Although at the moment this should be filed firmly in the rumour drawer, 3D focussed site MarketSaw is reporting that they have sources who strongly suggest that George Lucas is planning a new Star Wars trilogy, which will take advantage of the new three dimensional film technologies that are emerging.
They also report that Lucas himself won’t be directing these films, with the rather unlikely news that he’s trying to convince Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Copolla to step in and helm the brand new movies.
Apparently no decision will be made about the new films until Lucas has seen what happens with James Cameron’s Avatar at cinemas. If that becomes a hit, then he may well go ahead with his new 3D Star Wars films. MarketSaw is at pains to say these are new movies, and not the long talked about conversion of the original films to 3D, which is still ongoing, although there’s no news yet on when they will be ready for release.
Before you get too excited (or start Lucas-bashing for further trying to destroy the Star Wars legacy), it should be noted this news is far from official, and MarketSaw has been known to get things wrong. If true however, it would be a very interesting development, and would mean we may finally see the long-rumoured (but officially non-existent) Episodes VII-IX, which continue the story after the defeat of the Empire.