Last week it was revealed that screenwriter Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3) had been replaced on Star Wars: Episode VII by director J.J. Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness) and Lucasfilm regular Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi), raising question marks about whether the script for the hotly-anticipated sequel would be ready in time for a projected January start on production. Abrams already looks to have a tight schedule ahead of him in order to meet Disney’s projected Spring / Summer 2015 release date for Episode VII, and now a story has emerged over at The Hollywood Reporter suggesting that there’s been some disagreement between Disney and Lucasfilm over the 2015 date.
According to THR’s sources, Episode VII producer and Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy has asked Disney to push the release date back to 2016, although Disney’s CEO Bob Iger has nixed the request and is keen to ensure Star Wars features in 2015’s list of blockbuster sequels, which includes Disney’s own The Avengers: Age of Ultron, as well as the likes of Jurassic World, Batman vs. Superman, Terminator, ID Forever Part I, Bond 24 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. Kennedy is reportedly supported by the majority of the crew, although Abrams himself “is said to be more in sync with Iger’s desire to meet the 2015 release target — which allows zero margin for error — at all costs.”
What are your thoughts on this? Should Disney push back Episode VII to 2016, or do you want to see them moving full stream ahead for 2015, seeing as they’ve already had over a year of development so far? Let us know in the comments below…
Originally published October 31, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
