Walt Disney big-boss Bob Iger shared some tidbits about their biggest franchise with eager outlets today. In his update about the slate of upcoming films for the next couple of years he dropped that the J.J. Abram’s sequel will take place 30 years after the events of Return Of The Jedi. Despite talk that the new trilogy would continue to focus on older cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, it appears that the potential new faces will push the scope of Star Wars outside of the Skywalker clan.
Also worth a mention, the cast will feature “very familiar faces returning” who will join a “trio of new leads.” With the “familiar faces” largely assumed to be Ford, Fisher and Hamill that leads us to speculate who will make up the new trio as Iger did not mention any names. Casting rumors continue to run daily on blogs, with John Boyega (Attack the Block), Ed Speelers (Downton Abbey), Matthew James Thomas (Billy Elliot), Ray Fisher, Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad) and Lupita Nyong’o all being tossed around as potential candidates for big parts in the film.
Other rumored additions to the cast include Adam Driver as the lead villain along with Benedict Cumberbatch and Gary Oldman for unspecified parts. Star Wars: Episode VII scheduled to start shooting in May, so we should expect to see some official casting news soon.
