UPDATE! Is the Spring/Summer 2015 Release Date Still Possible?

episode 7

Is the Episode 7 release date still scheduled for Spring/Summer 2015? With the latest reports of the filming delay and the script rewrites it’s very unlikely. Find out more after the jump…

 
Few days ago we’ve seen some official Disney papers where it was written that Episode 7 is scheduled for a Spring/Summer 2015 release. Now the official Lucasfilm press release from yesterday only stated that the movie has an expected 2015 release date. Obviously the release date is no longer set in stone.

If you remember when Disney officially announced that J.J. Abrams will direct Episode 7, it was revealed that the director still haven’t agreed on the movie’s release date. Later Kathleen Kennedy managed to convince Abrams and he signed the deal.

j.j. abrams

Now the situation is very similar to Abrams’ latest movie Star Trek: Into Darkness. First the movie was supposed to come out in 2012 but Abrams pushed it back to 2013 because of the unfinished script. Abrams noted that he would rather the film be good than ready by its scheduled release date.

So I will go even further and say that a delay of Episode 7 till May 2016 is not that improbable. The difference between a December 2015 and May 2016 release is not that big and they will need all the time they could find. And of course we have a pattern to follow. 🙂 

Episode I – 19 May, 1999
Episode II – 16 May, 2002
Episode III – 19 May, 2005
Episode IV – 25 May, 1977
Episode V – 21 May, 1980
Episode VI – 25 May, 1983

Just for comparison all 3 movies from the Prequel Trilogy started filming around June and wrapped till September, leaving a year and a half for post production. Also Star Trek: Into Darkness began principal photography on January 12, 2012 and finished shooting in May with a scheduled release date of May 16, 2013. 

You see that Episode 7 was on a similar production schedule as Star Trek: Into Darkness until now. So, if they have a finished script and start filming in Spring 2014 and everything is perfect and moving according to plan then the earliest possible release date for Episode 7 should be August 2015. For now there are no serious movie contenders for that month so keep that in mind. And this way Disney will avoid the direct clash with The Avengers: Age of Ultron which opens in May 2015.

michael arndt

The August 2015 release date is only possible in the best case scenario. Now according to BadAssDigest we may actually have the worst case scenario. According to their sources:

The focus of the story has changed in a big way. It’s a whole new set of characters being followed than in the Arndt script. I heard they scrapped the entire Arndt script as early as July. This isn’t a rewrite, this is a completely different movie with different main characters.


If that’s true than the situation is really bad and a 2016 release date is the most logical thing. Still this is only a rumor so take it with a grain of salt.

One other thing. Few months ago it was reported that Michael Arndt has written a treatment for the whole new Star Wars trilogy, not only Episode 7. I wonder what really will happen with his work. Is he even involved with the movies anymore or he is kinda fired? Maybe he is working on the next movies? Who knows…
I hope we get more clues on October 30. 

UPDATE!

Also check out this article by JediNews. Very well spoken.

Star Wars Episode VII: The Story Behind The Story So Far 

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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

56 thoughts on “UPDATE! Is the Spring/Summer 2015 Release Date Still Possible?

  • October 25, 2013 at 11:39 am
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    I want SW7 to be greatest sci fi movie of the decade. Miles ahead of avatar and Marvels films. Not care for date and year. I am ready to wait until May 2016. Only fear that Disney and shearholders will try to rush things and put pressure on Abrams and on the team to do it faster. What reason…………MONEY! Disney paid 4 billions and whant their money back. But better wait for a year and make great Star Wars to open the road NOT only for SW 7-9 but even for next trilofy 10-12, standalone films and video games and TV series. That will make Disney money. Hope they get it and are not to greedy.

    • October 25, 2013 at 1:52 pm
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      2015…2015 are millions will be pissed…Disney has all of the right people and all the tools and facilities anyone could ever imagine. They can get it done right in roughly 3 years time. October 2012 – August 2015.

    • October 25, 2013 at 1:53 pm
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      “of” millions that is – sorry

    • October 25, 2013 at 1:56 pm
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      2016 is CRAZY…4 years after the announcement?…NO WAY!…Disney has all of the talent and money they need to make this work by 2015. MAKE IT HAPPEN. We are going NUTS!!!

