Star Wars creator
George Lucas discussed ideas for a sequel trilogy several times after the conclusion of the original trilogy, but denied any intent to make it.
[76] In October 2012, he sold his production company
Lucasfilm, and with it the
Star Wars franchise, to
The Walt Disney Company.
[77] Speaking alongside the new Lucasfilm president
Kathleen Kennedy, Lucas said: "I always said I wasn't going to do any more and that's true, because I'm not going to do any more, but that doesn't mean I'm unwilling to turn it over to Kathy to do more."
[78]
As creative consultant on the film, Lucas attended early story meetings and advised on the details of the
Star Wars universe.
[77]Among the materials he turned over to the production team were his rough
story treatments for
Episodes VII–IX; he later stated that Disney had discarded his story ideas
[79][80] and that he had no further involvement with the film.
[81] Lucas' son Jett told
The Guardian that his father was "very torn" about having sold the rights to the franchise, despite having hand-picked Abrams to direct, and that his father was "there to guide" but that "he wants to let it go and become its new generation."
[82] In November 2015, Lucas said that Disney was "not that keen" to involve him and conceded: "If I get in there, I'm just going to cause trouble because they're not going to do what I want them to do, and I don't have the control to do that any more, and all it would do is just muck everything up."
[83]
Episode VII's first screenplay was written by
Michael Arndt over a period of eight months.
[84][85][86][87] Several directors were considered, including
David Fincher,
[88] Brad Bird[89] and
Guillermo del Toro,
[90] before
J. J. Abrams was named director in January 2013, with
Lawrence Kasdan and
Simon Kinberg as project consultants.
[91][92] The production announced the exit of Arndt from the project on October 24, 2013, and Kasdan and Abrams took over script duties.
[93] Abrams cited time concerns over the change of writers
[94](specifically, Arndt needed 18 more months to finish, which was more time than Disney or Abrams could give him
[87]) and expressed relief that the release date was announced for December 2015 instead of a previously discussed summer release.
[95] Abrams and Kasdan both planned out the story while walking for miles in places like
Santa Monica,
New York City,
Paris and
London. The first draft was completed in six weeks.
[96] Abrams said that the key for the film was to return to the roots of the first
Star Wars film and be based more on emotion than explanation.
[97]In January 2014, Abrams confirmed that the script was complete.
[98] A fictional language was developed by
YouTube star
Sara Maria Forsberg, who created the
viral video series "What Languages Sound Like To Foreigners";
[99] Forsberg developed the language by studying Euro-Asian languages including
Hindi and
Gujarati.
[99] In April 2014, Lucasfilm clarified that
Episodes VII–IX would not feature storylines from the
expanded universe, though other elements could be included as with the TV series
Star Wars Rebels.
[100]
Pre-production
In May 2013, it was confirmed that
Episode VIIwould be filmed in the United Kingdom.
[101]Representatives from Lucasfilm met with
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborneto agree to produce
Episode VII in the UK.
[101]Osborne also committed £25 million ($37 million) of public money towards the film, claiming it was a boost for British culture and the film industry.
[102]
Beginning in September 2013, production spaces at the
Bad Robot facility were converted for shooting of
Episode VII for the benefit of shooting a minor portion of the film in the United States.
[103]
The film's costume designer was
Michael Kaplan, who had previously worked with Abrams on
Star Trek and
Star Trek Into Darkness films.
[104] Film editors
Mary Jo Markey and
Maryann Brandon, also long-term collaborators with Abrams, were also signed.
[105] In August 2013, it was announced that
cinematographer Daniel Mindel would be shooting the film on
35 mm film (specifically
Kodak 5219).
[106] In October 2013, other crew members were confirmed, including sound designer
Ben Burtt, director of photography Daniel Mindel, production designers
Rick Carter and Darren Gilford, costume designer Michael Kaplan, special effects supervisor
Chris Corbould, re-recording mixer
Gary Rydstrom, supervising sound editor
Matthew Wood, visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett, and executive producers Tommy Harper and Jason McGatlin.
[107][108][109][110]
Casting
Casting began around August 2013, with Abrams meeting with potential actors for script readings and screen tests. Open auditions were held in the UK, Ireland, and the United States in November 2013 for the roles of Rachel and Thomas.
[111][112][113] Casting began in earnest in January 2014, because of changes to the script by Kasdan and Abrams.
[114] Screen tests with actors continued until at least three weeks before the official announcement on April 29, 2014, with final casting decisions being made only a few weeks prior. Actors testing had strict non-disclosure agreements, preventing them, their agents or publicists from commenting on their potential involvement.
