J.J. Abrams And Lawrence Kasdan To Write STAR WARS: EPISODE VII Screenplay

We’ve got new STAR WARS: EPISODE VII info for you today. Word has come down from Star Wars.com that in addition to helming the upcoming film, J.J. Abrams will be penning the screenplay with Lawrence Kasdan.

Kasdan has plenty of experience in the world of STAR WARS. He was co-screenwriter on THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI. As previously announced, Kathleen Kennedy is executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant.

“I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and J.J. working on the script,” states Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy.

“There are very few people who fundamentally understand the way a Star Wars story works like Larry, and it is nothing short of incredible to have him even more deeply involved in its return to the big screen. J.J. of course is an incredible storyteller in his own right.

Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point and we have an amazing filmmaking and design team in place already prepping for production.”

It was close to one year ago (Oct 30, 2012) when The Walt Disney Company announced that it would acquire Lucasfilm Ltd. in a stock and cash transaction from Lucasfilm founder, George Lucas. This included Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound.

In news that was Strong with Force, Disney Chairman and CEO Robert Iger said at the time, “In 2015, we’re planning to release Star Wars Episode 7 – the first feature film under the “Disney-Lucasfilm” brand. That will be followed by Episodes 8 and 9 – and our long term plan is to release a new Star Wars feature film every two to three years.”

While no actors have been officially announced, we do know that the film is scheduled to begin shooting in the Spring of 2014 at Pinewood Studios and is expected to be in theaters in 2015.

The creative folks behind the scenes are director of photography Dan Mindel (Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness), production designers Rick Carter (Lincoln, Avatar, Forrest Gump) and Darren Gilford (Oblivion, TRON: Legacy), costume designer Michael Kaplan (Star Trek Into Darkness, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Fight Club),special effects supervisor Chris Corbould (Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception), sound designer Ben Burtt (Lincoln, Wall-E, Star Wars: Episodes I-VI), re-recording mixer Gary Rydstrom (Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Toy Story, Mission: Impossible -Ghost Protocol), supervising sound editor Matthew Wood (Star Trek Into Darkness, The Master, There Will Be Blood) of Skywalker Sound, and visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett (Star Trek Into Darkness, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith) of Industrial Light & Magic. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, with Tommy Harper (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Jack Ryan, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Jason McGatlin (Tintin, War of the Worlds) serving as executive producers.

John Williams is returning to score STAR WARS: EPISODE VII.

Source: StarWars.com