Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn was speaking at the Bloomberg and Tribeca Film Festival Business of Entertainment Breakfast in New York, and he confirmed a few Star Wars related items for those in attendance.

• They have done some second-unit filming in Abu Dhabi, in order to give the move that “Star Wars-ian look.” Principal photography is scheduled to begin in May at Pinewood Studios in the U.K.

• As reported a few weeks back, most of the cast is in place, but there are no announcements just yet.

• The budget for Episode VII is in the $175 million – $200 million range.

• Horn will be flying to London this week to talk about production design and the screenplay with Episode VII director J.J. Abrams.

• Episode VII will be released December 18, 2015, with the next two installments following in 2017 and 2019. No word on if those will be December releases as well. It’s possible the films could revert to May release dates.

• Two Star Wars spin-off movies are planned for 2016 and 2018 release dates.

• George Lucas is a consultant on Episode VII.

In what is sure to be pleasing to fans, Horn said, “We need to give the audience… essentially a full meal in return for their affection for and devotion to this property.”

It certainly sounds like Star Wars is in capable hands.

Stay tuned for more updates as they become available. No doubt, there’s big news just around the corner…

Sources: Variety and Brent Lang

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