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Disney Confirms Stand-Alone Star Wars Films

From SuperHeroHype.com:

Quote:

Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger has confirmed rumors that the studio is looking at a series of Star Wars films that will see release independent of the new trilogy and that will focus on specific characters from the overall Star Wars universe.

"There has been speculation about some stand-alone films that are in development," Iger tells CNBC. "I can confirm to you today that, in fact, we are working on a few stand-alone films. Larry Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are both working on films derived from great 'Star Wars' characters that are not part of the overall saga. We still plan to make Episodes 7, 8, and 9, roughly over a six-year period of time, starting in 2015. There are going to be a few other films released in that time, too."

Iger goes on to say that Kasdan and Kingberg are serving in a consulting capacity on J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII with Michael Arndt supplying the screenplay. Both writers are simultaneously working on new, as of yet unknown, Star Wars films.

The news arrives on the heels of yesterday's rumor that claimed the first such film would follow the adventures of Yoda. While that rumor has not been confirmed, Iger's comments suggest some truth to the reports.

You can watch Iger's announcement in the player below, courtesy of CNBC:

UPDATE: Here is the official statement from Lucasfilm:

The Star Wars cinematic galaxy is about to experience a Big Bang. Lucasfilm is officially announcing new spinoff films that will expand the mythos and depths of the Star Wars universe in previously unexplored ways.

One of the standalone films will be written by Lawrence Kasdan, screenwriter of The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and co-writer of Return of the Jedi while the other will be penned by Simon Kinberg, writer of Sherlock Holmes and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The movies will be separate from the upcoming Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, on which Kasdan and Kinberg are also consulting, and are expected to be released sometime after Episode VII. Each standalone film will focus on a specific character, and two spinoff films are currently confirmed.

In a call to investors, Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, revealed while the original focus was on the highly-anticipated sequel trilogy, the idea of spinoff films was bandied about early and the additional films are now becoming a reality. "We are in development of a few standalone films," he said, "that are not part of the Star Wars saga...there are now creative entities working on developing scripts for what would be those standalone films."

New Star Wars Stand-Alone Films to Follow Boba Fett and Young Han Solo

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Less than 24 hours after Walt Disney Pictures officially confirmed plans to develop stand-alone feature films in the Star Wars universe, EW is reporting that they have learned which two characters the first two projects will focus on: Boba Fett and a young Han Solo.

Plans for the Solo film call for it to take place in the time between the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy. No plot details have been revealed, but it's a near-certainty that a brand new actor would have to step in to play everyone's favorite scruffy looking Nerf-herder.

The adventures of Han Solo pre-A New Hope was actually the focus of one of the earliest Star Wars novels, 1979's "Han Solo at Star's End", set two years before the events of the 1977 film.

The Boba Fett film, meanwhile, would be set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back and would follow the bounty hunter on an intergalactic adventure.

Both of the the films (of which Lawrence Kasdan is said to be writing one and Simon Kinberg writing the other) are tentatively planned to see release sometime after 2015 when J.J. Abrams' Episode VII is planned to hit theaters.

Previous rumors called for a stand-alone film to follow the adventures of Yoda, but that has not yet been confirmed.

A part of me is excited about the possibility of these new films. The other part wants to say "I have a bad feeling about this." :laugh:

If they planned to completely disregard the Boba Fett continuity set up in the Prequels, then I would be pretty excited about the idea. I just worry that they are going to end up casting Temuera Morrison and it will feel more like a Jango Fett movie.