It’s been a couple of days since our last Star Wars story, so it's time for another update on the highly anticipated film.  The firm production dates of Star Wars: Episode VII have been hard to nail down, but a spring start-date was necessary in order to keep the pic on track for its December 2015 release date.  Indeed, HitFix has confirmed through multiple sources that director J.J. Abrams’ sequel will begin filming in mid-May and will shoot through September.  Not a crazy short schedule, but not a particularly lengthy one either.  Hit the jump for more.

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Image via Lucasfilm

Wrapping principal photography on Star Wars: Episode VII in September, per HitFix's confirmation, should give Abrams and his team ample time to complete post-production before the film’s release.  It should be noted, though, that September may not mark the end of filming on Episode VII, as the pic will no doubt go back for additional shooting at one point or another—it’s now common for almost every movie to have some form of reshoots/additional filming after wrapping production.

Further firm details are, as always, few and far between at this point, but now that we know filming will be underway in London in just a couple of months, expect firm casting announcements relatively soon.  Star Wars: Episode VII opens in theaters December 18, 2015.

To catch up on all of our Star Wars coverage thus far, click here. Peruse the recent links below.

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