Despite having my love for all things Star Wars reduced dramatically to the status of a favorite childhood toy I needed sorrily to let go, I am holding out a little hope for Star Wars: Episode VII. J.J. Abrams is a solid director of expansive widescreen excitement and his movies tend to be pretty damn great when the crucial elements are in place. The project’s first writer Michael Arndt was eventually usurped by Lawrence Kasdan, but as Kasdan was widely credited with making the script for The Empire Strikes Back a winner (original scribe Leigh Brackett had a hand in its success too), this news was greeted by the franchise’s die hard fans with jubilation.

In addition to excessive CGI and lifeless performances from an otherwise talented cast, the much-loathed – yet still hugely profitable – prequel trilogy suffered from George Lucas’ deplorable writing. If Abrams’ continued exploration of a galaxy far, far away on the big screen is to be a success at least creatively it’s vital for the screenplay to be in place prior to the start of filming.

Remember that eerie teaser video simply titled “Stranger” that was posted last month to J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions YouTube account? At the time, no one knew what this teaser was for and why it showed a man’s face with his mouth sewn shut.

Well, we still don’t know why the guy’s mouth is sewn up Strangeland-style, but we do finally know what the project is, thanks to another cryptic video released today, which you can watch here below.

The mystery project is called S. and it’s a novel by Abrams and Doug Dorst being released on October 29, 2013, available now for pre-order in Hardcover and Audiobook.

Attendees at today’s D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, were shocked and disappointed to discover that Disney and Lucasfilm had no new details to share regarding their highly anticipated Star Wars sequel, Star Wars: Episode VII (hence, I’m sorry to have to pass this disappointment on to you, dear readers).

The lengthy live-action presentation today at the main hall of the Expo, which included panels for other properties like Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Disney’s Maleficent, began this morning with the Lucasfilm panel. Immediately, it was announced that there were no additional details to be revealed on the forthcoming seventh episode of the franchise, apparently getting that bummer out of the way early. (I suspect Lucasfilm would have concluded the day’s presentation had breaking news been planned.)

The last several months have been up and down with movie rumors for the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII to be directed by J.J. Abrams. Among the most popular and seemingly solid rumors, is that several key cast members from the Original Trilogy will be reappearing in some scope. These, of course, are Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, and Harrison Ford as Han Solo. But what about everyone’s favorite gambling scoundrel, Lando Calrissian, as played by Billy Dee Williams?

According to a Facebook message, Billy Dee Williams states that he has not up till now been contacted by anyone. In the recent flurry of rumors, it was said that George Lucas had met with Hamill, Fisher, Ford, and Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine) over several lunch meetings in 2012 to chew over the Sequel Trilogy. Williams, it seems, was not a part of these meetings, which would indicate that there may be no plans to have Lando even make a cameo in the upcoming trilogy.

In response, Billy Dee Williams has called upon his fans to tell Disney and Lucasfilm if they would like to see Lando return. Here’s the full message:

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at RIPT Apparel today is a Star Wars-themed shirt called “Bad Unit” by subpop2000. The design, which reads “Bad Droid” and features droid R2-D2, is a take on Star Wars: Episode VII director J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production company logo.

The shirt went on sale at RIPT today, Saturday, February 9, 2013, at midnight CST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore.

The t-shirt is available in men’s (through 3XL), women’s, and youth sizes for $10 each in black. Kids sizes are $15 (Girls, Toddlers, and Onesies in black); Hoodies for $38 (in Men/Unisex sizes in black). You can also get the design on coasters for $25; iphone (4/4s) cases for $18; and prints (18″x24″) for $20.