Star Wars: Episode VII will get a whole new screenwriting team as director JJ Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan will take over the project to get the script ready to begin filming in 2014…
It may not be time to sound the alarms just yet, but the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII feature has made a change to the writing team bringing the galaxy far, far away back to life in 2015.
According to a press release from Lucasfilm, the original writer on the project Michael Arndt will be replaced by director J.J. Abrams as well as screenwriting legend Lawrence Kasdan.
“I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and J.J. working on the script,” Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm president said in a release on Thursday. “There are very few people who fundamentally understand the way a Star Wars story works like Larry, and it is nothing short of incredible to have him even more deeply involved in its return to the big screen. J.J. of course is an incredible storyteller in his own right. Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point and we have an amazing filmmaking and design team in place already prepping for production.”
For those not familiar, Kasdan — who was already a consultant on the project — wrote both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and he’s been rumored as a head writer on the upcoming Star Wars prequels focusing on Han Solo and Boba Fett.
Kasdan will join Abrams as they begin to rework and rewrite the story originally started by Arndt.
Star Wars: Episode VII will focus on Luke, Leia, Han and the rest of the cast from the original movies after the death of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. The story being developed is under lock and key, but switching screenwriters just a few months before production is set to begin could be a sign of things to come.
Abrams and Kasdan will take over the project immediately with plans to start filming in the spring of 2014 still in place. Star Wars: Episode VII will be released in 2015.
