Disney Consumes LucasFilms, Episode VII Gets Cast - By Richard Briggs

Richard Briggs contributes to The Skewed Review.

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The news that Disney had purchased Lucasfilm from George Lucas was alarming to so many people, including Mark Hamill (the original Luke Skywalker).

            

And Disney didn’t even tease us. “Star Wars Episode VII” is going to happen.

            

So much continual speculation will happen between now and May 2015, but I’d still like to add in my own speculation and desires for the new trilogy. After all, I’ve been watching the movies, playing the video games and reading the books since I was a kid, so this universe is special to me as well.

            

The immediate speculation is in regard to the movie’s plot and which characters will take part. There are the Big Four characters who are the only ones that really matter when it comes to the casting: Han Solo, Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian and, of course, Luke Skywalker.

            

I have the storyline in mind that I hope they go with (though it’s unlikely the writers will choose the one I’m thinking), but the casting of these four characters matters a little bit more. I went in-depth with two friends on the potential actors, and after our deliberations here is my fantasy cast: 

            

Han Solo: Gerard Butler

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The majority of the film’s popularity will hinge on the choice of which actor will play Han Solo. Without a doubt Han is the most popular character from the original trilogy, and having to fill Harrison Ford’s shoes will be a daunting task.

            

I scurried through American actors who could play this role with one friend, and we came up with Bradley Cooper and Ryan Reynolds, both risky picks. But then I thought, what actor embodies a lot of what Harrison Ford was during the Han Solo and Indiana Jones days? That’s when I went to Sam Worthington from “Clash of the Titans.” Then another friend said, “If we’re going to go with a non-American, Gerard Butler has more panache than Sam Worthington.”

            

Indeed he’s right about that.

            

Butler has the swagger and comedic timing to be Han Solo. He kind of already looks like a scruffy-looking nerfherder.

Princess Leia: Maggie Gyllenhaal

            

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As I was surfing the Internet to hear more buzz and see others’ ideas for casting (most of which are not realistic casts and copy “The Avengers” cast) I saw that I wasn’t alone in this idea. It made me feel like my choice was credible to bring in the Rachel Dawes of “The Dark Knight.”

            

All of my friends did not like Gyllenhaal as the replacement for Katie Holmes in “The Dark Knight,” and sometimes maybe I didn’t either. Perhaps it’s because Gyllenhaal just isn’t as hot as Holmes.

            

Because of that I think we sometimes forget that Gyllenhaal’s Rachel Dawes was much more authoritative and believable as a lawyer than Holmes’ Rachel Dawes.

            

Gyllenhaal has the look and personality to fit Princess Leia perfectly. She’s courageous, attractive (not jaw-dropping hot), and I can see her wearing Leia’s hair style from “Empire Strikes Back.” That movie is where you actually see Leia commanding troops, so that’s the hairstyle I envision Leia wearing when establishing the New Republic in episodes VII, VIII and IX.

         

Lando Calrissian: Donald Faison

            

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I probably got a little ridiculous with this pick, but after hearing Faison say on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” that his dream role would be to play Lando Calrissian in a “Star Wars” origin story, I had to make the pick. Plus, how can this clip from “Scrubs” not make convince you? 

            

Faison will have to “be smooth,” but to see him playing his dream role of Lando Calrissian would make me happy. I know he would love the role so much that he would dive into it and be Lando.

            

Luke Skywalker: Leonardo DiCaprio

            

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I took a lot of heat from my friends for this pick, but I feel like there’s something here. It’s a role that’s totally different than anything Leo has done before, and the risk is that all anyone will see is the guy from “Titanic,” but to be Luke Skywalker to wrap his rather successful career would be interesting to see.

            

Leo speaks well, he’s done super-dramatic roles and no one hates watching him. That’s the last thing Leo needs to do in his career is go from “Nobody hates me” to “Everyone loves me.”

            

A space opera (a genre within the science fiction genre) is something that Leo has never tried, and if he were to put on the all-black jump suit that Luke Skywalker wears in “Return of the Jedi” while wielding the classic green lightsaber, he would become loved.

            

Plus, if Disney goes with the storyline from the books based five years after “Return of the Jedi,” Luke Skywalker has a lightsaber duel with a clone of himself. How awesome would it be to see Leonardo DiCaprio battling Leonardo DiCaprio with lightsabers?

I don’t live under some guise where I believe this cast is actually possible. I don’t know the connections of Hollywood and who likes working with whom. But this cast is realistic, and the actors I chose fit the classic roles so well. “The Avengers 2” is set for a May 2015 release, and now we have the next “Star Wars” to look forward to. Unbelievable.