Harrison Ford ready for Star Wars return

Los Angeles - Harrison Ford is "looking forward" to returning to Star Wars.

The 70-year-old actor insisted he hasn't signed a contract to reprise his role as Han Solo - who he played in the original trilogy from 1977 to 1983 - in the forthcoming new films in the series, but he is keen to take part and can't wait to get started.

He told WGN 9: "I think it's almost true, I'm looking forward to it. It's not in the bag yet, but I think it's happening."

Harrison's comments came soon after George Lucas - who sold the franchise to Disney last year, but will take on a consultancy role for Episode VII - let slip he has asked original Star Wars trilogy cast members Harrison, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher to reprise their iconic roles.

'I'm not supposed to say'

He revealed: "We had already signed Mark and Carrie and Harrison - or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation. So I called them to say, 'Look, this is what's going on'.

"Maybe I'm not supposed to say that. I think they want to announce that with some big whoop-de-do, but we were negotiating with them."

However, George appeared to realise he had said too much about his work with producer Kathleen Kennedy to bring new director JJ Abrams' follow-up film to life for its 2015 release date, and was quick to backtrack.

He teased: "I won't say whether the negotiations were successful or not."

Carrie recently joked she would be back as heroine Princess Leia, the twin sister of main character Luke Skywalker (Hamill), but her representatives subsequently downplayed the claims.

Mark also said he wants to get the "whole gang" of original actors back together for in the new movie.