Star Wars Episode VII News: Week 8

Michael Arndt Waves Goodbye

     This week, Episode VII news finally picked up the pace after a very sluggish month. First off, rumors of a trailer for Episode VII began circulating. According to Screencrush, the official Star Wars YouTube channel has been posting trailers for the entire Star Wars franchise, and that their most recent, untitled trailer is set to be released on October 30, exactly 1 year after the Lucasfilm-Disney deal and Episode VII were announced. Apparently, this means that an Episode VII trailer is imminent. Never mind that casting hasn't been announced, production hasn't even started, pre-production hasn't even finished, and the screenplay hasn't even been written. It just wouldn't fit with Disney's otherwise sealed lips approach to Episode VII, and to release a trailer when the movie is still two years away wouldn't make sense at all. But more sane Star Wars news is on the way.

     According to Moviefone, Episode VII's release date has been altered. Pamphlets distributed in London's European Brand Licensing Show show the release date for Episode VII as "Spring/Summer 2015". This is a change from the regular May showing of Star Wars movies. This would make sense, however, if Lucasfilm is behind scheduleon making the movie. This is evident, because not a single person has been cast, not even the three main actors of the original Star Wars trilogy, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford, which are almost guaranteed to return. Well, maybe not Harrison Ford. Also, the script hasn't been written, or at least completed, because Michael Arndt has been replaced as the screenwriter with Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams.

     This is the first new information about Star Wars: Episode VII since the beginning of September. According to DISNEY ITSELF, Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams have taken over as screenwriters for Episode VII, formerly held by Michael Arndt, who wrote the screenplay for Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3. The company never actually states what happened to Arndt, only saying that he has been a "terrific job bringing us up to this point and we have a ... team already in place ready for production." This might break the hearts of Toy Story fans, but it means that Lawrence Kasdan is writing STAR WARS! The last time he wrote for Star Wars was for The Empire Strikes Back, which, as any Star Wars fan should know, is the best movie of the franchise. This is definitely a positive for the movie, and will improve the story. There really isn't much else to say. I mean, Lawrence Kasdan is writing Star Wars. How much better can it get?

Kasdan (far left) on the "Empire" set