Brad Bird is currently at work on Tomorrowland, but he recently discussed a road he could take one day and a road not taken.  For the former, Bird commented on the possibility of making a sequel to The Incredibles.  Briefly, Bird says he hasn’t forgotten about the characters and that world.  The issue is how to “get ‘em to click all together.”  Bird adds that he wants to keep creative control, but he also has other projects he’s trying to work on (among them could be the historical drama, 1906).  There’s also the issue of getting Pixar on board when that studio has its next four films lined-up, and while a possible sequel to one of their movies is in development, I doubt it’s Incredibles without Bird’s involvement.

Hit the jump for his full quote and what he had to say about passing on Star Wars: Episode VII.

Star Wars: Episode VII will follow in the footsteps of its live-action predecessors which all went through production in United Kingdom studios.  A press release from Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy confirmed that the J.J. Abrams-directed sequel to the original Star Wars trilogy will indeed find its home in the U.K. once again.

Hit the jump to check out the full press release.

We’re in a bit of a holding pattern when it comes to the participation of Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford in J.J. Abrams‘ Star Wars: Episode VII.  Ford “thinks it’s happening”, George Lucas says they’re “pretty much” signed on for the upcoming sequel, and now Fisher has reiterated her involvement in the film.  In November, she said she was on board, but a publicist said the comment was “tongue-in-cheek”.  In March, Fisher flat out said she’ll reprise her role as Princess Leia.  Speaking to fans at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, Fisher said, “I like being bought by Disney, because they never wanted to buy me before.”

Hit the jump for more.  Star Wars: Episode VII is tentatively set for 2015.

Over the past month, we’ve heard various stories about the involvement of Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford for J.J. Abrams‘ Star Wars: Episode VII.  Ford was reportedly on board, but then another report said that contract signings were still a ways off.  Then Hamill said they were in talks, but nothing had been signed.  Yesterday, Fisher confirmed she would return to play Princess Leia.  Any way you slice it, it looks like the characters are in the script for the new movie, and the only question is when it will be declared official that the trio of actors are reprising their roles.

Your trust in George Lucas may have been shaken by the prequels, but you can still probably take his word when it comes to the business side of things even though he’s not actively involved in the new trilogy.  Hit the jump for what he had to say about Hamill, Fisher, and Ford’s return.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Mark Hamill spoke at length regarding his involvement with Star Wars: Episode VII.  Yesterday, Showbiz 411 reported that Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford were all set to return, although an earlier report said a deal with Ford wouldn’t be closed for weeks or possibly months.  In this case, it’s best to go straight to the source, and Hamill confirmed his earlier comments that George Lucas wanted to know if they were interested, and that the filmmakers have been talking to them.  Lucas also told Hamill that if they didn’t want to do the sequels, “they wouldn’t cast another actor in our parts; they would write us out.”  And on that day, George Lucas finally did something right again.  Hamill went on to say, “I can tell you right away that we haven’t signed any contracts. We’re in the stage where they want us to go in and meet with Michael Arndt, who is the writer, and Kathleen Kennedy, who is going to run Lucasfilm.”  Hamill added “Both have had meetings set that were postponed — on their end, not mine. They’re more busy than I am.”

Hit the jump for much more including what Hamill assumes will happen with the characters, other actors he’d like to see return, and the visual style of the sequels.

While everyone’s got a case of the Space Crazies thanks to the latest Star Wars spin-off news, we figured we might as well pass along the latest casting rumor for Star Wars Episode VII.  Word has it that John Noble (Fringe) is circling a role as a villain in the J.J. Abrams-directed picture that will kick-start a new trilogy.  This rumor was started by an Australian morning radio DJ in Melbourne with “a reliable source.”  Good enough for me!  Noble has the skills (and the jowls) to pull off a convincing hooded Sith lord or scheming member of the Senate and has an Abrams connection through Fringe, but I think we’ll wait to hear from a more reliable source.

In other news, hit the jump to see some scrapped concept art for a young Han Solo who was intended to appear in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. 

In this, the final Saturday of 2012, it’s time to extract five topics from a year’s worth of Top 5‘s for our second annual “End of the Year Edition”. Given that this is a year-end list that exists on the Internet, I’m fully prepared for obligatory statements regarding my choices and how they prove my own ineptitude. That said, in an attempt to preempt such backlash, I’d like to welcome any and all readers to respectfully disagree with me in the comments section. Let’s keep it classy and enjoy a highlight reel of some of the best 2012 had to offer after the jump.

When it was announced earlier this year that Disney would be purchasing Lucasfilm and churning out a new Star Wars sequel trilogy, thoughts quickly turned to who would be worthy of the director’s chair. Tops on many lists was J.J. Abrams (Star Trek), who promptly squashed any rumors by taking himself out of the running. Recently, Abrams further commented on refusing the position to direct Star Wars: Episode VII, saying he’s a fan of Star Wars and would rather be a viewer in the audience than a force behind the camera. Hit the jump for his comments.

You may have noticed a lack of Top 5 around these parts last weekend. Given the holiday weekend with friends and family, a slow news week in general, and my own recovery from Black Friday shopping at a local Wal-Mart (Note to past self: the kid next to you in line is going to unexpectedly throw-up so…just be prepared for that), it seemed like the logical time to take a week off. In spite of the holiday, though, a few cool things did happen the week before last so you’ll have to excuse the fact that some of this week’s items date back to two weeks ago.

Disclaimer aside, this week’s return includes Allison’s Confessions of a Star Wars Virgin series and more Star Wars news, Adam’s 2013 Oscar Previews, Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel returning for the Boy Meets World sequel series, Girl Meets World, the first programming announcement and an abundance of first images from Sundance 2013, and the synopsis for Star Trek Into Darkness finally sees the light of day. Find a brief recap and link to each after the jump.

During the UK premiere for Seven Psychopaths, actor Jason Flemyng got caught in a bit of a rough spot on camera when he began commenting on Matthew Vaughn directing Star Wars Episode VII. The news remains unconfirmed since we broke the original story, and whether Flemyng let slip some confidential news or was just reporting internet rumors, we don’t know. But Flemyng and Vaughn have collaborated on nine films together, so it would make sense that Flemyng knew what the director was working on next (especially if he wants a part in arguably the biggest movie in years). Hit the jump to watch video of Flemyng’s comments and response.  

There has been a firestorm of speculation on who will direct Star Wars: Episode VII ever since word broke that Disney purchased Lucasfilm and the rights to Star Wars with plans to churn out a new sequel trilogy starting in 2015. Big name directors including Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Zack Snyder and Brad Bird have disavowed any involvement with the picture, but Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) is a name that keeps popping up. We recently reported on some of Trevorrow’s comments about the new movie as a Star Wars fan. Now, a new video interview has surfaced with Trevorrow talking about possibly helming a movie with a significant fan base. Hit the jump to check out the video.

[Update: Trevorrow has reached out on Twitter to clarify his statement, denying that he's involved with the new Star Wars. More after the jump.]

Sorry to put a damper on your weekend, but it’s looking as if director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) is out of the running for Star Wars: Episode VII.  Tops on may fans’ lists of dream directors for the new sequel, Bird was considered a frontrunner due to his connections with Disney (who now owns Lucasfilm and the rights to Star Wars, along with Pixar, of course) and the involvement of screenwriter Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) who will write the screenplay for Episode VII.  Bird’s schedule grew a little more complicated recently when the epic sci-fi project 1952 landed George Clooney in a lead role.  Though the project isn’t greenlit (and though Twitter isn’t exactly hard journalistic evidence), it looks like this will be Bird’s next picture and, sadly, not Star Wars.  Hit the jump to see what Bird had to say. 

I try and heed the wise words of Conan O’Brien and resist the urge to be cynical. I really do. But while digging through our The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 coverage in anticipation of this week’s post I stumbled across this poster for the film and all of my best laid plans went to waste. There is just no excuse for a franchise of its stature to have a poster that terrible. I’m far from an expert in graphic design, but mercy…I re-read Adam’s original post several times hoping to find the sentence where he points out that the poster was the Grand Prize winner of Summit’s “Design the Worst Damn Movie Poster Possible” contest. Sadly, there was no mention of such a contest. This was real and it made my heart hurt.

All cynicism aside, in this week’s Top 5, The Twilight Saga comes to a merciful end with interviews and things of the like, Damon Lindelof‘s draft of the Prometheus script becomes available for your reading pleasure, news regarding the debuts of Star Trek Into Darkness‘ first trailer and first 9 minutes of the film surfaces, a handful of images and a video from the set of Thor: The Dark World make their way onto the Interwebs, and believe it or not, more news regarding Star Wars: Episode VII gets discussed. I trust you know where to find a brief recap and link to each.

Last night I uncovered a gem from 2011 for the first time and my only regret is that I didn’t take the time to seek it out sooner. Writer/director Thomas McCarthy‘s dramedy Win Win is not only consistently funny but also chock full of both heartwarming and heartbreaking moments. The performances are terrific all-around, the script is strong albeit somewhat easy to telegraph, and the wrestling scenes are even surprisingly intense at times (I mean, it was nominated for a prestigious ESPY for “Best Sports Film” after all). Matt gave the film his full endorsement when he reviewed it at Sundance 2011 and I’m doing the same here today.

Movie recommendations aside, in what was yet another busy week around these parts, the five standouts include our Skyfall interviews with Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, director Sam Mendes and more, a Beautiful Creatures set visit recap, the first trailer for Brad Pitt‘s World War Z, even more set visit goodness from Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s The Last Stand, and ongoing development news for the next Star Wars trilogy. Keep reading for brief recaps and links to all of the above.

Disney and Lucasfilm have just confirmed reports that screenwriter Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) will write the screenplay for Star Wars: Episode VII.  We previously reported that Arndt was said to have already prepared a 40-50 page draft of at least the first new Star Wars installment and perhaps the entire sequel trilogy.  This was well in advance of the announcement of Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm and the rights to Star Wars for more than $4 billion.  To see what Disney/Lucasfilm had to say, hit the jump.