    • October 26, 2013 at 7:33 am
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      Relax fans. This movie will be out in spring 2015. As i have said before, a movie of this magnitude is gonna be hyped, rumors will build and die and build again. Now they just having fun with release dates. its part of the game. Plu we have to have things to chat about until it comes out, or else what the fuck would we be talikg about ?… lol …. Plus this is 100 times bigger than any of the Disney movies being made right now or will be coming out. ( Maybe Pirates of the Carribbean will equal the main event ).. however, this movie and release will not be blocked off by any movie. The power of the force will not be late for its date of spring 2015. Bank on it.

  • October 25, 2013 at 11:43 am
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    By the way i love May 2016 even more because jennifer lawrence will be able to be cast in the film. And we all know that she is THE BEST!!! I think Abrams want her. He loves female leads for example alias, lost, fringe, felicity.

    • October 26, 2013 at 7:37 am
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      Let me guess Darth Malgus…. You want her to wear your ressurection of Darth Vaders outfit ? YA !!! .. You fucking pie hole !!! …. Shes already tied to the X-Men ( First cllass trilogy ). We don’t need her. We need more new faces. Get out of the freaking dark side and come back to the light. Your mind has been playing with power cuplings long enough. time for a new drug !!!!!

  • October 25, 2013 at 12:09 pm
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    I find it hard to believe that Arndt’s script was simply tossed out for ‘all new characters and story’. It’s simply too late in the game for that to happen. It would mean starting from scratch, which would lead to Disney having to reschedule all sequel and spin-off releases. That would be a major set-back. Instead, I expect that Abrams and Kasdan are simply conducting some kind of script revision.

    • October 25, 2013 at 1:47 pm
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      Whether the script is being rewritten or revised, I think this is all for the best. I wouldn’t mind waiting a few more months if it means the movie will be all the more incredible. The fact that Arndt (a contracted Disney screenwriter) wrote a script that wasn’t satisfactory to Abrams’ standards for the movie should tell us all that this movie is in good hands. Maybe not Star Wars as a whole, (who the fuck knows how Disney is going to squeez every last bit of marrow from the SW bone) but at least this next trilogy and most likely the spin-offs will be something the original trilogy fans can truly enjoy.

    • October 25, 2013 at 9:34 pm
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      Scrapping the whole thing doesn’t make sense. Wouldn’t the “whole new characters” defy the rough treatment outlines that Lucas gave Disney? Surely Lucas’ treatments involved rough character descriptions that Arndt was using.

    • October 26, 2013 at 7:43 am
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      they are not scrapping anything. Ardnt wrote a treatment, not an entire whole movie script. Does anyone even know how long a 50 page story treatment is ?… Not even an hour of a film. Relax. Ardnt first stage of writing COMPLETE. Second stage is now in effect. When Kasdan and Abrams is done with that, time for stage 3 to finish it. Whomever that will be. So relax fans. This is a very normal process for a big budget SPECIAL movie. May the force be with us all.

    • October 26, 2013 at 2:20 pm
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      ^ Arndt wrote a treatment for the whole trilogy and the script for Episode 7.

  • October 25, 2013 at 12:21 pm
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    Oh man… I hope that rumor isn’t true. Unless of course he somehow managed to be totally awful at Star Wars, which I doubt. Besides I thought a basic framework was underway even before Arndt.

    The guy brought a bunch of toys to life in a heart wrenching story… That’s talent. I can’t imagine JJ would just throw it out. I’m still thinking/hoping it’s a rewrite of his work.

  • October 25, 2013 at 12:34 pm
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    Does it really matter?

    C’mon, people, I like Ep. VII news as much as the next guy, but let’s put things in perspective here… we’re talking about a damn movie here, not the date of the Rapture or anything. It’s going to come out anyway, so does it really matter if it’s pushed back a few months?

    • October 25, 2013 at 1:08 pm
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      Call yourself a Star Wars fan? Pffft :oP

    • October 25, 2013 at 5:06 pm
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      the rapture is just as fictional as star wars. just sayin

    • October 26, 2013 at 7:48 am
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      Just a damn movie ? WTF ? !!!!! You son of a bitch !!! How could you do that ?…. That was my dog !!!! hahahahaha this is more than just a movie. Please get back into your time capsole and watch the saga again. Please dont turn to the dark side.

