Harrison Ford's injury: What does it mean for 'Star Wars' production?
Last week brought the unfortunate news that Harrison Ford was injured, during filming on the upcoming聽. The almost聽72-year old Ford聽will be back on his feet in time听(literally), but it may take longer than previously聽anticipated 鈥� though,聽Episode VII聽director J.J. Abrams聽is expected to carry on with production as planned, albeit with the order of filming scenes changed up a bit.
It鈥檚 rumored that the聽Episode VII聽script by Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back) 鈥� revised from an earlier draft by Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) 鈥� includes expanded roles for the established, fan-favorite聽Star Wars characters of Luke, Leia, and Han Solo 鈥� with Ford as Solo rumored to聽have聽. It鈥檚 still reasonable to assume that, in order to lay聽the foundation for the Star Wars franchise to continue on for years to come, the majority of聽Episode VII鈥榮 running time will be devoted to introducing the聽鈥� as opposed to, focusing on its seasoned veterans.
As was mentioned before, however, certain聽other cast members no doubt聽have scenes without Ford to film;聽such material will therefore be shot while Ford recovers, so that聽Episode VII聽may still make its December 2015 release date 鈥� without having to rush elements of production, that is.
Among the fresher faces in聽Episode VII聽is one Daisy Ridley, a British actress and relative newcomer who, simply judging by her appearance, could feasibly be playing the daughter of Han and Leia (Carrie Fisher); if she is indeed聽sharing protagonist duties聽听(Attack the Block) as rumored, that would also explain why Ford could have a major role in the story (e.g. Han lending a helping hand to his kid on her adventures).
Of course, there are other popular theories about the young cast members of聽Episode VII聽and who they鈥檙e playing 鈥� such as the rumor that聽Domhnall Gleeson (About Time) is portraying聽the son of Luke (Mark Hamill).聽Most聽Star Wars movies in the past have featured multiple subplots, which necessitate such key players to head聽off to different planets and places in space; assuming that tradition continues with聽Episode VII, there should be entire narrative threads that can be filmed without Ford needing to be on set.
Having said all that 鈥� we wish Ford a speedy recovery for his own sake, and hope that this is the last聽Episode VII-related news of this unfortunate ilk that we have to report hereon out.
Sandy Schaefer blogs at .
