. I just hope this doesn't impact Leia and Luke's roles as they are actually important figures.

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    1. I agree w/most of what you've said. I can only hope that the script is good, despite the possibility of it revolving around Han just to accomodate the actor who turned out to be the biggest name among the Big 3.

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  9. Oh no, so, is he going to die? Would be sad.

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  10. this is going to be interesting

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  11. I hope its just a rumor ....not a fan of solo much.

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  12. Yeah if Solo has a big role, don't be surprised if he's dirt napped by the end.

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  13. Maybe its Leia that dies and Han is for revenge.

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    1. ugh that would be a terrible story

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    2. Han dies and Leia, mad with grief and rage, is driven into the dark side? Luke has to go after her ... No, I don't think this is a good plot.

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    3. Right.

      I can see it now: Star Wars, Episode VII: Revenge of the Smuggler

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  14. And yet there's still no confirmation or denial about a second female lead?

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  15. The second female confirmation should be coming very soon. And it'll be the principal role too. Look at 'The Hunger Games' - what audiences want is a heroine who's tough, intelligent, calculating and bad-ass when needed. All you need then is an actress who has the acting chops and the gravitas to pull it off.

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    1. With all due respect, Disney didn't have to shell out 5 billion for SW, just to give audiences what "they want".

      I've got nothing against a strong female lead (in this film or any other). In fact I think SW could use a little more diversity, but it's such a huge phenomenon that it's success is pretty much guaranteed, even if the lead were to be a hermafrodite Jedi of alien origins.

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    2. The fact that Star Wars is guaranteed to be huge regardless is not the point.
      The new phenomenon in movie going is the YA audience, as evidenced by the global success of The Hunger Games and to a lesser degree by Divergent.
      Along with Superhero movies, Disney should be taking full advantage of both these trends.

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    3. Oh, the film will cater to the young adult movie-going audience, don't worry.

      It will also attract the fans of the 2 previous trilogies, along with their younger brothers, sisters, children and even grandchildren, in some cases.

      That's all but guaranteed, w/o the need for SW to become The Hunger Games or, Force forbid, the Twilight saga.

      See, this is why we have the word Classics, as in something standing the test of time, with no need to change the formula that made it ageless to begin with.

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    4. The biggest problem SW always had despite it's success and global
      appeal is that it has not been a huge success with females (and I speak from experience). Disney need to make SW more enticing for females by giving them protagonists/antagonists they can better relate to.

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    5. To anon 4:38, hunger games sucked. Just a cheap rip off of Battle Royale with an overrated actress. Disney aren't obligated to cast another actress just for the sake of casting another actress. All they obligated to do is tell /write the best story/script they can and hire good actors to fill their roles not because they are black, white, Asian, Muslim, male or female. None of that matters but pick the best actor that fits the particular role they are playing. End of story

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    6. Whether or not I agree with your opinion of THG and it's lead doesn't matter.
      What matters is that Disney makes SW7 appealing to both genders.
      Women make up the largest percentage of the enormous global audience for THG. SW has always had a male dominated audience. THG has shown how successful that formula is in attracting a massive female audience and fandom. Disney need to incorporate that somehow into the making and marketing of SW7.

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  16. I personally think it is not the best move to make Han the central character, as great a character as he is. I am worried they are going for that, consciously or unconsciously, because he is the biggest star of the trio. I would rather have the story center around Luke, or have the story divided more evenly between them all.

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    1. I think Han will be more important, probably will die, but i think overall the movie will be spread out evenly among all the characters. JJ is great at making an ensemble cast all important -- LOST!

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    2. Lost was a TV show, Echo-7. You'll always have more time to flesh out the characters when you have a good 10, 12 hrs. to work with, as opposed to a 2, 2.5 hr. film.

      Besides, I don't think this rumor's referring to Han playing a more important role only. True or false, what this implies, IMO, is that Han Solo will be the protagonist of Ep. VII. Otherwise, why the need to spread it?

