Hold on to your blasters, Harrison Ford is set to reprise his iconic portrayal of everyone’s favorite intergalactic space smuggler, Han Solo, when cameras roll early next year on Star Wars: Episode VII.
While Lucasfilm has yet to reveal official casting news, the cantankerous Ford all but confirmed his participation in the upcoming Star Wars film during a recent appearance on the U.K. chat-fest The Graham Norton Show. Despite non-committals from insiders at both Lucasfilm and Disney, the casting of Ford seems all but assured (with a few interesting caveats, of course).
Although it is common knowledge amongst the Star Wars-fan community that Ford found the character of Han Solo not to his liking (to put it mildly), word comes that he has agreed to pilot the Millennium Falcon one more time, if (and that’s a big if), work were to progress on a fifth Indiana Jones adventure.
That’s not all though, as it is being reported that Ford insisted on retaining creative control of Han Solo’s character arc in not only Episode: VII, but the ensuing two chapters as well (tantalizingly implying that Solo will appear in future films).
Fan-site Jedi News reports:
A verbal agreement with Ford to play Han Solo once more has been in principle place since before the Disney deal. Over the course of this summer financial settlements were reached. The outstanding points that had dragged on but are now resolved are:
Ford wanted to see the synopsis for his character’s development over more than just Episode 7. He saw this in August and is happy with the story arc.
Ford wanted a commitment to Indy 5. He did not get this as there is no plot line or script in place. What did happen was an agreement was made wherein an outline would be developed by the end of calendar year 2014, and if all parties can agree to it moving forward, efforts would be made to move on Indy 5 for release before the end of 2016.
Disney wanted a multi film deal with Ford which transcends Episode 7. This has now been agreed.
This is all very exciting stuff and coupled with the blockbuster news which broke late last week (the announcement that the dynamic duo of Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams are the new scribes for Episode VII), the Star Wars rumor-mill is now in hyper-drive.
What do you think about Mr. Ford’s demands for Star Wars Episode VII? Do you feel that they will help or hinder the further character development of both Han Solo and Indiana Jones? Let us know in the comments section below!