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"Star Wars actor Ian McDiarmid has said that he is &amp;quot;excited and astonished&amp;quot; about the prospect of the film series returning with Star Wars: Episode VII. Speaking to Digital Spy at the launch of Star Wars Celebration in Essen, Germany, McDiarmid said: &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s great that Disney are going to take it forward and do it differently - things always have to change - and that George Lucas has released it to be done that way, in fact positively encouraged it.&amp;quot;  Anthony Daniels, who has played C-3PO since 1977&amp;#039;s Star Wars, revealed that he learned about Disney&amp;#039;s Lucasfilm buyout and Episode VII while on holiday in Australia. &amp;quot;I thought it would die when George retired,&amp;quot; he commented, adding of Episode VII producer Kathleen Kennedy: &amp;quot;It never occurred to me that there was this torch bearer, who is moving very rapidly to share Star Wars on an even wider basis than before.&amp;quot; McDiarmid played Emperor Palpatine in the previous Star Wars outings. Star Wars Celebration Europe is taking place this weekend in Germany. The JJ Abrams-directed Episode VII will be released in 2015. Photo gallery - Star Wars Celebration Europe:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/star-wars/news/a501707/star-wars-episode-7-news-excited-and-astonished-ian-mcdiarmid/>