Last year, we heard a rumor that J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy from Lucasfilm had asked Disney to push the release of STAR WARS: EPISODE VII to 2016 but their request was refused. Now, after script issues forced Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan to take over writing on the film as well as the recent injury to Harrison Ford, it seems that request has been made again, and denied again.
Latino Review pieced together from their sources that Abrams and Kennedy requested a new release date of May 4th, 2016 (perfect date, if you ask me) to accommodate the needed changes to maintain the quality of STAR WARS: EPISODE VII but Disney CEO Bob Iger refused. Does this potentially have something to do with Rian Johnson being brought in to helm the next film instead of J.J. Abrams? We may never know.
Ain’t It Cool News also added a little creedence to this rumor. We have heard for a while that Han Solo would be a major character in STAR WARS: EPISODE VII and his injury was bad for production. The rumored plot of the film involves Solo and a crew searching for Luke Skywalker. leading to events in EPISODE VIII and IX. While it seems this could be accomplished by increasing screen time for Oscar Isaac and others as has been theorized, does this also spell doom for the story J.J. Abrams intended to tell? Or did he always know he was only in for one picture?
Theories about STAR WARS: EPISODE VII are starting to hurt my brain, so I will stop here. Just know that those negative folks out there who didn’t think anything could go wrong with STAR WARS being taken over by Disney may be able to look down their noses with us if any of this turns out to be true.
STAR WARS: EPISODE VII is still slated to hit theaters on December 18, 2015.