Abrams Offers STAR WARS Updates: Script Finished, Casting Almost Done, IMAX, More

With the start of production looming for Lucasfilm/Disney’s first new Star Wars film, rumors have been flying fast and thick about casting, the script and other aspects of the production. This weekend, while speaking at the Television Critics Association Press Tour to promote the upcoming TV series Believe which he is executive producing, Star Wars: Episode VII director took a few moments to address some of those rumors and clear up a few misconceptions.

First off, Abrams stated that the revised draft of the screenplay that he was working on with writer Lawrence Kasdan has been turned in and that they are currently “in deep prep.”

Part of that prep, of course, is casting the film. Abrams admited that he has heard some crazy rumors, which he takes as flattering, in a strange way.

God, there have been so many of them, honestly. I don’t know. But, it’s amazing to see how many there are. It’s really remarkable. But, it’s sweet because it shows that there’s an interest in this movie that we all obviously know is there. It is an incredible thing to see how many crazy things get thrown out that people then often write commentaries about how happy they are or how disappointed they are about something that’s completely false. But, it’s a lot of noise, frankly.

But Abrams did confirm one of the more recent ones, that he had met with actor Jesse Plemons.

He is one of the actors that we’ve talked to, yeah. It’s not often that I read about actors that I’m going to be meeting. I get to read articles about actors who were going to come in, so I get to see someone and say, “Oh, I read that I was going to see you. It’s very nice to see you.” It’s usually agents talking to people about what’s happening. It’s just a lot of noise.

While Abrams is not confirming that Plemons has indeed been cast in the film, I would suggest that for him to even mention anyone by particular name is an indicator that they are at least a strong contender for a role.

Abrams also specified that he would not be shooting any portion of the film in the IMAX ultra-large screen format, citing technical restrictions with the camera. And by inference, he also reconfirmed that he would be shooting the movie on actual film and not with digital cameras.

In the right situation, I’d like to use IMAX again. The problem with IMAX is that it’s a very loud camera. It’s a very unreliable camera. Only so much film can be in the camera. You can’t really do intimate scenes with it. It’s slow. They break down often. Having said that, they’re working on digital versions of that, so there may be a version one day. But, we’re going to be shooting this next movie on film.

Via Collider.