Man, it feels like it’s been a whole three days since we had any Star Wars: Episode VII rumors to report on. I was getting kind of worried. Thankfully, the kind folks over at AICN (via The Playlist) have picked up an idea that the working title for Star Wars: Episode VII will be (brace yourselves)…. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Ancient Fear.
The title supposedly refers to the character played by Max Von Sydow, who “makes Pazuzu look like a pussy.” This means, of course, that Von Sydow is going to be a villain, which surprises exactly no one. He may have worked with Bergman, and he may have played Jesus, but the Swedish actor has not been able to shake the impression that he’s a total baddie. (If you missed the reference, Pazuzu is the demon that possesses Linda Blair in The Exorcist, and “a pussy” is a pejorative word for female genitalia often used as indicative of a person’s weakness, which pretty much indicates the maturity level at work here).
This is all just rumor for now, as are most things to do with Star Wars: Episode VII. While we might know the general layout of the cast, we know little beyond that, and J.J. Abrams will probably keep it that way for the next eighteen months. It’s important to remember that AICN are the same folks who claimed that Episode III would be called The Creeping Fear, so maybe they’re just trying their luck with the same sort of title a second time. But if the rumor is true, one wonders what that ancient fear will wind up being (besides Max Von Sydow)? Perhaps the ghost of Alex Guinness, returned one more time to remind us how much he hated the Star Wars franchise? One can only hope.
Meanwhile, the people over at Latino Review are claiming that there may be more characters from the Star Wars Expanded Universe than originally supposed. That information has a bit more weight behind it, but once again we’ll have to wait and see.
What is certain about Star Wars: Episode VII is the release date. With or without an Ancient Fear, the film will hit theaters on December 18, 2015.