Oscar Winning Writer Behind "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Toy Story 3" to pen STAR WARS 7

"Hollywood scribe Michael Arndt will write the next installment in the Star Wars series, Lucasfilms has confirmed.

Arndt won an Oscar for best original screenplay for the 2006 comedy Little Miss Sunshine. His screenplay for Toy Story 3 was nominated for best adapted screenplay in 2010.

He has also co-written the second film in the Hunger Games trilogy.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the latest Star Wars story will focus on a new generation of heroes."

The article also mentions that we might be seeing Luke, Leia and Han in small roles. Very interested to see how this will turn out.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20288810

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The expanded universe could be a very slippery slope. There is some good stuff in there, but there's a whole lot of garbage to wade through to find the good stuff.

Check out the documentary The People vs. George Lucas, which is available on Netflix right now. It's probably the most balanced argument I've seen for what went wrong with the Star Wars universe without just falling back on the "George Lucas raped our childhoods" trope that most people just parrot back without even realizing why they are saying it.

This is exciting news. I'm curious to know who the new enemy will be. The Emperor/Palpatine/Darth Sidious was seemingly destroyed in Return of the Jedi, but perhaps he still alive. Perhaps he goes into hiding (like Yoda did), nurses his wounds, and finds a new apprentice so as to continue the Sith lineage.

I almost pity Arndt, though, as you just know the fanboys and fangirls are going to be watching like hawks, ready to pounce at any perceived slight to the Star Wars legacy.

I hope the new Star Wars universe will be a little more diverse, too, and not just be white people and aliens.

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Updated On: 11/11/12 at 06:21 PM

I agree with some of the expanded universe being a slippery slope, like some of the stuff in the prequels did indeed come from expanded universe, but the Solo children did have some pretty memorable story arcs. Actually I felt more stuff in the post Episode VI universe was interesting than the prequel/sideways universes, although Luke having "ghost sex" with his wife through the force happened after Episode VI too.

I'm also hoping that there is not just one single, three-dimensional female character. This has been frustrating when other sci-fi films recently had the Princess Leia principle (Star Trek reboot) or did not quite get there (Prometheus and Padme Amidala in the prequels).

I also pity Arndt. People will either hate what he does or love it to only turn on it because this is the age of the internet where stuff can become instantly blase. Still, I think it cannot be worse than the prequels. Then again, I gave Damon Lindelof enough rope because the last 2 Alien films were terrible but his script really was the dragging anchor of an otherwise visually-stunning, well-acted film.

Not to threadjack, but I still don't understand why we got re-introduced to characters like the Fetts in the prequels but not a younger Grand Moff Tarkin. That was a character I was shocked to not be included or even mentioned in the prequel films. I always expected him and Anakin to have been friends and allies in their younger days.

Grand Moff Tarkin made an appearance in episode 3. He is in the very last scene with Vader and Palpatine

I think that there is better and simpler argument to how Lucas angered his fans without saying "he raped our childhoods."

Lucas had these three great films. Films that involved technology that was innovative at the time. And, with that he created these great movies. However, in the 90's, he decided to tinker with them and give us the special edition of star wars. Lucas was too unhappy with the wonderment that he originally created and therefore altered it. The fans got upset because they saw that there was something amazing in the original films and were angry that the creator of it didn't see it either. So, on one hand they like the movies and characters etc. But, on the other, they don't like the fact that Lucas had to toy with something that need not be toyed with.

However, I think that since this is Disney we're talking about, this could do fine from a financial standpoint but but be crap from a story/creative standpoint. After all, there are a slew of young Star Wars fans who know nothing of the original saga. And, when you mention Star Wars to them, the first thing that they think of are what we would consider the prequels as well as the Attack of the Clones cartoon on Cartoon Network. So, who knows.

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Strummergirl,

I work with kids, I have tried to talk to them about Star Wars as a way to relate to them. however, when they think of Star Wars they do think of Episodes I, II a and III. A lot of the kids I work with (specially the boys) come to school with backpacks etc with pictures of characters from The Clone Wars cartoon. I even tried watching it a couple of times as a way to better relate to them and have something to talk about with them. It was hard for me to sit through it. I guess maybe it's because I am of the mindset that the first three movies have become these great classic films. And, I can't understand why anyone would need to tinker with or expand upon them. And, I cannot understand why they can't just leave well enough alone.

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