[115]
Daisy Ridley was chosen for the film by February 2014, and by the end of that month a deal had been worked out with Driver, who was able to work around his
Girls schedule. By March 2014, talks with
Andy Serkis and
Oscar Isaac began and continued into April 2014. In April,
John Boyega began talks after dropping out of a
Jesse Owens biopic.
[115]Denis Lawson, who played
Wedge Antilles in the original trilogy, was asked to reprise his role, but declined, stating that it "would have bored" him.
[123]
On April 29, 2014, the cast was announced with a photo of the first
table read of the script at
Pinewood Studios near London,
[35]picturing director Abrams with Ford, Daisy Ridley, Fisher,
Peter Mayhew, producer
Bryan Burk, Lucasfilm president and producer
Kathleen Kennedy,
Domhnall Gleeson,
Anthony Daniels, Hamill, Serkis, Oscar Isaac, Boyega, Driver, and writer Lawrence Kasdan. The announcement was originally planned for May 4 (
Star Wars Day), but was announced early because of fears of media leaks. In June 2014, Lupita Nyong'o and Gwendoline Christie were announced in the cast.
[124]
To prepare for his role, Hamill grew out his beard
[125] and was assigned a personal trainer and a nutritionist at the request of the producers, who wanted him to resemble an older Luke.
[126] Fisher was also assigned a personal trainer and a nutritionist to prepare for her role.
[126] Abrams initially considered using Daniels only in a voice role for C-3PO,
[127] although Daniels opted to reprise the role physically as well; the production team built a new C-3PO suit to accommodate Daniels.
[128]
In May, Abrams announced a donation contest for
UNICEF from the
Star Wars set in Abu Dhabi; the winner was allowed to visit the set, meet members of the cast and appear in the film.
[129] In October 2014, Warwick Davis, who played Wald and Weazle in
The Phantom Menace and
Wicket in
Return of the Jedi, announced that he would appear in
The Force Awakens, but did not reveal his role.
[130] In November 2014,
Debbie Reynolds confirmed that Fisher's daughter, Billie Lourd, is in the film.
[55] Isaac's uncle, a
Star Wars fan, was cast as an extra at the invitation of Abrams upon visiting the set.
[131]
In December 2015,
The Mail reported that Ford will be paid $25 million plus a 0.5% share of the revenue. Ridley and Boyega each will receive $460,000 plus a share if the movie grosses over $1 billion. Fisher received $1.5 million and Abrams was paid $5.1 million plus a 2% share of the revenue. For the original 1977 film, Ford was paid $10,000.
[132]
Filming
In February 2014, Abrams said filming would begin in May and last about three months.
[97]The official announcement came on March 18, when Disney and Lucasfilm announced that
principal photography would commence in May and be based at Pinewood Studios in
Buckinghamshire, England.
[133] In March, it was revealed that pre-production filming would be taking place in
Iceland prior to the start of official filming in May, consisting of landscape shots which would be used for scenery in the film.
[134] On April 2,
Walt Disney Studios chairman
Alan Horn confirmed that filming had begun,
[135] filming in secret in the
U.A.E. emirate of Abu Dhabi by a second-unit.
[136][137] Later that month, it was revealed that in addition to 35mm film, segments of the film were being shot in the
65mm IMAX format.
[138] On July 8, Bad Robot reported on Twitter that the film would be at least partially shot on
IMAX cameras.
[139]
On
Star Wars Day 2014, the studio posted a
selfie taken by Iger with an unidentified actor in a Chewbacca costume.
[140] Iger stated the photo was taken when he visited Pinewood Studios two weeks earlier to discuss the shoot, "which was just about to start," with Abrams, Kennedy, and Horn.
[141] Principal photography began in Abu Dhabi on May 16, 2014.
[142][143][144] Abrams and members of the cast went to Abu Dhabi in early May, where large sets were built at the location, including a shuttle-like spacecraft, a large tower and a big market, and explosives were used to create a "blast crater." Cast members were spotted practicing driving vehicles that would be used during filming.
[145] Production moved to Pinewood Studios in June.
[146]
On June 12, Harrison Ford fractured his leg while filming at Pinewood after a hydraulic door on the
Millennium Falcon set fell on him, and was taken to a hospital. According to Abrams, Ford's ankle "went to a 90-degree angle."
[87] Production was suspended for two weeks to accommodate Ford's injury.
[147]Ford's son Ben stated that Ford's ankle would likely need a plate and screws and that filming could be altered slightly, with the crew needing to shoot Ford from the waist up for a short time until he recovered.
[148] Jake Steinfeld, Ford's personal trainer, said in July that Ford was recovering rapidly.
[149] Abrams also fractured a vertebra in his own back when he was trying to help lift the door after Ford's accident.
[87] However, he kept this to himself and did not tell anyone about it for over a month.
