On October 30, 2012, Lucasfilm announced that it was going to be sold to The Walt Disney Company for $4.05 billion.
After their acquisition of Marvel, people aren't too too surprised now, since the precedent is totally there for Disney to begin slowly amassing its conglomeration of our fond childhood and fanboy memories. And after their success with the Avengers movie recently, you can see that they know how to make it pay off: $1.51 billion is hardly chump change, especially considering Disney bought Marvel for a similarly sized $4B.
But Star Wars? And good ol' Indy? Where lies their fate? Are they doomed to be Disneyfied?
Well, you know, there actually was supposed to be a third trilogy. In fact, George Lucas originally had written twelve stories for the saga. Lucas had VII, VIII, and IX planned since the astounding success of the original Star Wars, and had a lot of ideas for it in the 80s. Lucas' biographer, Dale Pollock, has gone on record with The Wrap as liking the stories for 7, 8, and 9 the best.
It would deal largely with the rebuilding of the republic. Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia were to maybe to appear in their 60s or 70s, as the whole thing is set decades after the original trilogy. C-3PO and R2D2 were going to be the only characters there in every film, as the element tying the entire saga together. In Episode IX, Mark Hamill was even going to cameo, passing on the lightsaber to the next new hope. Remember, this was all before the prequel trilogy was even a thing: Leia was still not yet cemented as Luke's sister, and the Emperor was going to appear for the first time in IX, so the ultimate confrontation would be between him and Luke.
1983 to 1994 was a period of uncertainty for the third trilogy, and it was ultimately dropped by the end, because the original trilogy was so taxing. Admittedly, there is some truth to the node title, because Lucas has staunchly refused the notion of VII, VIII, or any higher Roman numerals in describing Star Wars episodes for quite a long period of time.
This all said, what is the VII that Disney is planning actually going to look like? Lucas isn't directing, suffice to say, but he's given Disney an "extensive story treatment". It will almost assuredly be an original story, one not found in the post-RotJ Star Wars Expanded Universe, and it is slated to be written by Michael Arndt, the man behind Toy Story 3. The director of VII has either not been chosen or not been disclosed by Disney. Spielberg, Snyder, and Tarantino have all denied potentially being the director upon questioning, but just about everyone else short of M. Night Shyamalan seems to be fair game, according to media speculation. (Update Oct 2013: Turns out it's J.J. Abrams.)
Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford are all more or less open to reprising their respective roles, and there's been some positive speculation regarding Billy Dee William's Lando's appearance. Ewan MacGregor and Samuel L. Jackson were also not averse to the idea of returning for VII, though what place either would have is a question of its own. What is known, however, is that it's going to be a 2015 release, so don't start reserving your tickets just yet.
And our pal Indy? There is pretty much unanimous agreement that an Indiana Jones 5 is unlikely.
Of course, let's not forget to mention the classics American Graffiti and The Land Before Time, also products of the Lucasfilm Empire. May they, at least, rest in whatever tortured peace Lucasfilm left them in.
Selected sources.