J.J. Abrams Confirms That STAR WARS EPISODE VII Will Begin Production Early 2014 In The UK
Despite speculation that Star Wars Episode VII may not meet its planned 2015 release date, director J.J. Abrams has now confirmed that the movie will begin production in the UK at the start of 2014. He also refuses to reveal whether or not the movie will be based on the Expanded Universe.
"I think that the thing is so big and so massive to some many people that the key to moving forward is honoring but not revering what went before," director J.J. Abrams told reporters at today's Produced By Conference when asked about the challenges of helming the seventh instalment in the beloved franchise. He also went on to confirm that the decision to shoot in the UK had been made before he came on board the project and that the overseas shoot "drives me insane" as he would have preferred to film it in LA. "Most likely we are going to be moving to London at the end of the year for the Star Wars movie," the director added, confirming that they are still on track for a 2015 release. Abrams refused to reveal whether or not the new movies will be based on any of the Expanded Universe novels, but did say this about the recent news that creator George Lucas now plans to move on to smaller projects. "George Lucas for years has spoken for years about wanting to make those smaller more experimental films and I hope he does because I’d really like to see them."