Stars to return for 'Star Wars' round 7

The three actors who played Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia in Star Wars will return for a seventh big screen instalment of the classic space story, according to its creator George Lucas, 36 years after making their names in the first version.

Mark Hamill, 61, Harrison Ford, 70, and Carrie Fisher, 56, will appear in Star Wars: Episode VII, reprising the roles they first made famous in 1977.

Lucas, 68, said, in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, that he had "already signed' the trio before selling his company Lucasfilm to Disney for $4.05 billion last year.

The director later backtracked, indicating that he had inadvertently let the surprise out of the bag.

He said: "We had already signed Mark and Carrie and Harrison, or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation - maybe I'm not supposed to say that. I think they [Disney] want to announce that with some big whoop-de-do, but we were negotiating with them."

In a separate interview with Palm Beach Illustrated, Fisher confirmed she will reprise the Princess Leia role.

Asked what her character will be like, she said: "Elderly. She's in an intergalactic old folks' home. I just think she would be just like she was before, only slower and less inclined to be up for the big battle."

Star Wars: Episode VII is expected in cinemas in 2015.