Over the past year, we’ve been inundated with speculation about the casting and potential plot for Star Wars: Episode VII, and now J.J. Abrams has taken a break from pre-production on the hotly-anticipated sequel to address the internet rumour mill, as well as providing a brief update on the status of the film.
“We’re working really hard and we’ve got our script and we’re in deep prep,” Abrams tells The Wrap. “Full steam ahead, y’know. [Jesse Plemons] is one of the actors that we’ve talked to, yeah. It’s not often that I read about actors that I’m going to be meeting. I get to read articles about actors who were going to come in, so I get to see someone and say, ‘Oh, I read that I was going to see you. It’s very nice to see you.’ It’s usually agents talking to people about what’s happening. It’s just a lot of noise. There’ve been so many [rumours]. It’s amazing to see how many there are. … But it’s sweet because it shows that there’s an interest in this movie that we all obviously know is there. But it is an incredible thing to see how many incredible things get thrown out that people then write commentaries about. How happy they are, how disappointed they are about something that is completely false. It’s a lot of noise, frankly.”
Meanwhile, Abrams also discussed whether he had any plans to shoot Episode VII in the IMAX format, as well as revealing that he’s opted against using digital: “In the right situation, I’d like to use IMAX again. The problem with IMAX is that it’s a very loud camera. It’s a very unreliable camera. Only so much film can be in the camera. You can’t really do intimate scenes with it. It’s slow. They break down often. Having said that, they’re working on digital versions of that, so there may be a version one day. But we’re going to be shooting this next movie on film.”
Star Wars: Episode VII is set for release on December 18th, 2015.
Originally published January 19, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
