Star Wars Episode VII News: Week 15

Episode VII to Begin Production in May 2014

     Episode VII news rumors appear more and more viable as pre-production nears its conclusion. The first such rumor states that Zac Efron may be in talks with Lucasfilm for a role. It comes from MTV, who interviewed Efron on whether or not he would be in Episode VII. He said,

     "I just went and met with them, you know, so, I don't know. Yeah, it would be cool, it would be fun. But, I don't know... who knows?" Well if that isn't a direct confirmation of his involvement, then I have no idea what I'm doing with my life. But, if he really did meet with Disney, it could be big.

     Another casting rumor that seems a bit more plausible involves Gary Oldman. in a separate interview with Sky Movies, he said, 

     "They've called."

     He then went on to say,"I'm more cynical about it now and believe it when I'm on the plane home. You know, the deal isn't done. But yeah, they've inquired.". As much as I'd love to see Gary Oldman in Episode VII, I have doubts as to whether or not he'll be in it. The tradition for Star Wars films is to cast unknowns. Fresh faces. Somebody moviegoers won't see onscreen and say, "Oh look, it's Brad Pitt in a Star Wars costume" or something. However, Star Wars hasn't casted unknowns when it comes to British actors, as seen by Sir Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing. Even in the prequels, they had Christopher Lee. So maybe they will cast Oldman. Probably not Efron. But J.J. Abrams already changed the release date from May to December, so anything could happen. Moving on.

     The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) is expanding to Central London. This was stated by the president of ILM, Lynwen Brennan, who went on to say the company should move in by March or April. Apparently the new facilities will act as a pipeline between San Fransisco, Pinewood Studios, and Beijing while Episode VII is being edited. Speaking of which, this new report coming in suggests that the film will have plenty of time to edit...

     The potentially biggest piece of news comes from Hitfix. It says that "multiple sources" have confirmed that production for Episode VII will begin in May and end in September, giving Bad Robot and Lucasfilm fifteen months to edit the film. This, however, is not as much time as Revenge of the Sith had to edit, which was around two years. But hey, why compare the prequels to anything? The original Star Wars had only six months to edit, and they did great. Plus, computer technology has advanced since 2005, and it should take less time to do CGI. But they will use it sparingly, because nobody in their right mind would make a Star Wars film entirely in front of a green screen, right?!