Disney Studios Chairman Offers ‘Star Wars Episode VII’ Updates
UPDATE: Now with video.
Someone gets to fly to London this week and talk toJ.J. AbramsaboutStar Wars Episode VII. Unfortunately, it’s not someone you know. It’sAlan Horn, the chairman of Walt Disney Studios. Horn offered that piece of news, as well as a few others, in a new interview.
The chairman also said the future films aren’t necessarily beholden to December release dates, and could come out in May. He confirmed there was filming in Abu Dhabi last week and casting is very close to complete. Then, he saidGeorge Lucasremains a consultant, a fact we’d heard at the beginning but hadn’t really talked about much since. Read more about theseStar Wars 7updates below.
The updates came fromVarietyreporter Brent Lang on Twitter. Here are the tweets, with some commentary:
Alan Horn going to London this week to go over Star Wars 7 script with JJ Abrams
— Brent Lang (@BrentALang)June 05, 2025
Horn has previouslysaid the script is ready, this is likely just some kind of double check to verify the creative team and executive team are on the same page before first unit cameras role.
Alan Horn says#StarWars7second unit shooting happened in Abu Dhabi, casting almost done
You surelysaw the set photosthat leaked last week from Abu Dhabi and while this isn’t confirmation, it’s pretty close. As for the casting, it’s pretty odd that it wouldn’t be done with mere weeks to go before shooting. But maybe they just haven’t put ink to paper yet.
Disney Studios chief says#StarWatsmovies may revert to May release dates from Dec debuts. Depends on screenplay readiness.
No one ever confirmed this, but the reasonStar Wars Episode VIIis opening in December 2015 instead of May 2015 is because J.J. Abrams and team wanted more time with the script. Everyone on the project is so beholden to keeping Star Wars traditions, they surely looked at May as the ideal release date so this news from Horn makes sense. The bigger question this raises, though, is when will we get a secondStar Warsmovie? May 2016? 2017?
George Lucas is a consultant on#StarWars7, Alan Horn says
Lucas gave his outlines forStar Wars Episode VIIback in 2012 when Disney bought Lucasfilm and since then, he’s been considered a consultant. That means this isn’t exactly news, but, the fact it was mentioned could suggest he took a bigger role as we come down the home stretch.
Alan Horn on co-financing: I’m so happy we don’t have partners on these films
This statement might not only refer toStar Wars,it could also be Pixar and Marvel too. And while we haven’t seen returns on a DisneyStar Warsmovie yet, it’s a safe bet not sharing the risk with another company will likely pay off huge.
What do you think about these Star Wars 7 updates from Alan Horn?