[150]
On July 29, 2014, filming took place over three days at
Skellig Michael island off the coast of
County Kerry in Ireland with a cast including Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley.
[151][152]Production was halted for two weeks in early August 2014 so Abrams could rework shooting in Ford's absence and resumed with a fully healed Ford during mid-August.
[153][154]In September 2014, the former
RAF Greenham Common military base in Berkshire, near Pinewood Studios, was used as a filming location and featured set constructions of several spaceships from the
Star WarsUniverse.
[155][156] Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean was used as a location for forest scenes.
[157][158]
Principal photography ended on November 3, 2014.
[159]
Post-production
Bad Robot Productions headquarters, where Abrams supervised post-production of the film
Cinematographer Daniel Mindel stated that
The Force Awakens would use real locations and
scale models over
computer-generated imagery to make it aesthetically similar to the original
Star Wars trilogy.
[160] Rian Johnson, director of
Episode VIII, reiterated that Abrams would use little CGI and more practical, traditional special effects, saying: "I think people are coming back around to [practical effects]. It feels like there is sort of that gravity pulling us back toward it. I think that more and more people are hitting kind of a critical mass in terms of the CG-driven action scene lending itself to a very specific type of action scene, where physics go out the window and it becomes so big so quick."
[161]Abrams' intention in prioritizing practical special effects was to recreate the visual realism and authenticity of the original
Star Wars.
[162] To that end, the droid
BB-8 was a physical prop that was developed by
Disney Research,
[163] created by special effects artist
Neal Scanlan and operated live on set with the actors.
[164][165]
In February 2014,
Industrial Light & Magic(ILM) announced plans to open a facility in London, citing Disney's
Star Wars films as a catalyst for the expansion. ILM's Vancouver branch will also work on the special effects for the film.
[166]
Abrams supervised post-production and editing of the film at Bad Robot Productions' headquarters in Santa Monica.
[87] In August 2015, Abrams gave the estimated running time of the film as 124–125 minutes.
[167]Abrams made changes to the film's plot in the editing process to simplify the film, by removing some sequences shown in trailers: "At one point, Maz used to continue along with the characters back to the Resistance base, but we realised that she really had nothing to do there of value, except to be sitting around."
[168]
Music
It's all a continuation of an initial set of ideas. It's a bit like adding paragraphs to a letter that’s been going on for a number of years. Starting with a completely new film, a story that I don't know, characters that I haven't met, my whole approach to writing music is completely different—trying to find an identity, trying to find melodic identifications if that’s needed for the characters, and so on.
—John Williams on returning to the Star Warsuniverse[169]
In July 2013,
John Williams was confirmed to compose the score.
[170] The music for the film's first two trailers was reworked from earlier Williams compositions.
[171][172][173] He began working on the film in December 2014, and by June 2015 had been through most of the film reels, working on a daily basis.
[174][173]In May 2015, Williams stated that he would return to themes from the previous films, such as ones for Luke, Leia and Han, in ways that "will seem very natural and right in the moments for which we've chosen to do these kinds of quotes. There aren't many of them, but there are a few that I think are important and will seem very much a part of the fabric of the piece in a positive and constructive way." He said that working with Abrams was similar to the process he went through with Lucas in the earlier films.
[169]
Recording sessions for
The Force Awakensbegan in June 2015 at the
Sony Pictures Studios' Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage in Culver City, with
William Ross conducting most of the music.
[175] The first day of recording was June 1, 2015.
[176] Williams attended the sessions and conducted the remainder of the recordings.
[177][178] The recording process was “very luxurious,” Williams said, with 12 sessions scattered over a five-month period between June and November. The score was recorded by a freelance orchestra, with sessions continuing on and off over that five-month period. The 90-piece orchestra recorded 175 minutes of music, although nearly an hour of that was discarded, modified, or rerecorded as Abrams re-edited the film. Williams's theme for Snoke was recorded by a 24-voice men’s chorus.
Gustavo Dudamel conducted the opening and end title music for the film at Williams' behest.
[179] Recording of the score was completed on November 14, 2015.
[173][174][180]The film's soundtrack was released by
Walt Disney Records on December 18, 2015.
[181]Williams's score is more than two hours long.
[174]
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Abrams contributed music to the film's cantina scene, similar to the
Mos Eisley Cantina. Abrams met Miranda at a performance of his Broadway musical
Hamilton, where Miranda jokingly offered to compose the cantina music, should it be needed. Unknown to Miranda, Williams had previously told Abrams that he did not want to compose the music for that scene, wanting to focus on the orchestral score for the film. Abrams then contacted Miranda, and the two began to collaborate on the music for the scene, over a period of two months.
[182]
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