  • October 25, 2013 at 12:40 pm
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    I’m so confused. I wish lucasfilm could clear up what’s going on. Did Michael Arndt quit? If so, why? Or was he fired? Is the script being edited or being completely done all over again. Everyone seems to have the idea that Michael’s involvement has been completely scrapped, .. but the press release says “Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point”. If he has done a ‘terrific job’, why are people saying lucasfilm are dissatisfied which his work. It just says Larry and JJ are assuming writing, a.k.a, tweaking and shaping the script. It doesn’t say anything about him having different visions to JJ and he has been forced to leave and the script is being started again and blah blah blah. It says he “has done a terrific job bringing us to this point”. What point is “this point”??. What’s happening!?!?!? Then there is that rumour–“I heard they scrapped the entire Arndt script as early as July. This isn’t a rewrite, this is a completely different movie with different main characters.” That would be awful! GAH. So many questions!!!

  • October 25, 2013 at 1:07 pm
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    Whatever has happened, it appears to have disrupted production somewhat. Just the other week, Lucasfilm produced material that said “spring/summer 2015” for the release. And now they are saying “scheduled for 2015”. If you read between the lines you can tell this was an unexpected move.

  • October 25, 2013 at 1:20 pm
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    The rewrite sounds much worse than it really is.

    In the industry, every screenplay goes through multiple rewrites. This is standard practice.

    So there’s really nothing out of the ordinary here.

    • October 25, 2013 at 1:27 pm
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      This is true, they have what’s called Script Doctors, something I believe Carrie Fisher herself has done in the past?

  • October 25, 2013 at 2:36 pm
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    Honestly, when they announced out of the blue last year that Disney had acquired LFL and was going to put out a new Star Wars movie in 2 1/2 years, I was skeptical of the May 2015 release date. If they’d had the script, the director and the primary cast members set when they made the announcement, I could have seen it working in that time frame. But at this point we’re talking about cranking out a cinematic epic in just a little over a year’s time.

    Sure, they could rush it to meet Disney’s arbitrary release date, but IMHO they’re a lot better off giving themselves the breathing room to make a truly good, polished movie by moving the release date back to Christmas 2015 or even May 2016.

    Somebody at Disney cut their fingernails way too close with that May 2015 release date in the first place, and I really hope they don’t hold the production to that. I say, give ’em room to make a absolutely killer movie. We can all hold our water for another year, can’t we? ;^)

    • October 25, 2013 at 11:33 pm
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      If Harrison Ford were still in the primary phase of his career, I’d agree with you.

      However he’s had a resurgence as of late due to entering anew phase of his career, where he’s essentially choosing to play the roles of a character actor and bit parts.

      An aged Han Solo as a supporting character fits perfectly with this new phase of his career.

      But I could be wrong.

    • October 26, 2013 at 6:11 am
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      No you are not wrong here, I expect Ford to do almost exactly what he did in Indiana Jones 4. Just being there doing his good old grimaces while firing a blaster is more action for me than 10 action movies put together.

      He will nail it, Im sure of that. He is an experienced actor, I htink he can pull off almost anything JJ Abrams can throw at him. Also don;t expect Han Solo (if he makes an appearance in the films anyway) to be killed in any way except by grumpy old age. My bet is that Disney will have him stay as long as he brings in the crowds.

  • October 25, 2013 at 3:13 pm
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    I have just pulled out my old copy of The Phantom Menace and had a look at the featurettes on the bonus disc. George started work on the script for TPM on November 1 1994, a film that came out nearly 5 years later. I’ve read that GL started work on EP7 a year before signing over to Disney. So we have 2 years work on the film already. So a 5 year production time on a movie like this is more than feasible. Now I know that Ep 7 is not an entirely GL film and I’m not to familiar with JJ Abrhams work ethic but I myself think that a May 2016 release date is more than reasonable.

    • October 26, 2013 at 6:14 am
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      Her is what I think: No. Three years is long enough to get a movie right. We may indeed have to wait 4 years but it will be something of the sort “we changed script, it just didn’t work for “those” or “these” characters”.

      Only then it would be ok with me. Yes, dealy it but only if you feel its not right.