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    3. "Lost was a TV show, Echo-7"

      Echo-07, I mean. Sorry for the typo.

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    4. You're right in that TV gets alot more time to develop characters. However, the BIg 3 and Chewie and the droids are already developed, so the time will be there for the supoorting cast and new generation to be developed evenly. Just because Han MAY be central doesn't mean that it's about Han and Chewie running around the galaxy with everyone else making cameos.

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  17. One of the reasons why Han was so brilliant was because he was just supporting character. Putting him in the spotlight is a shame. I hope when they say "big" they just mean important.

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  18. By the time the film comes out we will all know the whole movie already from sites such as this and it will spoil the surprises. I must admit I have been pretty much visiting this site nearly everyday for months and it has been quite addictive... so it will be very hard to stop myself keep checking back for the latest news and gossip... but I must.
    I am just so happy now that all the original cast are back for one more ride, that is all I wanted to know about so I could sleep alot better at nights.
    I want to know as little about the movie as possible from now on, so when I go to see the movie It will be just like being a kid again, just as I was when I saw ROTJ at the cinema in June 1983 on my 9th birthday.
    So that's enough for me now until the trailers come out and then finally the finished movie in December 2015.
    So much to look forward too, can't wait.
    Until then, may the force be with you all.

    Take care guys and thanks Viral for all the time and effort you put into this blog over the past months keeping us informed of all the latest developments and gossip, it was much appreciated.

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    1. I am in the same boat as Lea. I just really cared more about the original cast returning than anything. It will be very hard to not come here as its now a habit, but the reward on 12/18/15 will be even sweeter! I have enjoyed this site very much and thank all involved for keeping it going. I am sure with social media, and the world as it is today, keeping spoiler free will be close to impossible. All I can do is try. I am going to go one step further than Lea and not even watch teasers and trailers once they come out. It will take will power like I never used before, but if I could kick my nasty smoking habit, not watching a trailer should be easy.

      See you all in December of 2015 to talk about the finished film......

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    2. Lea, I hear ya. At some point I'll end up bailing from this site for awhile too, in order to keep Episode VII as fresh as I can when it finally does come out.

      I have always regretted reading the ESB novel and knowing that Vader was Luke's father before the movie came out in the theater, and I have made a point of avoiding spoiling subsequent SW flicks like that.

      Once Ep. VII comes out, though, I bet we'll all be back here whooping it up again. ;^)

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    3. I'm in the same boat. I got the only news that I needed. John Williams will return to score, and the big 3 are back. The only thing I want between now and dec 18th 2015 is the title, a poster, and a teaser trailer. I wont be going on this site a month before release. Ill also try to avoid the internet the week before, we'll see how that goes.

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  19. Lea, I hope you're not going anywhere. This site is going to become a monster soon! ;)

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    1. Absolutely! This site's here for the long haul.

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  20. If Harrison is indeed the lead in this (and he probably is), I really hope he raises his energy level considerably and puts some heart into it the way he used to.

    I gotta believe he still has something left in the tank. Surely, he must realize that EP7 is his last hurrah and his last shot at box office relevance. He will be nearly 80 by the time we get to EP 9, and then he will be riding off into the sunset like Indiana.

    JJ, if you are reading, please direct Mr. Ford to speak twice as loudly as he did in Crystal Skulls. That should fix the problem.

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  21. Interesting parts (to me) from what he's said were insights from behind the scenes people:

    "Harrison Ford's Han Solo is one of the leads of this story. And I think Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, their characters are more supporting, but also significant in the way that Alec Guinness was a supporting character, but vital."

    "Han Solo I think he is the most important of all the Star Wars characters. The story isn't really about him though. He's just such an important piece because he's the one who casts a little side eye toward all of these proceedings. And that justifies it."

    "Episode VII [is] a Han Solo story. And it's about the next generation ... which I think is appropriate. This is the story of life - as we get older we hand the reigns to the generation that comes after us, and control of the galaxy ... is no different."

