Lucas Slips, Confirms 'Star Wars' Trio Returning

Did George Lucas just let the Gundark out of the bag? It's been reported everywhere that the original trio for the first Star Wars trilogy are primed to appear in J.J. Abrams' in-the-works Star Wars VII. In fact, ETonline first broke the news that Mark Hamill was all but signed to star in the next chapter of the legendary saga. But short of an official announcement from Disney, who now owns Lucasfilm, it remains obvious hearsay -- even though Lucas himself just let slip that the original stars will be back.

"We had already signed Mark and Carrie [Fisher] and Harrison [Ford] -- or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation," Lucas told Bloomberg Businessweek when asked if members of the original cast will appear in the new movie and if he phoned them before the Disney deal was done. "So I called them to say, 'Look, this is what's going on.'"

Lucas then paused and said, "Maybe I'm not supposed to say that. I think they want to announce that with some big whoop-de-do, but we were negotiating with them." He then added, "I won't say whether the negotiations were successful or not."

A Jedi mind trick to erase what had just been said, hmmmmm? Maybe that'll work on a few Stormtroopers, George, but the press and fans are too savvy for that.

Memo to Disney: Time to start making a few new Star Wars VII announcements to appease the fans. And remember, Mr. Lucas, take a cue from master-of-media-manipulation J.J. Abrams -- loose lips sink Imperial Starships.