It’s the news we’ve ALL been waiting for, folks….

From the Press Release:

The Star Wars team is thrilled to announce the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII.

Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film.

Director J.J. Abrams says, “We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. 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, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.”

Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.

April 29th, Pinewood Studios, UK – Writer/Director/Producer J.J Abrams (top center right) at the cast read-through of Star Wars Episode VII at Pinewood Studios with (clockwise from right) Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Producer Bryan Burk, Lucasfilm President and Producer Kathleen Kennedy, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Adam Driver and Writer Lawrence Kasdan. Copyright and Photo Credit: David James.

Given the fact we’ve suffered through a solid year’s worth of rumours, there’s actually little to surprise here. All names barring the legendary Max von Sydow and newcomer Daisy Ridley (a quick Google reveals small parts in Mr Selfridge and Silent Witness; not that that helps much) have been reported on at some point or another, with Sucker Punch’s Oscar Isaac being the latest. Perhaps the most shocking aspects of this announcement are to do with exclusions. After a lot of talk about bringing some gender balance to the franchise (well, the films at least, The Clone Wars excels in that respect), we only have one additional female cast member, bringing the grand total to two. Hmmm. The other disappointment… where the hell is Lando?! Even Baker gets thrown a bone! They’ll certainly be lots more news to come over the months, so let’s hope those things will be addressed in further updates. That said, we couldn’t be happier that this movie even exists, so we’ll hold back on any grumblings and just bask in the fact Star Wars is back!

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