New Star Wars VII Casting Rumor

The Latino Review is reporting that Disney and JJ Abrams are considering Ryan Gosling and Zac Efron for roles in Star Wars Episode VII. The role Gosling supposedly is up for is the son of Luke Skywalker (named Ben Skywalker in the books) while Efron's role is unknown. The site also said that Leonardo DiCaprio decided to pass on a Star Wars role to do Robotech The Movie. Now none of this is unsubstantiated so take it with a grain of salt.

Could it be true? If Star Wars was still under George Lucas with JJ Abrams I would flat out dismiss it as I think the pair's instinct is to cast mostly unknowns, especially in the lead roles. Something both have done their entire careers. However, this is Disney and they prefer "named" stars at their movies. They save the newbie castings for their TV shows. This is Star Wars so hiring some famous male or female starlet just for their name strikes me as silly but Disney doesn't think that way. They just think "X star could add y dollars to opening weekend. We need them for Star Wars!". So because of Disney's heavy hand, I am unable to dismiss this rumor as being false. Thanks to Ghola for the link.

JJ Abrams Considering Dropping Star Wars?

A post from Badass Digest is suggesting the unthinkable - that JJ Abrams is considering dropping out of his dream project of directing Star Wars Episode VII. There is nothing substantiating the report beyond "multiple insiders" so take it with a grain of salt. As lifted from my Star Trek post, I call BS despite what is likely Disney Synergy Hell.

The rumored problems is Abrams is growing more angry with directives from Disney such as being forced to film in England. If true, this could allow Abrams to return to direct Star Trek 3. My first instinct is to call BS on this rumor. To be blunt, I just don't see Abrams turning down a dream job that also likely a financial windfall for him. Chances are he will make more money from directing Star Wars then he will from all his previous movies combined, at least if going by the nearly $100 million paydays that Michael Bay enjoyed for Transformers. I don't see Abrams giving up back end points on profits or a cut of the merchandising that will be sure to drown us by 2015. Nor do I see Paramount caring. I suspect that even if Abrams left Star Wars today, they would not offer the Star Trek 3 director's chair to him.