While the future of Star Wars has some fans excited, others would prefer George Lucas just leave his franchise to the dreams of those who it has inspired. A few good moments aside, the prequel films put a distaste in the mouths of many fans, and Lucas’s plans for carrying on the Star Wars story in a television series is worrisome to some, especially as the series is supposed to step away from the characters we all have grown to love and care about. No Skywalkers. No Vader.

Ready or not, more Star Wars is on the way, and word is it may be coming in a big way. Last week, during the Hasbro Fall 2007 Analyst Event, word came out that the upcoming Clone Wars television series would be making its debut on the big screen. Movieweb quotes the company’s COO as saying Star Wars: The Clone Wars would hit theaters August 8th, 2008, and then appear on TV throughout the fall.

But, as with most things Star Wars, there appears to be some discrepancy about the facts. Fan-run site The Force.net went as far as contacting Lucasfilm for comment about this breaking news and the response was mixed. According to Lucasfilm, they are discussing different ways to introduce the series to the public, but nothing definitive has been decided yet. This means Lucasfilm isn’t planning on a theatrical release, at least not yet.

Why does this mixed news not surprise me. After all, we had this all powerful Force that united the universe, and then it was explained away as some microbiological thing. We had this mythos about Anakin Skywalker’s abilities as a pilot when Obi-Wan Kenobi first met him, but didn’t realize he was an annoying 8-year-old boy at that time. The original movies and the prequels are full of contradictions, so why should Star Wars news now be any different?

As jaded as I may sound, I would love to see Star Wars hit theaters again in some form, and if the The Clone Wars saga winds up being cool enough, I’d be all for it. I’m afraid instead of being cool, it’s going to be a revamp of the ‘80s animated series Droids. After all, while Lucas hasn’t told us who the show will be about, he has joked that it’s about, “the life of robots.” That alone sounds like we’re being set up for disappointment. Let’s hope George actually found a sense of humor when he made that statement. As cool as C-3P0 and R2-D2 are, I really don’t want to watch them in a weekly series (as anything more than supporting characters).