One year and one day after Disney and Lucasfilm announced plans for another edition of "Star Wars" to arrive in theaters in 2015, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that there's some internal strife over the film's planned release date.
Per THR, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy reportedly requested that "Episode VII" move into 2016 because of some pre-production issues, like the fact that screenwriter Michael Arndt left the project earlier this month. Director J.J. Abrams and "Empire Strikes Back" co-screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan are now collaborating on the "Star Wars" script, which Badass Digest's Devin Faraci reported would start from square one.
Kennedy's ask, however, was denied by Disney CEO Bob Iger, who supposedly has an ally in Abrams; according to the trade report, Abrams is fully committed to hitting the 2015 release date. Or maybe he's not? Here's Faraci on Twitter:
It's expected that "Episode VII" will debut in the summer of 2015 (though there was some speculation that "Star Wars" would become a December release).
Beyond the THR piece, there's apparently even more "Star Wars" drama happening behind the scenes that's not being reported. Here's Umberto “El Mayimbe” Gonzalez, a reporter for the website Latino Review:
...but at the source's request we gotta STFU. That's the scoop trade. Keep quiet on major story to watch other outlet blow up the spot. Smh.
— elmayimbe (@elmayimbe) October 31, 2013
For more on "Star Wars: Episode VII," head to THR.
[via THR]
