Disney’s Alan Horn talks casting, release dates, & budget for Star Wars VII

Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn dropped by Bloomberg to give some more details on the upcoming STAR WARS: EPISODE VII, the first film in a new trilogy for the STAR WARS franchise. The J.J. Abrams directed film is set to start principal photography next month and has left us all with cinematic blue balls when it comes to casting, with new rumors popping up every week and no official information coming down the pipe. Horn continued the tease of information, while saying that casting is “almost complete” and that an announcement will come shortly (May 4, perhaps?). In addition, Horn addressed the budget and the potential for future films to revert back to the traditional May release date.

Horn on casting:

“It’s almost complete. We’re not prepared to announce it yet, but we will be very shortly, announcing what we’re doing.”

Horn on what’s already been shot for the film and where the production is currently:

“We did some second unit work in Abu Dhabi and other places, because we have all these locations we have to film and we have to give it that Star-Warsian, if I can use it as an adjective, look…We haven’t commenced the main part of principal photography yet.”

Horn on whether or not the new December release date will be the same for the follow-on sequels:

“No, we’re not sure yet. We may revert. The Star Wars dates have been May and we may revert to that at some point but it depends on the readiness of the screenplays and where we are, but this first one will be December 18 of 2015, so we’ll start with that and see.”

Horn on the budget of the new film:

“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. We need to give the audience, essentially, a full meal in return for their affection and devotion and love for these properties.”

So, there you have it. Some more Star Wars crumbs to nibble on until that “full meal” shows up to our table. I think we’re all very excited about this, but the fatigue of rumors and non information is setting in. Fortunately, I think we’re very close to that shit getting shut down a bit. Once this puppy gets into principal photography and the cast is announced we’ll start seeing more viable info coming from the production (and perhaps some misdirection if Abrams has his way) and the excitement will begin to build to astronomical proportions. My body is ready.

STAR WARS: EPISODE VII hits theaters on December 18, 2015.