When it was announced in October 2012 that the Walt Disney Company had purchased LucasFilm, the news came with the big reveal that the studio was planning to have Star Wars Episode VII in theaters for 2015. Since then, however, that date has become a bit shaky. When J.J. Abrams signed on to direct the film in January it came with word that he was not fully committed to having the movie ready in just two years time, and similar sentiments were shared by producer Kathleen Kennedy, who was quoted saying, "The timetable we care about is getting the story." Well, today it seems that the 2015 goal has become a bit more concrete.
This morning the Walt Disney Company held their CinemaCon 2013 presentation, and while outlining the studio's slate over the next few years studio chairman Alan Horn confirmed that they are still planning on having Star Wars Episode VII in theaters during the summer of 2015 and are planning to produce sequels to follow every other year, with spin-off movies set in the Star Wars universe coming out in the years in between. While pieces are still falling into place for the next generation of the franchise, Michael Ardnt is currently writing the screenplay for Episode VII while Laurence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg and working on the spin-offs.
While we won't be fully confident that Star Wars Episode VII will be in theaters in 2015 until an official release date is announced, it definitely sounds like they have a plan in place. Let's just hope their still planning to prioritize getting the story right over capitalizing on the studio's $4.05 billion investment.
