A an interesting development has cropped up regarding 'Star Wars Episode VII.' That sentence could actually start many a news story over the last month. Last week, the Disney/Lucasfilm hired Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg to write what we all assumed would be 'Episodes VIII' and 'IX.' Michael Arndt ('Toy Story 3') had already been commissioned to write 'Episode VII' However, it now appears we may have been a little overly presumptuous in that thinking. THR is now reporting that Kasdan and Kinberg will be writing separate films that could factor into the main continuing storyline or that could possibly provide the basis for a spin-off featuring side characters. Given that one of the Disney execs recently said the goal was to release a new 'Star Wars' movie "every two or three years," there is certainly plenty of room outside the new trilogy for Kasdan and Kinberg to potentially work.

What's amazing to me is how the biggest movie deal in recent memory, yielding a thoroughly public developing project like new 'Star Wars' movies, still plays a few things close to the vest. That's not to say the studio is obligated to reveal everything about what's going on with the new 'Star Wars' universe, but I am baffled by this situation because it almost seems like they don't really know what their own plan is. You mean to tell me you hired Lawrence Kasdan, the writer of both 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of the Jedi,' and you MIGHT not have him work on the new main trilogy? Seriously?! Does this mean they're not telling Kasdan or Kinberg what to write, and they're just resigned to see what happens when the script turns up on their desk? I'm a little concerned about the concept of developing spin-offs of the new trilogy before anyone has put together...the new trilogy. Or perhaps spin-offs will be of original trilogy, and feature those characters. Is a Boba Fett movie too much to hope for? But still, why develop those before 'Episode VIII' and 'Episode IX?' I think they really need to nail down what they're having these guys work on if they indeed haven't already. All things being equal, I guess the best case scenario is that they're just being coy, and that they know what Kasdan and Kinberg are writing and just don't want to share right now.

What do you guys think? Would you rather have these two writing 'Episodes VIII' and 'IX' or a spin-off?

Source: THR