Movie News

STAR WARS: EPISODE 7 (2015): JJ Abrams & Kasdan Writing, Crew Selected

Star Wars Episode 7 Logo

Lawrence Kasdan, J.J. Abrams writing Star Wars 7, Film Crew Selected. Director J.J. Abrams will be writing Star Wars: Episode VII with The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi writer Lawrence Kasdan.

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy had this to say about the writing duo:

Advertisement
 

“I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and J.J. working on the script. 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.”

Here are the crew members that have been selected to help create, capture, and bring Star Wars: Episode 7 to life:

Director of photography will be Dan Mindel, South African-born American Society of Cinematographers member who has previously collaborated with Abrams on Mission: Impossible IIIStar Trek, and Star Trek Into Darkness. His other credits include Tony Scott films Enemy of the State, Spy Game and Domino. He’s also worked on The Bourne Identity, John Carter, Oliver Stone’s Savages, and most recently The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Sound designer Ben Burtt should be a name that many Star Wars fans recognize. He worked with George Lucas on the sounds for all of the Star Wars films and the Indiana Jones adventures. Not only did he create the voice of the droids but also helped Spielberg design the voice of E.T. and was the voice of WALL-E and M-O in Pixar’s WALL-E. He has a long history with Kathleen Kennedy, George Lucas and also JJ Abrams, having previously collaborated with JJ on Star Trek, Super 8 and Star Trek Into Darkness.

Production designers will be Rick Carter and Darren Gilford. Carter started his career as an art director on such films as The Goonies and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, making his transition to production design on the Back to the Future sequels. Note his history with Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy. He worked with Spielberg directly on Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Amistad, A.I., War of the Worlds, Munich, Warhorse and Lincoln. He was also a collaborator with Robert Zemeckis before he got sucked into the performance capture computer world, working on the aforemented BTTF sequels, Death Becomes Her, Forrest Gump, Contact, What Lies Beneath, and Cast Away. Recent years include credits on Avatar and Sucker Punch…He has been nominated for four academy awards, sharing wins for two of them: Avatar and Lincoln.

Darren Gilford got his start later, first as an art director on the James Cameron-directed Universal Studios theme park attraction short film T2 3-D: Battle Across Time, and has production design credits on Idiocracy, and Joseph Kosinski’s Tron Legacy and Oblivion.

Costume designer Michael Kaplan got his start on films like Blade Runner and Flash Dance in the early 1980?s, and has worked with David Fincher on Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, and Panic Room. He also worked with director Michael Bay on Armageddon and Pearl Harbor. Kaplan worked with JJ and Bad Robot on Star Trek, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Star Trek Into Darkness.

Special effects supervisor Chris Corbould worked on the Christopher Reeves Superman sequels, Willow, and Alien 3 as a technician, before working his way up to Special Effects Supervisor on the James Bond films Goldeneye, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall. He’s also worked on the Tomb Raider movies and was a frequent collaborator with Christopher Nolan, working on Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Inception and The Dark Knight Returns.

Re-recording mixer Gary Rydstrom also got his start in the Lucas universe, as an audio technician for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He worked on Lucas theme park films Captain EO and Star Tours, as well as the Jim Henson produced Muppet*vision 3-D. He did sound on many of the early Pixar short films (Luxo Jr, Tin Toy, Knick Knack) before graduating to the Pixar feature films (the Toy Story movies, A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, Up, and Cars 2). At Skywalker Sound he worked on many great films, including Backdraft, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Jumanji, Saving Private Ryan, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, The Lone Ranger and more. He was also a Sound Re-recording Mixer on the Star Wars prequels and worked with JJ Abrams and Bad Robot before on Super 8 and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.

Supervising sound editor Matthew Wood of Skywalker Sound has a history with Star Wars and George Lucas — he got his start as an Assistant Editor on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and was Supervising Sound Editor on the last two Star Wars movies, in addition to providing the voices of Magaloof, Seboca and General Grievous. He worked with Ben Burtt on WALL·E and collaborated with JJ on Super 8 and Star Trek Into Darkness.

Visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett of Industrial Light & Magic got his start on the Kathleen Kennedy/Steven Spielberg produced animated film We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story. His credits include Casper, Twister, DragonHeart, Mars Attacks, Saving Private Ryan, the Harry Potter films, Mission: Impossible III, the last two Pirates of the Caribbean films, and Cowboys & Aliens. He isn’t a Star Wars virgin either, he worked as a visual effects supervisor on Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (where he also has a cameo in the Opera House as a patron). He’s also previously collaborated with J.J. Abrams on the Star Trek films as VFX Supervisor and Second Unit Director.

And previously announced, John Williams is returning to score Star Wars: Episode VII after providing the music for the prior installments. No credit listing needed.

Also already announced: Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, with Tommy Harper (Mission: Impossible – Ghost ProtocolJack RyanStar Trek Into Darkness) and Jason McGatlin (TintinWar of the Worlds) serving as executive producers.

Advertisement
 

“Shooting is scheduled to begin Spring 2014 at Pinewood Studios for an expected 2015 release,” they should probably hurry.

We have previously published these Star Wars: Episode 7 (2015) articles:

Disney buys LucasFilm for $4B, Star Wars: Episode 7, 8, 9 Planned

Star Wars: Episode 7, 8, 9: Not Thrawn, Dark Empire, Jedi Order Story

Star Wars: Episode 8-9: Lawrence Kasdan, Simon Kinberg to Write Films

Star Wars: Episode 7 (2015): J.J. Abrams Directing Next Star Wars Film

Star Wars: Episode 7: The Crown Jewel of 2015 Cinema

Star Wars: Episode 7 (2015): J. J. Abrams Will Make it Feel Real

Star Wars: Episode 7 (2015): Dan Mendel crafting JJ Abrams’ Film Look

Leave your thoughts on Lawrence Kasdan, J.J. Abrams writing duo and the film crew selected for Star Wars: Episode VII below in the comments section. For more Star Wars: Episode VII photos, videos, and information, visit our Star Wars Page, subscribe to us by Email, follow us on Twitter, Tumblr, or “like” us on Facebook. Star Wars Episode 7 will be released in US theaters through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in 2015.

Source: Firstshowing, Slashfilm

FilmBook's Newsletter

Subscribe to FilmBook’s Daily Newsletter for the latest news!

Thank you for subscribing.

Something went wrong.

Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
Back to top button
Share via
Send this to a friend