    • October 26, 2013 at 6:15 am
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      sr i meant “delay”

  • October 25, 2013 at 3:30 pm
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    I’m not sure how much work Lucas actually did other than to draft a treatment and maybe some general notes. As far as I’m aware, Arndt wrote the actual script beginning sometime late last year or early this year, rather than just adapting an existing script from Lucas.

    Really, I don’t get the impression that much work at all had been done on Episode VII prior to last October’s announcement.

  • October 25, 2013 at 3:40 pm
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    I wonder if some actors, say like Harrison Ford have backed out or can’t reach a negotiation, and this has caused a problem with Arndt’s script?? Not a movie works pro, but sounds like some conflict?? But I am happy with Kasdan being involved..

    • October 26, 2013 at 6:17 am
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      It probably is a budget issue. They have put so much oney on this and now they cannot decide how much cgi /liveaction/ old times scale models they should use. ratio-wise. I can feel for them. Ther are so many good arguements for all three options getting more screentime. It must be hell in JJ Abram’s head right now.

  • October 25, 2013 at 4:07 pm
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    Question: why Star Wars post-production is taking so long time? One year, even more??????? Is this normal time for post-production?

    • October 26, 2013 at 6:20 am
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      Yes, if you count the fact that they try to reconstruct an ENTIRE pop culture of fantasy and entertainment with this one. They cannot afford to screw it up. I think in this case post production will be as important as the quality of the script, the acting and the techniques that we will see being used to being the scale model technology to our today’s movie expecattions.

  • October 25, 2013 at 4:12 pm
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    Really great news read it: http://jedinews.co.uk/news/news.aspx?newsID=14101

    There was never a point that Ardnt was given free reign, it was a collaborative arrangement from day one. By the time the announcement was made, Ardnt had been working with Lucasfilm for four months.

    By the time of J.J. Abrams announcement on the 25th January it was also confirmed that “also consulting on the project are Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg.”.

    They had been in place for some time before J.J. came on board. Again, the point being the creative aspects of the project was a group collaboration.

    After a year working on the project, at all times meeting in creative writing groups, Ardnt departed in late August / early September with his work effectively done. He had delivered a script that was being used for creative design and development, and with a long line of films seeking his writing skills he sought a fresh challenge. The evolution of his work will continue through Kasdan and Abrams.

    There is no dramatic change of direction, there is no new script being written from scratch. Kasdan and Abrams are getting the credit they deserve for their input to date, and for polishing the script between now and shooting. Ardnt’s story remains intact. We are at an advanced stage in the creative phase. Costumes are being designed, sets are being designed and concept work has begun on the special effects.

    As with many Hollywood press announcements, the decisions and actions were taken some time ago. As of Friday 25th October Kasdan and Abrams are not sitting down thinking, ‘ok what are we going to write about?’ Those calls were made long ago in group consultation, and written by Ardnt. The script is in hand – it is being evolved and will continue to be tweaked until the day of shooting, and then probably during the shoot. That is the life of movie making.

    The high likelihood is that Star Wars Episode VII will end with credits stating a screenplay by Ardnt, Abrams, and Kasdan.

  • October 25, 2013 at 4:16 pm
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    Some interesting tweets recently.
    “Star Wars fanboys can bitch and moan all they want about film bloggers, but people are sitting on major, MAJOR, scoops. So, there is that.” @aliarikan
    and also (unfortunately)-
    “Confirmed: Sorry to bust Reddit conspiracy theories but the Star Wars teaser trailers are not leading to anything Episode 7 next week.” @slashfilm

    • October 25, 2013 at 4:28 pm
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      Also “their with Disney now so that pretty much sums it up BUT WHO KNOWS…I know EP 7 is Dark…oops wasn’t suppose to say that :-)” @latinoreview

    • October 25, 2013 at 5:50 pm
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      The slashfilm report is not confirmed at all..

    • October 25, 2013 at 6:37 pm
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      haha well no not on Lucasfilm’s end of course. I’m guessing he’s ‘confirmed’ it with various sources or something. Just hope the sources are either wrong or lying.

    • October 26, 2013 at 2:45 am
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      I know what happened. John Lasseter, head creative guy at Disney, read the script and screamed: “There’s too many icky girls as main characters in this thing! Cut them out or turn them into love interests!” Thus the rewrites. Lasseter won’t be pleased till everything resembles his animation studio Pixar (13 films, only one with a female lead.)

