Chiwetel Ejiofor Is The Latest On The STAR WARS: EPISODE VII Casting Rumor Role Call

With the start of production ever getting closer and real information in short supply, it is inevitable that fans will grasp on to any potential bit of news, no matter how slim the connection may be. This past weekend’s bit of news that could probably fall into that category is the rumor that 12 Years A Slave star Chiwetel Ejiofor could possibly be up for a role in Star Wars: Episode VII.

Saturday’s The Times Magazine featured a story by writer Rhys Blakely chronicling his visit to the offices Episode VII director J J Abrams’s Bad Robot production company. The excerpt that has everyone excited reads as such –

The British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, front-runner in this year’s Oscar race, is sitting in the lobby of J. J. Abrams’ office. If you’re a sci-fi fan, this might be very big news indeed.

Not too hard to put two and two together here. With Star Wars being the main focus of Abrams attention right now, it seems like the easiest and obvious conclusion to make, right?

Now the full article isn’t available except behind the Times’ paywall, but Bleeding Cool has helpfully quoted another relevant section of th story –

He looks at me, dead-eyed. “I can’t discuss casting,” he says. “But he’s a very talented gentleman.”

Certainly sounds like Ejiofor wasn’t saying that he was there for any other reason besides casting, doesn’t it?

The folks at JediNews claim to have a source that confirms that Ejiofor has indeed been cast in the film, though they could just be saying that and are actually taking an educated guess on the whole thing. For all we know, given Abrams’ much talked about penchant for secrecy, Ejiofor could be there about a project that we know nothing about that Abrams is only producing.