A few days ago, J.J. Abrams got speculation running rampant when Bad Robot released an image from the workshop of Abrams standing alongside a familiar little robot, R2-D2. Needless to say, the expectation was that the fan-favourite robot would be returning for more action in Star Wars Episode VII.
Now it looks like it’s no longer speculation, with Variety reporting that Disney and Lucasfilm have officially confirmed that R2-D2 will appear in 2015’s Star Wars Episode VII, and they’ve also given a very nice update on two new additions to the creative team behind the film.
On the left and right of the image released are Abrams and Lucasfilm President, Kathleen Kennedy, and at the time, it wasn’t known who the two men between them are. Now word arises that they are Lee Towersey and Oliver Steeples, who are officially part of the Creature Effects team for the upcoming sequel.
The two are members of the R2-D2 Builders Club, a global group of fans dedicated to building robots from the Star Wars Universe. And after impressing Kennedy with their work out in Germany this summer, they were hired by the studios to work with Abrams and his team for Episode VII.
“She posed for pictures with us, looked at all the droids we’d built and was very complimentary,” said Steeples, who finished his first R2-D2 in 2007, after 10 years of collecting parts and researching. “I mentioned that the R2-D2 Builders in the UK were available if required, as a semi-joke. When I was contacted to work on the film by [executive producer] Jason McGatlin, it was on her recommendation.”
“It’s fascinating to see the whole process of filmmaking as Star Wars: Episode VII grows around us,” says Towersey. “I feel very privileged to be in the working environment I’m in at the moment. It’s something I will never take for granted.”
“It’s a dream come true,” adds Steeples, “and I hope I can live up to the expectations of the thousands of R2-D2 Builders around the world, let alone the millions of Star Wars fans.”
So whilst there’s no official human casting news yet, the first character for the next instalment in the franchise has officially been announced.
Abrams will be directing from a script first penned by Michael Arndt, with Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan recently announced as taking over writing duties for the sequel.
Star Wars Episode VII will be released in cinemas on December 18th, 2015, provided of course that everything goes smoothly between now and then. Principal photography is expected to get underway early in 2014, which should mean that the first human casting announcements will be arriving shortly.
