STAR WARS: EPISODE VII - Story Details and More Casting Rumors
It was recently reported that Breaking Bad co-star Jesse Plemons was the top choice to take on a lead role in J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII. There a bunch of new casting rumors and possible story details that have been revealed that you all are sure to be interested in hearing! Want to know what they are? Of course you do, so let's start off with the casting rumors...
According to THR Michael Fassbender, Girls star Adam Driver, and Hugo Weaving are also all in the running to get in on the Star Wars action! Those names could be added to the list of Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor,Michael B. Jordan, Jack O’Connell, Alex Pettyfer, Saoirse Ronan, and Sullivan Stapleton. There's no word on who most of these actors might be playing, but Weaving is said to be up for the role of an Imperial Commander. As of right now, no casting is official for this film, but it's also expected to include Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher.
According to the report, a lot of things have changed since screenwriter Michael Arndt was replaced by Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan. Apparently the real reason Abrams and Kasdan took over the writing duties was because they want to focus more on the original characters from the franchise. The article goes on to explain,
Arndt is said to have focused on the offspring of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), with the original trilogy heroes taking on supporting roles. Abrams, however, wanted Episode VII to focus on the classic trio of characters, so audiences could have one more chance to enjoy them before a fitting send-off. The new characters, the offspring, will now be in supporting roles, according to these sources, and take center stage in Episode VIII and IX. Some characters have disappeared from the Arndt script and new ones are being drafted.
If this is true, I have to say I like the idea. I was really hoping that the original Star Wars characters would have decent sized roles in the next film, so you won't be hearing any complaints from me about it! One of the other rumors that have surfaced includes Obi-Wan Kenobi having a daughter and/or granddaughter!
The latest bit to surface this week is that Abrams and Lucasfilm are now searching for a 20-something female actress who is either of mixed race or black. The rumor is that Obi-Wan Kenobi had a daughter or granddaughter.
That's kind of mind-blowing, especially since I've never really thought of that before. So Abrams is really changing things up, and meeting with a ton of different actors to fill these roles he's creating, which are obviously getting more and more interesting.
So with Abrams and Kasdan now overhauling the script, that means many of the actors who had met and auditioned have been nixed for various reasons. For example, one actor who met with Abrams in the fall before the overhaul was Mud breakout star Tye Sheridan. But sources say that at this stage, there is no need for such young actors and thus Sheridan will not be involved. In another case, one part that was initially conceived as a 20-year old male is now being rewritten to be a 40-year old.
It sounds like lots of awesome things are happening with this movie, and the more I hear, the more excited I'm getting for it! The film will open in 2D and 3D theaters on December 18th, 2015.