14 DAY TRIAL // It’s here! Disney has finally made the official announcement with the full principal cast for the upcoming “Star Wars: Episode VII” movie and, if you were wagering some members of the original cast would be returning for cameos, you were right on the money from the start.
“Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film,” the official announcement on StarWars.com reads.
In other words, fans must be feeling quite unsurprised right now. Ford, Fisher, and Hamill were spotted out and about in London just the other day and, as if that weren’t enough of a hint, they had been teasing fans for months about the possibility they might resume their parts.
We now know for a fact that they will.
Then, word of Driver’s involvement in the project (Driver is best known for his role on HBO’s “Girls”) was accidentally leaked online in February, when his “Girls” co-star Lena Dunham took to Twitter to congratulate him on “Star Wars.” She later denied she had “confirmed” anything but, by then, the damage was already done.
The announcement, which comes with the photo available above, of the entire cast and director J.J. Abrams, doesn’t say anything about the roles these actors will be playing, but it’s widely assumed that Driver will be the villain.
In typical Abrams fashion, some roles will probably be kept a secret from fans until the last moment. The same goes for the plot, which will only be detailed briefly in the official synopsis. Fans have to wait a bit longer for that, though.
Speaking of the world-famous director, he had this to say on the occasion of the big casting announcement: “We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.”
Abrams co-wrote the script with Lawrence Kasdan and he is also producing. The official score will be composed by John Williams. Shooting starts in May, with a release date set for December 2015.