Rumor: Lucasfilm and J.J. Abrams wanted to delay Star Wars: Episode VII to 2016 but Disney refused

Ok, now I am officially worried. On one hand, the news that Disney is 100% guaranteeing that STAR WARS: EPISODE VII will be coming in 2015 may be exciting news, but the fact that it may come at the expense of a quality film is not. The Hollywood Reporter claims inside sources have the anticipated film wrestling with internal issues.

There have been rumors of STAR WARS: EPISODE VII being released anywhere from Summer to Christmas and just recently we learned that Michael Arndt was no longer scripting STAR WARS: EPISODE VII and that J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan would take over those duties. Arndt had reportedly worked for a full year on STAR WARS: EPISODE VII and was 40-50 pages into the script when the change happened. But, no reason was given why.

Apparently, J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy at Lucasfilm are behind the eight ball with that 2015 date. If the sources are to be believed, they even asked Disney to delay the release to the following year to allow them more time to prepare the film. Disney CEO Bob Iger, the man who announced initially that STAR WARS: EPISODE VII would be coming in 2015, adamantly told them a delay would not happen.

Other rumors state that Abrams and Kennedy are at odds with casting while others say they are working together. The level of rumor and disinformation coming out is to be expected when a movie is as anticipated as this one. Plus, Disney needs to ensure everything goes right to finally exorcise the damage done to the fanbase by the prequels. But, this does not bode well for that to happen. STAR WARS movies are not something that can be slapped together, especially if they are planning such a widespread cinematic rebirth of the series including films for the next decade and beyond.

So, at this juncture, it looks like STAR WARS: EPISODE VII will be coming in 2015 as originally promised. But at what price?