See the Official Title of ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’
The highly anticipated Star Wars sequel — “Episode VII,” as it’s commonly been referred to — has finished principal photography and will officially be titled, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, according to a tweet from Disney.
Director J.J. Abrams and his cast and crew have been working on Episode VII throughout the summer, filming at Pinewood Studios in London, as well as in Abu Dhabi, sparking rumors that Abrams was trying to recreate the desert landscapes of Luke Skywalker’s home planet, Tatooine. Production, however, was temporarily put on hold when Harrison Ford — returning as the one and only Han Solo — injured his foot on set.
Little is known about The Force Awakens other than that it is set 30 years after the events of 1983’s Return of the Jedi. The film will also feature Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker reprising their roles from the original trilogy alongside Ford. The old guard will be joined by newcomers Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong’o, Max von Sydow, Andy Serkis, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley. The Force Awakens was written by Abrams and Lucasfilm veteran Lawrence Kasdan, who replaced original screenwriter Michael Arndt.
Fans were treated to one exclusive report from The Force Awakens set, courtesy of director/Star Wars super fan, Kevin Smith. While he couldn’t offer any spoilers, Smith gushed that Abrams wasn’t relying on green screens and digital animation to tell the story.
“I saw uniforms; I saw artillery that I haven’t seen since I was a kid,” Smith said. “I saw them shooting an actual sequence in a set that is real – I walked across the set; there were explosions, and it looked like a shot right out of a fucking Star Wars movie.”
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is scheduled to open in theaters on December 18th, 2015.