Last week The Hollywood Reporter released a video from part of their interview with Disney chief Alan Horn, in which Horn talked about what little he could talk about in regards to Star Wars Episode VII.
When asked about the casting, he said they had “a couple of things” but they couldn’t disclose “what they had” just yet. Then THR’s Stephen Galloway pointed out that filming for the movie was to begin in six weeks in order to meet a December 2015 release date, and Horn says “We’re actually shooting some of it now.”
You can wildly speculate to your heart’s content what that means. It doesn’t sound like principal photography to me, but Horn insists that a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams is ready to go. Little Miss Sunshine / Toy Story 3 writer Michael Arndt supposedly wrote the first draft. How much of that survived J.J. Abrams adding in big-tittied girls in their underwear scenes is beyond all of us at this point. Soon.
It’s sort of difficult talking about Episode VII, because anything that’s been published so far has mostly been conjecture, and between fanboy whinging and evasive non-answers from the original cast and current Disney heads, I’ve tended to ignore that the movie is happening. I’m actually fine with the non-news, it means the movie might actually be enjoyable because we haven’t discussed every single detail about it before it’s even released.
Who knows? The whole thing could be about Lego. Or the entire plot is about a clone army of Bai Lings. MAYBE EVERYONE WEARS A METAL BIKINI, EVEN HAMILL.
So, let’s review what is actual information:
- Both in this interview with Alan Horn, and an earlier one with Disney CEO Bob Iger, the movie takes place 30-35 years after Jedi.
- Carrie Fisher is in it — unless she talks too much and must be silenced.
- Also, according to Fisher, it’s shooting in London. (Horn made an over the shoulder gesture when he said it was already filming, which could mean New York or London or Bakersfield, who knows.)
- Alan Horn says it will just be the one movie filming, not three movies à la Peter Jackson, and they’re definitely trying to keep the December 2015 release date.
- J.J. Abrams is still directing.
About that last bit: I’m not worried. He’s admitted his addiction to lens flare, and now it’s time for him to make amends. Plus he’s already had plenty of practice creating Star Wars movies, because that’s essentially what the Trek reboots were.
However, since principal photography was scheduled to begin in May anyhow, expect real set photos leaking to an Instagram near you very soon. It seems like they’re going to try and keep this gravy train on the tracks no matter what.