Star Wars team seeks to delay Episode VII

Last week we got some pretty major news that Michael Arndt had been replaced with Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams for the Star Wars: Episode VII script. This comes just about a year after Disney announced their purchase of Lucasfilm and the announcement of a seventh Star Wars film. We now have news that the Star Wars team has requested a delay of the film until 2015, but was shut down by Disney.

There is still no official release date for Episode VII, however Disney is constantly hammering their intent for a 2015 release. It has been rumored as of late that the film will be released in December 2015 for a Christmas release. However, with the current script rewrite and no solid casting news, the deadline is cutting very close because filming is supposed to start in London in early 2014.
The word is that producer Kathleen Kennedy and the rest of the creative team has requested a delay for the film until 2016 and was promptly denied by Disney. The speculation is Disney CEO Bob Iger is adamant about the 2015 release due to pressure from the shareholders and demand for merchandising and revenue by 2015. This also could be due to rumors that Tomorrowland at Disneyland will be revamped and redesigned as a so-called "Star Wars Land" with a new speeder bike attraction and a life size Millenium Falcon. Similar rumors are circulating at Disneyworld in Florida for a Star Wars addition to the Hollywood Studios park.
However, some are suggesting that J.J. Abrams is confident in the 2015 release and it is primarily Kennedy that is pushing for the delay. The two are apparently working in sync with the casting, though. There is also a rumor that Michael Arndt had treated Disney to a 50-page script for a seventh film before Lucasfilm was even purchased, so this new trilogy has been in the works for quite sometime already.

I am doubting this is all due to tension between Kennedy and Abrams. She has been a longtime producer for Steven Spielberg and has been on several high pressure projects, so I think she knows what she is doing. Hopefully this pressure will give Disney some sense and not release a half-assed project for once. I am still not fully on board to this new Star Wars movie and if it sucks because Disney rushed it I am going to be even more upset. 

Star Wars: Episode VII script to be polished

Star Wars: Episode VII will be penned by none other than director J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan. The duo is taking over for Michael Arndt and will be polishing the script so they can make the Spring 2014 date for production.
Kasdan has previous Lucasfilm writing credits including Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. He also has previous credits with J.J. Abrams including Super 8, Mission: Impossible III, Fringe, and Lost.

This isn't a really surprising move, in my opinion. I expected Abrams to take over the script at some point. I am looking at the bright side on this right now... at least they didn't bring in Damon Lindelof.