Star Wars VII: JJ Abrams reluctantly relocating to London for new movie - The Guardian

JJ Abrams has revealed that shooting for the new Star Wars movie, which is filming in London, is set to begin in early 2014.

The film-maker said he would be moving to the UK capital at the end of this year to begin production on Star Wars: Episode VII. The Super 8 director has shot all his previous films in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family, even covering costs out of his own pocket to remain local for this year's Star Trek Into Darkness.

He told the Produced By conference, also in LA, that he was not looking forward to uprooting, admitting that the decision to shoot in Britain "really does make me insane". He said, of his children's reaction: "When you're 13 and 14, it's like, fuck that, I don't care what the movie is."

The move by Disney has a certain historical resonance, however: all of the six previous Star Wars movies have included UK production time, in studios such as Elstree, Shepperton, Leavesden, Ealing and Pinewood. Abrams said he was looking forward to putting his own spin on the next instalment. "It is so massive and so important to people," he said. "I think the key to moving forward on something like this is honouring but not revering what came before."

Star Wars: Episode VII is scheduled to arrive in cinemas in 2015, with two sequels following in 2017 and 2019. Disney, which bought Lucasfilm, owner of the rights to Star Wars, in October last year for $4.05bn, has hired Toy Story 3's Michael Arndt to write the first instalment. The film is expected to feature Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher returning to their original roles of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia.

Beloved characters such as Yoda, Solo and Boba Fett have also been tipped to receive their own standalone movies, which could squeeze into cinemas during gaps between release dates for the new trilogy. These spin-off films are rumoured to be set within the timeline of the original 1977-83 Star Wars trilogy, potentially even allowing space for the return of deceased villains such as Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine.