'Star Wars: Episode VII' Gets Release Date

via StarWars.com… Just announced! Star Wars: Episode VII will open in theaters on Friday, December 18, 2015, just in time for the holiday movie season. It’s the same date that, in 2009, Avatar opened, and the Walt Disney Company is looking for it to be another blockbuster day.

There had been speculation that its release would be delayed until 2016, especially after director JJ Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, co-writer of the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, announced they would be taking over primary script writing from Michael Arndt. Disney Studio Chief Alan Horn responded to the rumors by saying that “We’re very excited to share the official 2015 release date for Star Wars: Episode VII, where it will not only anchor the popular holiday film-going season but also ensure our extraordinary filmmaking team has the time needed to deliver a sensational picture.” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, with Tommy Harper and Jason McGatlin serving as executive producers. John Williams is returning to score Star Wars: Episode VII.

Abrams has also hinted that the sequels may return to the gritty frontier look and feel of the original trilogy, something many Star Wars fans missed from the clean and shiny look of the prequels. “The beauty of [the original film] was that it was an unfamiliar world, and yet you wanted to see it expand and to see where it went.”

While Episode VII will not share the traditional May release date of its predecessors (that slot is being taken by the Brad Bird-directed, George Clooney sci-fi saga Tomorrowland), it will shoot at Pinewood Studios beginning in the spring of next year. Set and costume designs are already underway.

Rumors of late also include a recent casting call from Disney for two characters— a 17- to 18-year-old “street-smart” woman, and a 19- to 23-year-old orphaned man. Lucasfilm hasn’t confirmed it, but they also haven’t denied it. Clues have led many to believe it is for Episode VII —  Disney has nothing else in the works that they would do such a wide casting call for unknown actors, the characters mirror a previous casting call where one of the characters was confirmed by Lucasfilm, and the Star Wars Insider has been very excited about the call. If true, it seems the filmmakers are definitely making progress towards that December 2015 release deadline!

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