Star Wars: Episode VII‘s release date may finally be known, and it’s not what most fans were expecting.
Last week a seemingly unlikely rumor stated that Star Wars: Episode VII would be pushed back from May 2015 to December 2015, but it’s appearing more and more likely that it’s actually the case.
When we first heard the rumors of Star Wars: Episode VII being released in December, we didn’t believe it. From the very first film through the most recent Revenge of the Sith, every Star Wars movie has been released in May. It’s been expected that Star Wars: Episode VII would continue the trend, especially with a summer release date all but confirmed.
It appears that last week’s report was accurate. Latino Review is now hearing that Star Wars: Episode VII will be released around Christmas 2015. They cite Disney and Lucasfilm being very far behind schedule as the reason for the delay.
While it’s certainly possible that being behind schedule is a reason for the delay, it’s unlikely that it’s the sole reason. Disney already has The Avengers: Age of Ultron set for release May 1, 2015, and they probably don’t want their two biggest films of the year competing against each other. It’d be much harder to move Avengers 2, and it’s certainly further along the road to completion, so Star Wars: Episode VII will get the bump.
Latino Review also is reporting that Star Wars: Episode VII will begin shooting on January 21, 2014.
It was recently announced that J.J. Abrams will be re-teaming with cinematographer Dan Mindel ASC, BSC to shoot Star Wars Episode VII. Mindel says that they’ll be shooting it on Kodak film stock 5219 film, and not digitally.
This comes on top of confirmation that the film will focus more on real effects than CGI, giving fans hope that the film will be closer to the style of the original Star Wars trilogy and less like the much hated prequels.