It's really happening!
Director J.J. Abrams and the "Star Wars" team just announced the cast for "Star Wars: Episode VII" -- and the first photo of them hanging out at a script reading.
Check out the official announcement:
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 is set for a December 18, 2015 release.
While it was pretty much a given that Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia would return, it's great to see that Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 will all be back as well.
Sorry Billy Dee Williams, it doesn't look like Lando made the cut. When asked for a statement, Williams' rep gave us a "No comment."
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Looks like those early casting rumors of Adam Driver from "Girls" turned out to be true. When the reports first hit back in February, it was said he would play a villain in the flick. As for the Zac Efron rumors, apparently those weren't true.
Another notable name is Andy Serkis, who has made quite a name for himself in the motion capture universe for his work in "The Lord of the Rings," "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and "King Kong."
It's also worth noting the lack of women in the announcement. Of the 13 names, only two are female. While that isn't too different from the original trilogy or the prequels, we were hoping for a few more ladies with The Force.
So, who are the rest of these people? Check out the gallery above to get a better look at all their faces -- and find out where you may have seen them before!
Plus, see what all the original franchise stars look like now below:
