Word has it that Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) will be among the writers on Disney/Lucasfilm's Star Wars: Episode VII.  Arndt reportedly has a 40-50 page treatment already prepared and is likely to be one of the writers on board before the picture starts shooting some time in 2014.  It sounds like his preparation includes all three films in the trilogy, which was alluded to in a recent press conference by Disney CEO Bob Iger.  Rumors have run rampant since the news that Disney would be purchasing Lucasfilm to the tune of $4 billion and would be releasing a Star Wars sequel trilogy starting in 2015.  It's been speculated that Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) may be lined up to direct the film, but Arndt's treatment is expected to cross the desks of Brad Bird, J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg.  Hit the jump for much more.Vulture reports that michael-arndt-imageArndt has a leg up on the competition for the Star Wars: Episode VII writing job.  Earning an Oscar nomination for his work on Toy Story 3 and recently joining Pixar's brain trust, Arndt also happens to be a Star Wars expert of sorts.  The article also reports that Arndt often lectures on the art of storytelling at writers' retreats and makes special mention of the creative satisfaction of the original Star Wars films.  Arndt was reported as saying:

"If a writer could resolve the story's arcs (internal, external, philosophical) immediately after the Moment of Despair at the climax, he or she would deliver the Insanely Great Ending and put the audience in a euphoric state. The faster it could happen, the better...George Lucas hit those three marks at the climax of Star Wars within a space of 22 seconds."

It remains to be seen whether Arndt will move ahead with the entire script or if he will be included in an ensemble.  He's certainly got a lot of high-profile films coming up, including Joseph Kosinski's Oblivion, Francis Lawrence's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Pete Docter's Untitled Pixar Film That Takes You Inside the Mind.  Regardless of Arndt's involvement with the picture, it looks like the studio is interested in bringing the original cast back on border, including older versions of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher). In a related story, someone who's not interested in directing the picture is Zack Snyder (Sucker Punch).  In his own words (via Hero Complex):

“I don’t think I’d be interested in [directing it],” Snyder said during a recent interview. “I’m a huge ‘Star Wars’ fanatic. I just think doing [episodes] seven, eight and nine is just a slippery slope. It’s a whole other mythological experiment I’m excited to see, but it’s a lot of effort.”

Arndt may be the first piece of the puzzle as the search continues for the creative team of Star Wars: Episode VII both in front of and behind the camera.  Check out our previous coverage below:

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