Lucasfilm has confirmed that Star Wars Episode VII will be produced in the United Kingdom.
The confirmation follows a report by the BBC that suggested Chancellor George Osborne met with Lucasfilm executives in early 2013 to discuss the possibility of shooting in the U.K. Those meetings must have gone well as Lucasfilm, now owned by Disney, has made its choice.
The Star Wars franchise has roots in the U.K. dating back to A New Hope. Portions of all six previous live-action films have been filmed in the U.K in the Elstree, Shepperton, Leavesden, Ealing and Pinewood Studios. At this time there is no indication that the production will utilize other countries or studios.
Michael Arndt has been working on the Star Wars Episode VII screenplay since last year. J.J. Abrams is already on board to direct and recently shifted his focus entirely to the film now that Star Trek Into Darkness has wrapped up.
It is widely believed that Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford will be reprising their iconic roles of Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa and Han Solo, respectively, in the new film. Lucasfilm has yet to confirm or deny any of those actors are officially on board the project.
Production Star Wars Episode VII commences in 2014 with the film arriving in theaters in 2015.
Source: Lucasfilm
