Though Star Wars: Episode VII is currently filming, almost everything about the production is being kept a secret. While we’re still completely in the dark, and will be for a while, in regards to casting and plot details, Disney head honcho Alan Horn has revealed a few little tidbits of information regarding the budget and how George Lucas will be involved in the film.
To start off, Horn told Bloomberg that casting hasn’t even been completed yet, though they do plan to make some announcements “very shortly.”
“It’s almost complete. We’re not prepared to announce it yet, but we will be very shortly,” Horn teased.
The casting isn’t the only thing that hasn’t been set in stone yet, as it was also revealed that Disney hasn’t settled on a final budget, either.
“We actually don’t even have the completed budget yet. But it will be in that range. These large, tentpole kinds of movies, on the expensive side, are in the neighborhood of $175-200 million, that kind of a number — some are more, some are less,” Horn stated. “We need to give the audience, essentially, a full meal in return for their affection and devotion and love for these properties.”
As for what Lucas’ role will be, Horn says that the franchise creator will act as a consultant and that even though he sold the property to Disney, the studio still values him very much.
“George is a consultant. The understanding is when he sold the company — and he did sell the company to the Walt Disney Company — so he’s very aware of that. So we now are the primary drivers behind this property. But he is a very valued person,” Horn stated. “He’s the father of all this. [Producer] Kathy [Kennedy] interacts with him, back and forth I think.”
As you can tell from Horn’s comments, it’s still very early days on J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars film and it seems like a lot of the kinks are still being worked out. Nothing he says here is of much value, nor does it give us much insight into what the studio has planned, but it’s nice to hear that casting will be announced shortly. Other than that though, we’re still left without much to go on and unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like we’ll have anything concrete for a while.
Star Wars: Episode VII lands in theatres on December 18th, 2015. Until then, let the speculation and rumors run rampant.