At the Produced By conference on the Fox lot yesterday, J.J. Abrams was hesitant to discuss anything related to the plot of his upcoming trip to a galaxy far, far away, but he did, however, reveal that Star Wars: Episode VII is going to begin production in early 2014.
The film will shoot in London, which is a plan Disney had in place before they brought Abrams on board. Abrams said he would’ve rather filmed in Los Angeles, but that decision was out of his control.
He does, however, have a good bit of control when it comes to what exactly the movie is going to entail, and he said he believes if this Star Wars film is going to be successful, they need to find a balance between paying homage to the original films and creating something new and exciting. Check out that quote from him below.
I think that the thing is so big and so massive to so many people that the key to moving forward is honoring but not revering what went before.
For a while it seemed uncertain whether Episode VII was actually going to release in 2015, especially when Abrams said he never committed to that date and isn’t even thinking about what he wants to do with the film yet. If Episode VII is indeed pushed back, it’d be another blow to what was once supposed to be the greatest summer of movies of all time (or was supposed to be before we realized there’s no way Justice League is actually happening by then).
Starting production in early 2014 though indicates Disney is likely still hoping for that summer 2015 release. Granted, the production on this first film could go quite a bit longer than the average film considering the magnitude of what we can only assume Abrams has planned, but I’d say there’s a very good chance we won’t have to wait until 2016 to see the first film of the new trilogy.
As always, be sure to check back for more Star Wars: Episode VII news. We’ll bring it to you as soon as it comes in.
