Everything We (Think) We Know About STAR WARS: EPISODE 7

Yesterday’s announcement that Star Wars: Episode VII would start filming in May got us to thinking about how much news has flown around since the new Star Wars trilogy was announced as part of Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm in October 2012. And taking a look back at the amount of bandwidth we and other sites have burned, it seems as if there is not a lot that we actually know for certain about the project. Sure there are lots of rumors of what may be happening, but official announcements have been few and far between.

Let’s break it down.

Here is what we officially know –

• J J Abrams is directing and the film will start shooting this May in England’s Pinewood Studios.
• Cinematographer Dan Mindel will shoot the film on 35mm.
• Michael Arndt’s screenplay, based on an outline provided by George Lucas, has been rewritten by Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan.
• The story will be set 30 years after Return Of The Jedi.
• ILM will be providing the visual effects and John Williams will be returning to the franchise to score.
• Ben Burtt, whose involvement, like Williams’, extends all the way back to the original 1977 film, will be returning as sound designer.
• We will finally see the film on December 18, 2015.

And then there’s the things we think we know, but have not been officially confirmed –

• Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford will be reprising their roles as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo.
• Walking carpet Chewbacca will also be back, possibly played again by Peter Mayhew.
• Anthony Daniels will be returning to his role as fussy protocol droid C-3PO.
• The film will feature the children of the original trilogy characters, but possibly not as the main leads.

There are a few things we are slightly less sure on –

• Billy Dee Williams will be back as Lando Calrissian.
• Adam Driver has been cast as the trilogy’s new villain.
• The new trilogy will either incorporate or at least not nullify as much as the Expanded Universe of novels and comic books as it can.

There are also plenty of other rumors, including the return of the villainous Sith to the idea that Ewan McGregor will return as the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi toeverybody from Benedict Cumberbatch to Dame Judi Dench were up for a role in the film. All of these stories we’re going to mark with a very big question mark for the time being.

But with filming commencing in just two months’ time, I would imagine that some of the less official news will be either fully confirmed or denied, giving us a better picture of what we can expect in the highly anticipated film.