Update:** **Disney and Lucasfilm have made it official, confirming Arndt as writing the script for at least the first of the new trilogy. In related news, another chunk of the George Lucas / Kathleen Kennedy discussion video is online and you can see that above.
The shocking and downright exhilarating news of Disney purchasing Lucasfilm and announcing new** Star Wars** adventures did not come as a surprise to everyone. Within the two companies, negotiations had been going on for months, and George Lucas even said that he’d written outlines for at least three more films. Now there's a report on who has turned them into a treatment for **Star Wars: Episode VII **and beyond: Toy Story 3’s Michael Arndt.
Vulture, which is currently in the market for a place to unload the bodies of many Bothan spies, brings word that Arndt had quietly been hired to start cranking out the treatment long before the shockwave October 30 announcement.
No official confirmation has been given, but Arndt would seem a good call. After winning an Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine, he was recruited by Disney / Pixar to write the third Toy Story film and delivered something truly special. He’s also been at work on other projects, including the still untitled Pixar mind project. Plus, he’s a die-hard Star Wars fan who has lectured on the first trilogy’s scripts at screenwriting seminars. So while he hasn’t made a deal to write the actual screenplay, he’s certainly someone we could see making it work.
According to Vulture’s sources, the Mouse House is definitely looking to bring back Han, Luke and Leia. And the biggest names in blockbuster directing town (your Spielberg, your Abrams, and, given his ties to Disney / Pixar and his all-round awesomeness, your Brad Bird) will of course get the first look. One person who might look but doesn’t seem to want to touch is Zack Snyder, who has told the LA Times, "I don’t think I’d be interested in directing it. I’m a huge Star Wars fanatic. I just think doing episodes seven, eight and nine is just a slippery slope." For those of you keeping score, that's a "no" from Snyder, Sam Mendes, Gareth Evans, Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino; the rest of Hollywood still to report in.
More on **Episode VII **as we get it, naturally.