Is George Lucas planning a new Star Wars movie trilogy, to take place after Return of The Jedi? It depends on who you listen to. Last week, IESB reported the rumor that Lucas was planning on three new movies to follow the 3D re-release of the six existing movies, a la the prequel trilogy that followed the mid-90s release of the original movies’ Special Editions, albeit in an interesting and somewhat confused manner:
George Lucas is plotting to create new Star Wars movies at the ultra top-secret Skywalker Ranch… It’s not for certain if they will be the long-awaited Episodes 7, 8 and 9 but could instead be Episodes 10, 11 and 12 or possibly even further out in the Star Wars timeline.
Almost as soon as the internet had exploded in outrage, Lucasfilm were already denying the rumor to Wired:
This is, of course, completely false… George Lucas has plenty of projects to keep him busy right now — including plenty of Star Wars projects — but there are no new Star Wars feature films planned.
IESB stand by the original rumor, pointing out that of course Lucasfilm is unlikely to just say “Yeah, you got us” in response, but I think this is one of these cases where the official PR might be telling the truth. After all, Lucas is already definitely working on the live-action Star Wars television show, which is rumored to be multiple seasons in length, and from comments he’s made about that project, it sounds as if he’s more interested in television as a narrative medium right now than cinema. Now, whether or not he’ll pull a Star Wars: The Clone Wars and launch that TV show with a movie released in theaters, that’s another story… but a whole new movie trilogy on top of the live-action show and the Clone Wars cartoon? Somehow, I can’t see it…
More On Techland:
Official: 3D Star Wars Starting 2012
Book Trailer: The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back