Lucas and the new chairperson, Kathleen Keneddy talk about teh decision: http://nukethefridge.com/2012/10/30...alks-disney-the-future-of-star-wars-and-more/
I would actually not be surprised if Lucas tries to do complete CGI versions of Luke, Han, Leia, etc., and gets the original actors doing the voices again.
According to the interview I read above, Kennedy is in control of the creative aspects and wants to preserve the integrity of the characters
Can't see what this could possibly hurt, at this point. And sure, Abrams ought to make one. At least he's not Lucas.
So... does that mean Han is back to shooting first? I keed. Hopefully the Palpatine clone storyline [from dark Empire] is ditched. I wasn't a big fan of that idea, although I haven't read it yet (halfway through the Zhan trilogy now). New characters... well rounded, flushed out characters. That'll help. And rabid fans! Mara Jade will more or less have to be addressed, right? Or not? Shit, I don't even know. Well, not knowing is also pretty exciting. Logic would have the film set 20-30 years after ROTJ for balance... so Luke, Liea, Han, Chewie and Lando should still be alive, but there is no reason to think they would have to be involved in the story. If they set the new trilogy even later than that, more room to move around the established EU to date. It might be fun to skip two generations and leave the "wiping out the remnants of the empire" nugget. I have always loved the idea of a New Jedi Order, though I haven't gotten that far in the EU either. Makes sense... EU canon. I assume Mara Jade falls into the same category?
My guess is, Episode VII will pick up more-or-less where the novels are now: A sixty-something Luke Skywalker, training his college-aged son Ben. The Jedi Order has been reborn, but is having a rocky relationship with the Galactic Alliance (the Republic/Empire's replacement). Han's semi-retired and may be dead by the time VII starts (covered in a set-up novel) - if Leia appears at all, it'll be a brief role as a Jedi Council member. Lando's off on the far side of the galaxy raising his family. Chewie's long gone. In other words, right now we're where Lucas wanted things to be by the time of this new trilogy. Luke, Threepio and Artoo are the only characters left over from the previous films, and only the two droids will make it through all nine films. The only bit of Expanded Universe I could see getting blown up would be the "Legacy" comic book series, set almost a century after this point. I'd consider that an acceptable tradeoff, especially if the story is what I suspect it is.
Why go to all the trouble of creating CGI characters just to have them look like younger versions of the originals, when careful and intelligent re-casting could handle the issue quite well? If Spock can be successfully recast, any character can. Don't underestimate the ability of new actors to take an iconic role and make it their own, while being respectful of the original performances. JJ Abrams just did that not to long ago with a gaggle of iconic characters. Is Disney inherently less creatively capable than Paramount? Jennifer Lawrence = Leia. Probably get an unknown for Luke (Chris Pine was more or less unknown when he got the role of Kirk). Dunno who for Han, I'd give Michael Rosenbaum a shot at it. And sure, let's bring in Mara Jade. The actress doesn't need to be a natural redhead of course, so the possibilities are wide open.
I just realized something. Star Wars has a vibrant fanfilm subculture, and Disney is notorious for C&Ding the crap out of anyone who makes "unauthorized" use of it's properties (like forcing a pre-school to paint over a mural featuring Disney characters). So what happens to the fanfilms? Could well be the end of that type of fandom.
One thing about Star Wars is that they've been pretty lenient with fan films, fan edits, parodies and more. I fear Disney may mean the end of Robot Chicken and Family Guy specials, Adywan special editions and so on. EDIT: I guess I'm not the only one thinking this...
^^ It's incredible the fanfilms have survived this far. The clampdown on IP gets more and more severe every year.
She tends to be more accepted and embraced by traditional fans than the Solo kids/New Jedi Order/Yuuzhan Vong stuff, but yeah I'd say she's EU canon more than anything. Lucas and his people have long considered her canon but with the new Trilogy that could change.
EU will go out the window in order to make what the want. Disney owns the rights, not anyone on this forum.
DING DONG THE EUs DEAD! WHICH EU? THE SHIT EU! DING DONG THE SHIT EU IS DEAD!!!!! *Doing happy dance of joy!!!!*
I'm fine with that. Too much of the EU has been junk aside from a handful of video games and novels, and don't get me started on that hideous Cade Skywalker crap set more than a century after the Original Trilogy...those are some of the worst SW stories ever conceived.
Lucasfilm is going to continue to exist as a separate, autonomous company and be operated as such; it will simply now fall under the larger umbrella of the Disney Corporation the same way that Marvel, Pixar, and ABC do, so I wouldn't expect that any of the company's current policies concerning the relationship between the films, the Clone Wars cartoon(s), and the EU to change. There's a video interview on StarWars.Com concerning today's developments that is very illuminating in terms of what the future holds for both the SW franchise and Lucasfilm as an entity and I would suggest that everyone who has a chance should go to the site and watch it.
In reality the general public doesnt know what the EU is, much less give a shit, and the general public's money is why Disney bought the franchise. I could see whomever helms the new movies taking certain elements from the EU but for the most part it's going to remain as irrelevant as it's always been. I am quite curious as to who will direct. As long as Lucas and his lap dog Dave Filoni stay away from it, it has the potential to be pretty good.