LAWRENCE KASDAN Wants “Fresh Start” for STAR WARS

Star Wars fans have been in full blown rumor-mode since the announcement of stand-alone films springing from the franchise. The LA Times, caught up with Lawrence Kasdan who is penning one of the stand-alone films to get his thoughts on the vision of the new films.

“I’m trying to start fresh,” said Kasdan. “There are certain pleasures that we think the saga can bring to people that they’ve been missing, and we’re hoping to bring them that, and at the same time, have them feel that it’s all new.”

Kasdan would not confirm the main character of the story that he is writing, but the rumor mill is suggesting that it could be either based on a young Han Solo or Boba Fett. He did confirm that George Lucas asked him to come back to the franchise.

“George sort of brought me into this part of it, and he’s stepping back from the company,” said Kasdan. “He’s sort of given his blessing to everybody, and he’ll be there if you need him. I think everyone’s interested to see where this can go. It’s been some very different places over 30 years …. I think with J.J., we’ll get something entirely new.”

Kasdan goes on to talk about the effect of the original trilogy movies on fandom.

“The ones I worked on were a long time ago, and they had a slightly different feeling than the ones that followed,” he said. “The first three, ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Empire’ and ‘Return of the Jedi’ are all sort of more about people than the ones that followed. ‘Empire’ appeals to people, I think, because it’s the second act of a three-act play, and everything sort of goes to hell during the movie. And when you leave, everyone is in trouble, and that is the best part of the story to write. And people responded to it. Irvin Kershner was a completely different kind of director than George, so the movie’s much darker than the first ‘Star Wars.’ It’s more edgy.”

The next installment in the Star Wars franchise hits theaters in 2015.