It should be a 7 Film Saga - Episode I thru Episode VII

II: Attack of the Clones (2002) III: (TBA) released 2005 IV: (TBA) released 2008 V: A NEW HOPE (1977) VI: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) VII: Return of the Jedi (1983)

Seven is luckier than six anyway. All that needs to be changed is the Opening Text headers in the original trilogy. That's easy enough. Next, in 2005, we get Anakin turning completely to the Dark Side, dueling Obi-Wan and becoming Vader and the closure to the Clone Wars. In 2008, we get a fullblown Vader-driven film (Post Clone War/Dawn of the Empire) as he hunts down remaning Jedi. Tie fighters, the whole shebang, and we see the Rebellion secretly organizing...maybe Leia on Alderaan at the age of 12... This would allow a better 'train-coupling' between New and Old Trilogy. and save Lucas from doing a condensed, crammed-in story for Episode III - which he knows he'll catch hell for - He really has room to flourish the EMPIRE v REBELLION story with a brand new Episode 4. The old original 1977 film, which apparently didn't have an episode # to begin with, now becomes IV (five). I like it. How 'bout you? Anyway, the opening text on Star Wars '77 says that the Rebellion just won their first major victory against the Empire. What was that victory (???) Maybe a new Ep IV could show it.

There's a 20 year gap between Episodes III and IV - George Lucas isn't going to cram anything into Episode III.

After Episode III has been and gone he MIGHT let the novel authors into the whole time period, including those years between the two trilogies.

The obvious problem with a hypothetical 2008 episode is that, to put it in simple terms, it would be hard to come up with a hero for the screenplay. Leia would be just a child in Alderaan, Luke would be a farm boy in Tatooine totally unaware of his potential Jedi skills, and Obi-Wan would be hiding from the Empire and keeping a very low profile. All other Jedi knights would be either dead or about to be killed by Vader. In other words, it would be a totally dark episode which would probably get a very negative reaction from the audience.

Of course, Episode III itself will also be dark (from a certain point of view), however Lucas will probably attenuate the impact of Anakin´s turning to the dark side with the birth of the Jedi twins, signalling that the light side will eventually prevail in the future. By wrapping up an otherwise tragic screenplay with a message of hope symbolized by Padme´s children, it will be possible then to close episode III on a positive note, thus pleasing fans and the broader movie-going crowd.

Quite frankly, I don´t think that there are that many gaps to be filled in the 20-year window between EpIII and ANH to merit a feature film of its own. Personally, I would much rather see a sequel taking place some 20 or 30 years *after* the ROTJ and with a whole new set of characters centered around a new Jedi order. Actually, I wouldn´t mind seeing the characters that are already out there in the expanded universe novels (like Jacen, Jaina and Anakin Solo) on the big screen, although, for some reason, I understand some purists insist on rejecting the expanded universe as canon.

As much as I'd love to see an extra film, it's not going to happen. However, if it did, I'd keep 4/5/6 all the same move AOTC to Ep1 and have Prologue:TPM (because that's really what it was). I'd not fill the 20 year gap, though. I think there is enough left to explore in the next two years of Anakin's life to draw it out into two movies. My only hope is a four hour Ep3 directors cut on DVD.