Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm today revealed that, as has long been expected, their Star Wars: Episode VII will begin production at London’s historic Pinewood Studios in May. What’s more, they’ve confirmed that the action in the sequel will be set 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi and that the storyline follows “a trio of new young leads along with some very familiar faces.”
The film’s cast is expected to be announced shortly with “Girls” and Inside Llewyn Davis star Adam Driver heavily rumored to play the film’s Darth Vader-like antagonist. Among the other actors rumored to be in contention are 12 Years a Slave‘s Lupita Nyong’o and quite a few young male stars.
Directed by J.J. Abrams and written by Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, Star Wars: Episode VII is rumored to include appearances by Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford in older incarnations of their beloved characters from the original Star Wars trilogy. The film will hit theaters on December 18, 2015.