    • October 26, 2013 at 2:45 am
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      Yeah saw that too. The guy from Slashfilm responded to another tweet saying he got confirmation from Lucasfilm. But I doubt they would confirm it to him.

  • October 25, 2013 at 4:17 pm
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    The Force grows stronger…Disney shall full fill it’s destiny and join the Dark Side!!!

  • October 25, 2013 at 5:12 pm
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    Personally I’m pumped about this. Arndt, in my opinion, is over rated and I don’t see anything in his work that makes me think he would write a good SW film. Abrams and Kasdan however, I know could make a real bad-ass SW film. They’ll keep the good from Arndt, but I’m glad they aren’t taking the whole enchilada.

    If this means we wait a couple extra months, fine with me. Rather have a movie I love late than one that further ruins the franchise on time.

  • October 25, 2013 at 5:20 pm
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    I don’t like Toys Story 3! So, if he is out and Kasdan in, I say YAY!

  • October 25, 2013 at 5:44 pm
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    Darth Malgus… Read my post.

  • October 25, 2013 at 6:30 pm
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    I’ve got a bad feeling about this…If rumors are to be believed J.J. Abrams almost walked away from this film once. Things behind the scenes must be worse than we think they are…Beyond that L.Kasdan hasn’t written anything of note in a very long time and while Abrams is a well respected director the same can’t be said about him as a writer.

  • October 25, 2013 at 6:34 pm
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    I wonder how this will effect the trailer that is rumored to hit the net on 10/30? If they had to start from scratch it seems very unlikely to me that we see this film before May 2016…If that is the case why bother to release a trailer this far out?

  • October 25, 2013 at 7:38 pm
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    I don’t think we are looking at a re-write or a whole new script. “The script” is based on a treatment George Lucas created “A long time ago”. (sorry for the pun) So what was written may just need to be tweaked to better fit the actors being placed in those roles.
    As I said before, I think we have a little mis-information here before the big lead up.

  • October 25, 2013 at 11:26 pm
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    Game over man, game over! We’re doomed, dddoooooooommmmmeedddd!!!….just forget it man….make John Carter 2 or,or Sleeping Beauty 2:She’s Awake, and call it done!I knew it was the end when Star Wars met Star Trek……

    • October 26, 2013 at 6:28 am
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      Calm yourself. The movie will be awesome. It cannot be anything less than that. They spent so much money on it….

  • October 26, 2013 at 1:54 am
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    If they can’t get EP7 out 2015 then you have to blame JJ Abrams who also has a history of delaying films as both Star Trek movies were delayed ………

  • October 26, 2013 at 2:42 am
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    People are forgetting: It is still planned to be released in 2015. Any delays will not be too severe. I honestly don’t think they are rewriting the script from scratch. If the script was that bad, why keep it and say nothing till now?

  • October 26, 2013 at 3:45 am
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    Gum, anyone?

  • October 26, 2013 at 6:32 am
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    I have complete faith in Disney. You people seriously think that any, ANY script will not be re written and carfully screened ab illion times? Disney took a HUGE financial and bussiness risk by obtaining SW, I think its safe to say that the script was ALREADY done, almost perfect in tis core, before George grabbed the pen to sign his company off.

  • October 26, 2013 at 7:57 am
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    Fans use commen sense. If they had to delay this for another year, then why would they be working on a cast right now for the actors and actresses ? Think about it. Filming will begin in a few months. If it wasnt, they wouldnt be trying to cast anyone right now. And yes, Harrison Ford will be in part 7 and die in it. He wont say much about it cause of his other movie thats out. His other film got to make all the money it can before he comes forward about part 7. Use the force fans. Enjoy the holliday season cause next spring, filming will start. Besides, they have already been shooting the special effect battle scenes months ago. And yes, expect a 30 to 50 second teaser trailer sometime in february or march next year. YA !!!!

  • October 26, 2013 at 1:40 pm
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    A may-2016 would be a wise release date, and would fit into the typical shooting+production time wrap in all sw movies. Because it only lets ONE YEAR from shootong to release, may-2015 is a very risky date.

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