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'Star Wars: VII' Is Nearly All Cast And Filming Has Already Begun

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Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn set geek hearts aflame when he revealed that not only has the seventh episode of the “Star Wars” series been mostly cast, it has already begun filming.

The Disney chairman was talking with The Hollywood Reporter’s Stephen Galloway at Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television when he broke the news April 2. Of the cast, whose names have not yet been revealed, he said:

“We have a lot of them [in place]. We’re just not completely done yet.”

Thankfully, for those of us who didn’t think “Star Wars” episodes I-III were anything to write home about, Horn said the focus is on getting the script right:

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“It’s all about the screenplay. It has to be screenplay, screenplay, screenplay.”

He said the script, which was co-written by Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams, after an early draft by Michael Arndt, was now where it needed to be. He said the story picks up after episode VI aka Return of the Jedi, but in keeping with real time, “where VI left off is 35 years ago by the time this is released.”

Geek out and see the whole interview below:

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