‘Star Wars’ cast is announced
The new installment includes original stars (Harrison Ford) and relative newcomers (Daisy Ridley).
And now we know who will be journeying to a galaxy far, far away.
Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac and performance capture expert Andy Serkis will star in J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: Episode VII,” which returns George Lucas’ universe to the multiplex on Dec. 18, 2015.
Driver, best known for HBO’s “Girls,” and Isaac, who won acclaim for his turn in the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis,” will appear alongside Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson, Serkis and venerable Swedish thespian Max von Sydow.
Also in the mix are John Boyega, known for the fan favorite “Attack the Block,” and newcomer Daisy Ridley.
Additionally, the principal actors from Lucas’ original saga — Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill — are set to reprise their respective roles as Han Solo, Princess Leia and Mark Hamill, while Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker will again play beloved bickering droids C-3P0 and R2-D2. Peter Mayhew, too, will be back as Wookiee Chewbacca.
“It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life,” Abrams said in a statement posted Tuesday on StarWars.com with a photo of the actors, producers and filmmaker at a table read in England. “We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.”
Abrams wrote the screenplay for “Episode VII” with Lawrence Kasdan, and he will produce with Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy and his longtime collaborator Bryan Burk. John Williams will return to the “Star Wars” franchise as composer.
The news that Abrams was tapped to direct the next “Star Wars” installment initially came as a surprise, since Abrams has been actively involved in Paramount’s “Star Trek” franchise. (A director for a planned third “Star Trek” movie has not been announced, though Abrams is expected to serve as a producer on that film.)
Kasdan, of course, has a long Lucasfilm history as a screenwriter on “Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi.”
In addition to three new episodes, Disney has plans to explore the distant galaxy with two stand-alone “Star Wars” movies, written by Kasdan and prolific writerproducer Simon Kinberg (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” “XMen: The Last Stand” “XMen: Days of Future Past”).
“I think what worked so well in all of the ‘Star Wars’ movies is the characters,” Kinberg told The Times in an interview last year. “I think the reason that they’re different than other science fiction or other genre movies is because George created a universe of people that you wanted to go back and see over and over again.”
Of his film, Kasdan said in a separate interview, “I’m trying to start fresh. There are certain pleasures that we think the saga can bring to people that they’ve been missing, and we’re hoping to bring them that, and at the same time, have them feel that it’s all new.”