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Star Wars: The Force Awakens took in $49.3 million dollars on Christmas Day. It's total 8-day domestic take now stands at $440.4 million dollars, making it the 11th highest-grossing movie of all-time. It's also $30 million dollars away from beating the total 1999 gross of The Phantom Menace, and making TFA the biggest Star Wars movie to date.

Blinking from their original notion of releasing Episode VII in the summer, now The Walt Disney Company has announced a format release date of December 18, 2015 for the next Star Wars movie. In their official announcement the company states that the delay of seven months will give the Star Wars filmmakers enough time to satisfactorly complete their vision of the film while also ensuring that Disney makes it 2015 release date for the project.

Has Harrison Ford signed a deal that would see him reprise the part of Han Solo in the new Star Wars Episode VII movie? According to Latino Review, the 70-year-old Ford has reached an agreement with Walt Disney Pictures and will play the Correllian smuggler and love interest to Princess Leia in the new Star Wars movie.

Nothing official has been announced from Disney or Ford's representatives, but you can be sure that the question will be asked to Kathleen Kennedy at Lucasfilm, Bob Iger at Disney or Ford himself if an informed journalist asks him the question.

He's one of the few big names in illustrated artwork from the movie business. Over four decades Drew Struzan has been painting movie posters and had his artwork associated with dozens of high profile films including all six Star Wars movies. And while he is officially retired from painting, don't count Struzan out of creating the posters for Disney's new Star Wars films.

Struzan gave the exclusive news to Fanhattan while talking about his new poster promoting the third season of Being Human. It's not a done deal by any means, but the conversation has started:

"Oh, well, never say never, [laughs] because…in fact, I got a couple calls already this week on Star Wars from Disney," Struzan told the site. "Oh my god, I’m trying to be retired! You know, I spent 35 years painting Star Wars. [laughs] I painted Star Wars before most of you were born! But I guess there is always a chance. There’s no intention. But I would love to have a day off every now and again, and I have to work a weekend and all through the night. If the opportunity arises, it will be a real temptation. But it’s going to have to be a real temptation to get me away from my wife and my little grandkids and my family. Away from the green trees and the blue skies for a change instead of just locked in the studio. But, you know, never say never. All things are possible."

He was a fan favorite to direct Episode VII shortly after its announcement but The Incredibles and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol director Brad Bird has removed himself from the running to direct the new Star Wars movie. Over the weekend Bird repeatedly tweeted that he would not be directing Episode VII, telling fans that he was instead committing to make his new sci-fi movie 1952.

And in another corner of the internet comes a rumor that Lando Calrissian is one of the returning characters in Episode VII. The rumor originates from Moviehole and one of their moles working inside Lucasfilm that states that along with the characters of Luke, Leia and Han, Lando is also coming back as well.

No other story details were given by Moviehole's source (who acknowledged that they didn't know anything else.)

The official Star Wars website has confirmed that screenwriter Michael Arndt will write the script for Episode VII. As revealed earlier this week by a different website, Arndt completed a 40-50 page treatment which is rumored to feature the returning characters of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia.

Arndt won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the 2006 movie Little Miss Sunshine. He was also nominated for another writing Oscar for his work on Toy Story 3.

According to an inside source speaking with Vulture, Toy Story 3 screenwriter Michael Arndt is the leading candidate to write the screenplay for Star Wars Episode VII.

Arndt has supposedly already written a 40 to 50-page treatment for what he wants to do in Episode VII. Supposedly Arndt began writing down his treatment ideas well before George Lucas announced the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney, which would indicate that the writer had insider news of his own with which to proceed on.

Sources also tell the website that the plan is to definitively bring back actors Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher to reprise their characters of Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa and Han Solo, respectively. This news follows on this week's earlier report that Ford would consider playing Solo again if the script and director met his approval.

Also mentioned by Vulture was that Arndt's treatment will go out to a shortlist of A-list directors. Names mentioned were Steven Spielberg (Lincoln, Jurassic Park), J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Super 8) and Brad Bird (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol).

According to sources that spoke to Entertainment Weekly, Harrison Ford is reportedly "open" to reprising his iconic role as Han Solo in the new Star Wars movie.

Supposedly the 70-year-old actor, who played the character of Han in the first three Star Wars films, isn't interested in entering contract negotiations until he sees a finished script and knows who the director of Episode VII will be,

As part of Walt Disney Pictures' purchase of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars intellectual property from George Lucas, the movie studio has announced the ambitious plan to create and release Star Wars Episode VII, the first movie in the long anticipated sequel trilogy set after the end of Return of the Jedi.

Story concepts for Episode VII as well as Episode XI and Episode IX have already been written by Lucas. Disney has revealed that further development on the screenplay for Episode VII is underway, mentioning undisclosed "writers" as being the ones fleshing out the concepts submitted by George Lucas.

Disney wants to release Star Wars Episode VII in 2015, with plans to release a new Star Wars movie every two to three years afterward.

"I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime," said Star Wars creator George Lucas in a Disney press release today. "I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come."

Additional story details concerning Episode VII were not forthcoming, nor was it mentioned whether any cast members from the original Star Wars movies have been approached to reprise their roles in this new Star Wars trilogy.