Vanity Fair delved deep into the world of Star Wars with The Force Awakens co-writer Lawrence Kasdan, who offered a great deal of praise for J.J. Abrams' new take on the franchise. "This new movie, first of all, it's turning out really great," he told the magazine. "J.J. directed it so beautifully, and it's so exhilarating and everything. It's a big movie. It's full of wonderful stuff, incident and character stuff and jokes and effects." Kasdan explained that from the get-go, the aim was to prevent making a "long, bloated blockbuster. A lot of very entertaining movies lately are too long. In the last 20 minutes, you think, why isn't this over? We didn't want to make a movie like that. I mean, we were really aiming to have it be — when it's over you’ll say, 'I wish there's more.' Or, 'Wait, is it over?' Because how rarely you get that feeling nowadays, and I think we're headed there. But it means that there will be constant critical looking at it from now to the end, saying, 'Do we need this? Do we need that? Is it better if this comes out, even though we love it?' Killing your darlings."
Though some time ago Billy Dee Williams confirmed that he would feature in an upcoming Star Wars movie, Kasdan revealed that the actor will not make an appearance in Episode VII. But don't rule out the possibility of seeing Williams return eventually. "Right now, there’s no Lando Calrissian in this movie. But Lando I don't think is finished in any way, shape, or form." Perhaps Episode VIII, then? Though Lando recently appeared in Star Wars Rebels, would you like to see him return to the big screen?
The Force Awakens is set approximately 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, and features new leads Finn, Rey, and Poe Dameron alongside characters returning from previous Star Wars films.