Star Wars Episode 7 cast announced

As regular readers of this blog might be aware, I'm a massive fan of the original Star Wars trilogy but I wasn't overly impressed with the prequels (Dude & I re-watched "The Phantom Menace" at the weekend and I still shudder at the ineptness of the 'there was no father' sequence).  When George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012 I was cautiously optimistic about what might happen (see this blog) and I'm going to give the new film a chance - Lawrence Kasdan is back writing it, the original cast (except Billy Dee Williams) is involved, JJ Abrams is directing, it's been declared there will be more practical fx and so I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with it.

It will also - and this is the biggest draw for me - give me the chance to see a Star Wars film at the cinema with Dude.

Yesterday, Lucasfilm issued a press release with details of the new cast:

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

Lawrence Kasdan and Harrison Ford flank J J Abrams (in front of R2), Peter Mayhew is far right with Carrie Fisher to his right, Mark Hamill is on the left (in the check shirt), with Anthony Daniels and Andy Serkis on either side of him.

I'll finish up with what I wrote on the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012.

My love for “Star Wars” hasn’t been diminished by the prequel trilogy, the expanded universe or the Clone Wars cartoon and so it won’t be diminished by whatever comes in the future.  But how about, for a change, a fan of the original trilogy looks for the positive?  This news means that there will be at least three more Star Wars films made and I’ll watch them, even if they don’t touch me in the same way.  But I’ll be able to take Dude to the cinema to see them, we’ll be able to share that universe together (and he will obviously know the history of it all too) and if it opens up a whole new generation of fans, then my beloved Original Trilogy will live on even longer - and that can’t be a bad thing.