Lawrence Kasdan hasn’t had much success getting projects onto the big screen and in front of audiences in the past decade. Anybody who saw “Darling Companion” would be hard pressed to remember this was the writer-director of “Grand Canyon” and “The Big Chill.”

But back in the day, Kasdan was the screenwriter guys like Spielberg and Lucas turned to when they wanted a “Star Wars” or “Indiana Jones” script that worked and set off sparks.

Kasdan’s one of two people Disney lined up to work on “stand alone” films built around “Star Wars” characters. His experience with the characters, the galaxy and the storylines make him a good choice to get the ball rolling on such films, though whether he would be allowed to direct one, or even script it on his own, seems unlikely.

Simon Kinberg is the other writer new to Disney’s payroll on this two-film project. He scripted the recent “Sherlock Holmes”.