Rumored Star Wars Episode 7 Production Start Date

It looks like Star Wars Episode 7 may hit its expected 2015 release date, but instead of its traditional May release it will be a Christmas time release. According to the Latino Review, the rumored principal photography start date is January 21, 2015 to make a Christmas 2015 release date. Depending on the volume of special effects, the start date actually gives Disney the choice of Summer or Christmas depending on how the already crowded summer 2015 schedule shakes out. Other major releases include Superman vs Batman and Avengers 2.

I base this on the Transformers production schedules when principal photography starts about a year (early June) the year before) before its intended release date (late June), with post-production starting about 8 months before the intended release date (October). Considering that franchises' budget and special effects are in the same scope as Star Wars, then the extra 6 six months that the January start date is giving Star Wars should be more than enough breathing room for Disney to make an informed decision on the best release date to maximize their profits.

Star Wars Filming in 35mm

In a change of pace from the now industry standard, it has been revealed that JJ Abrams has chosen to film Star Wars Episode VII in 35mm and chosen cinematographer Dan Mindel for the task. Mindel worked with Abrams on the Star Trek films. The information comes from Mindel himself at an event he was participating in. The news is interesting as most films today are filmed digital and not on film stock as use to be the case for the previous 90 or so years of filming history. If I recall correctly Star Wars Episodes I, II and III were some of the first films to use digital filming for the entire production. This doesn't prevent the movie from going down the latest nonsense with 3D, Imax and so forth. I think the move is mostly to more match how the first three Star Wars films which were done on 35mm and maybe even a touch of getting sick of the cumbersome, sometimes faulty digital cameras that he has used on his last few films.

Bad Robot's "Stranger" Teaser

JJ Abram's Bad Robot production company has posted a teaser video simply titled "Stranger". What it means, what it is promoting, and all those other questions remain unknown. I suspect this for an idea that really only exists on paper and Bad Robot is hoping to use it to get studio interest to pay for whatever idea the video is for. So watch it and then ignore it until something more substantial is released about it.