Star Wars: Episode VII Might Open At The End Of 2015, Possibly With Myserious New Characters
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A few weeks ago, reports surfaced that Disney CEO Bob Iger and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy didn’t see eye-to-eye when it came to the release of Star Wars: Episode VII. Kennedy reportedly wants more time for the story to come together and would like the film to open in 2016. Iger, on the other hand is adamant about sticking to the original 2015 release date. At the moment, the film is still slated to open sometime in 2015, but tweets from a Dutch Disney executive point to a date in late 2015.
Spotted by Jedi News, the tweets come from the retail side of Disney in Europe. Executive Dennis Barbie deleted the tweets in question, but if we learned anything from David Fincher’s The Social Network, the Internet is written in ink and not pencil. Read the tweets below:
#StarWars,Saw today some awsome first features/plans of new StarWars 7 movie coming end 2015. #Disney studio role out.
— Dennis Barbie (@Barbieguitar) November 5, 2013
@Corax78 at this moment it is planned for end of CY15 but in the entertainment business you will never know. Might be some changes there.
— Dennis Barbie (@Barbieguitar) November 5, 2013
There were initial rumors suggested the film might open in November 2015, which line up withthese reports. Disney has a lot of money invested in releasing the film in 2015, so it’s important for their company and partners for the film to be released on time. Unfortunately, this would be a business decision, rather than a creative one. Hopefully it won’t have a negative impact on the finished film.
Meanwhile, Jedi News also discovered a call sheet from Disney for an open audition for an unnamed movie. It is believed that this casting call is for Episode VII. If true, it seems that Disney and Lucasfilm are looking for leads that might not be from the Skywalker or Solo family. The sheet shows that they’re after two leads, a male between the ages of 19 and 23, and a female between the ages of 17 and 18.
The wording is very vague, but the young woman is called Rachel. Here is the description of her character:
Was quite young when she lost her parents. With no other family, she was forced to make her way in a tough, dangerous town. Now 17 she has become street smart and strong. She is able to take care of herself using humor and guts to get by. Always a survivor, never a victim, she remains hopeful that she can move away from this harsh existence to a better life. She is always thinking of what she can do to move ahead.
The other name on the list is a young man named Thomas. He is described as:
Has grown up without a father’s influence. Without the model of being a man, he doesn’t have the strongest sense of himself. Despite this he smart, capable and shows courage when it is needed. He can appreciate the absurdities in life and understands you can’t take life too seriously.
Nothing is currently official when it comes to Episode VII, or the new trilogy. We can only speculate who these characters are, or if this is, in fact, a casting call for Star Wars. It’s also unclear if these characters appeared in Michael Arndt’s version of the screenplay, or if it’s based on Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams’. Until we hear something from Disney and Lucasfilm, read these rumors with a healthy dose of skepticism.
