At the Produced By Conference in Los Angeles this past weekend, director J.J. Abrams revealed that filming for Star Wars: Episode VII is planned to begin in early 2014 in London.
Filming overseas will be new to Abrams, since he has shot all of his previous films in Los Angeles so he could stay at home with his wife and three children. All of the six previous Star Wars films have, at least partially, been filmed in the U.K.
“It is so massive and so important to people,” Abrams said about the legacy of Star Wars. “I think the key to moving forward on something like this is honoring but not revering what came before.”
Star Wars: Episode VII is expected to be released in summer 2015. The screenplay will be written by Oscar winner Michael Arndt, who has previously written screenplays for films such as Toy Story 3 and Little Miss Sunshine. George Lucas will serve as a creative consultant for the film.
Rumor are circulating that Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford will likely return to the film series to reprise their roles as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo.