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  22. A story based on solo sounds boring an uninteresting to me...sorry.
    I hope this is not the case, otherwise it is going to be an Epic fail for J.J and he will have to go into exile. I honestly hope they don't kill him off, although it is really a no brainer since Ford hates Star Wars..Killing Solo is a mistake .

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  23. If it's really a Star Wars story it should be the next generation of Skywalker's and the continuation/rebuilding of the Jedi order. that's why the last film was called "return of the jedi." where does Han fit into all that? I'm hoping Luke will have just as much of a center stage as Han. Sad to think they would right Han Solo into a bigger part simply because the actor that portrayed him has had a more successful career in the last thirty years.

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  24. Han Solo worked not so much because he was snarky but he played opposite Luke and Obi-Wan. So while I agree it was just as much of a mistake to eliminate that contrarian foil for the Jedi in the PT, it would be just as much if not more so to eliminate the other end of the conflict that would be Luke. So what works is the interplay between Han and Luke especially now that there is no romantic tension between Han and Leia anymore or rather their shouldn't be because I really don't want to see that or care.

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  25. If he's more important than Luke they've got it wrong. And if the old characters are more important than the new they've got it wrong.

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  26. I think it makes sense if it's about the journey and ascent of their daughter, the next generation Skywalker. I think a really good Star Wars story could be told without any of the old cast involved or keeping their roles minimized (no kids), but now that we know they are significant, it's about putting it to the use of establishing the new.

    If Han has a lead role just for Ford to have a lead role, that would not be a good thing. Judging by the proximity to Abrams by Ford and Ridley from the photo, I hope it's the former.

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  27. My guess, is that he's gonna die. Harrison Ford thought the character needed that by the end of Episode V. That could make bigger things happen in the following movies. Just a wild guess.

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  28. han solo in the original trilogy was fairly the same throughout, and thats why he didn't interest harrison ford very much...

    BUT, i expect that with a 35 year time-jump, the character will have a little bit more range. I expect that he'll be able to play the smart, militant leader (aka enders game), a wise, father figure, both mixed with the badass smuggler we know and love.

    Also, harrison ford's stance on star wars has softened in the last half-a-decade, and combine that with his lack of hits lately (theres a reason he agreed to jump into the expendables...) , he knows that star wars is a sure-fire way to get back to the top.

    PLUS, if lucasfilm was smart, they would have negotiated Ep VII and VIII in return for INDY5. i bet the reason they didnt reveal the big three a year ago instead of waiting til last week was because of these negotiations...

    Whilst i expect a han solo death scene in this trilogy, i wouldnt be suprised if it was held back to episode 8... heck, if they do take a little inspiration from the eu (they said that we could expect bits and pieces....), han solos death could be the catalyst for one of his children to turn to the dark side and become the villain...

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  29. The celebration at the climax of Return of the Jedi was/is the quintessential hurrah for the heroes of the OT. Fast-forward 30 years, and quite honestly I think that it would be idiotic for the "big 3" to return just to get killed off. It would serve no purpose, whatsoever. At one point in time torture scenes involving the main hero were geared toward garnering the same reaction that death scenes are used for now. Instead of killing a character b/c the writer is not talented enough to write for them ala Chewie in the EU, why not come up with a story in the good ol' Rocky mold, in which the hero is challenged to overcome an insurmountable obstacle, and they show that anything is possible when they do. Inspiration sells too, and with so many people speaking harshly about the actors' ages across the web I think that said story is what is needed from Star Wars... the mythical, far away place where so many fans once wanted to visit so that they too could be a Jedi, princess or even a rogue smuggler that always defied the odds, and won. I mean seriously, though, Han always lucked out when it counted the most, and as such it would not be holding true to his character to opt for his luck just running out. Star Trek already did that with Bill Shatner in favor of Patrick Stewart, and you do not hear much about that film nor about the fact that Kirk died, probably b/c the idea of Kirk randomly dying after all of his adventures was downright unbelievable to sell to a fan of the character.

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