Yesterday we brought you some news coming out of Star Wars Celebration Europe, with confirmation that John Williams is set to return to score Star Wars: Episode VII joined by some concept art from the upcoming animated series Star Wars Rebels [see here]. Now we have an update on the first instalment of Disney’s Sequel Trilogy courtesy of Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy – and if you’re one of the many Star Wars fans who felt that the Prequel Trilogy was all just CGI over substance, then you might be left with an air of optimism after reading what she has to say…
“The story and characters are all we’re talking about right now,” said Kennedy. “We have an amazing team at ILM, who can create fantastic effects, but if we don’t have a great story and characters, the effects mean nothing… I do think making huge popular culture – and I’ve had the good fortune to be a part of a lot it – is really hard to do and get right. And if you don’t spend the time you need on developing characters, and finding stories, complicated stories, the audience gets tired because they think they’re seeing the same thing again and again.”
Kennedy then went on to discuss their approach towards the visuals, promising that a blend of practical and CG effects will be employed in the realisation of J.J. Abrams’ vision for a galaxy far, far away:
“It’s a conversation we’re having all the time in the development of Episode VII. Looking at all the Star Wars movies and getting a feel for what even some of the early films did, combining real locations and special effects – that’s something we’re looking very seriously at. So we’re going to find some very cool locations that we’re going to use in support of Episode VII and I think we’re probably going to end up using every single tool in the toolbox to create the look of these movies. It’s using model makers; it’s using real droids; it’s taking advantage of artwork that you actually can touch and feel. And we want to do that in combination with CG effects. We figure that’s what will make it real.”
Star Wars: Episode VII is set to go into production early next year ahead of a release in 2015, followed by Star Wars: Episode VIII in 2017 and Star Wars: Episode IX in 2019.
Originally published July 28, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
