‘Star Wars Episode VII’ Filming Wraps Up In Three Weeks, Lucasfilm President Says
It seems that filming of Star Wars Episode VII is close to wrapping up in London and other locations. The news came on Wednesday, when Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy opened the Industrial, Light & Magic (ILM) studios in the British capital.
Director J.J. Abrams has been working on the continuation of the interstellar saga since May. Production has been taking place at the famed Pinewood Studios, where cast and crew are bringing to life the next chapter in the multi-billion dollar franchise.
On Wednesday, Kennedy revealed that the Star Wars Episode VII filming only had three weeks to go. The original schedule had the production wrapping up in late September, but due to the injury suffered on set by Harrison Ford (Han Solo), they were forced to take a short break to allow for his recovery.
During her speech about the new studio, Kennedy remarked on how Star Wars Episode VII continues in the footsteps of the previous trilogies.
“This continues a long tradition of ‘Star Wars’ movies being made in London. It goes back to 1976, and to know that we are now coming back and we will be making the movies once again based out of Pinewood, and now we’re looking to put together this studio, it’s rather remarkable that this has all come together in less than two years.”
The Hollywood Reporter states that, according to ILM Studios director of operations Sue Lyster, the facility is already working on the visual effects for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, and Star Wars Episode VII. ILM is located in the SoHo neighborhood in London.
In her comments, Kennedy also recalled meeting with U.K. government representatives in February of this year to discuss the filming of Star Wars Episode VII in London once again and revealing the production was just “three weeks off” from finishing. The executive also hinted that further installments in the franchise would also be shot in the metropolis.
In a statement, Industrial Light & Magic president and general manager Lynwen Brennan said ILM studio will continue in the long-standing tradition, and praised the British visual effects industry.
“London’s fantastic visual effects industry and rich talent pool made it an ideal location to expand our global footprint. Our clients have come to rely on us being able to provide not only top-tier talent, but flexibility in determining how and where their effects work will be done.”
Are you excited to learn that Star Wars Episode VII is wrapping up filming in the next few weeks?
[Image via Go Forcechoke Yourself]
