Star Wars Episode VII Cast Announced

I know that this is technically a Book blog, but I'd like to see it as a blog dedicated to stories, may they be told through words or through music or through pictures. And Star Wars is a story that has been told through all of those mediums and today we have heard fantastic news about the next Star Wars film. No, we don't have a title and we don't have a clue what is going to happen, but we have a cast.

The Star Wars team is thrilled to announce the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. 

Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film. 

Director J.J. Abrams says, "We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud." 

Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.

All of this is amazing news. Once again, the casting directors at Lucasfilm Limited have managed to create a cast that strikes the balance between, as my dad so eloquently put it, 'old, old but new, and new'. There is the returning cast from the Original Trilogy, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels etc., there are actors which are well known, Andy Serkis and Max von Sydow, who are still new to the Star Wars Universe and then there is actors who are relatively new, ranging from up and coming like Dmhnall Gleeson to practically unknown like Daisy Ridley. They have also done well in casting John Boyega as a main character, which I'm assuming he is considering his name is mentioned first, in order to remain representatives of all races and genders.

What this means is that JJ Abrams can rely on the skill of some of his "older" actors to carry the film's gravitas while the younger ones are able to spread their wings a bit and play characters which we as a younger audience can identify with. What I am desperately hoping for is Daisy Ridley as Leia and Han Solo's daughter, John Boyega as an up and coming Jedi Knight, Andy Serkis as an established (real and human) Jedi Knight, and Adam Driver and Max von Sydow as a pair of Sith Lords.

I can promise you I will try not to freak out too much about this, but this is, in my honest and humble opinon, the biggest movie news to have hit us in years. I was nowhere this excited for any of the Hobbit movies a good year and a half before it came out. I have another Star Wars post planned for tomorrow which I actually wrote this morning before I heard the news, so I still owe you that one. From then on I will try and remain quiet about it till May the 4th, which is Star Wars day so I practically owe you something Star Wars related then.

Ok, my tiny rant is over, thank you for not getting too annoyed by it!