Industrial Light and Magic just celebrated the opening of its very first studio in the UK in preparation for post-production on Star Wars: Episode VII and during the event, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy offered a brief status update on the production.  Apparently there’s only three more weeks left of shooting and from there, the new ILM location will begin working on visual and special effects for the film.

Star Wars: Episode VII is due in theaters on December 18, 2015 and stars John BoyegaDaisy RidleyHarrison FordAdam DriverMark HamillCarrie FisherLupita Nyong’o, Oscar IsaacDomhnall GleesonAndy SerkisGwendoline Christie and more.  Hit the jump for more on how the revival of the film franchise led to the opening of ILM London.

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As reported by Digital Spy, ILM wanted to open up in the UK for some time, but there was no guaranteed financial stability.  The new Star Wars films, however, changed that.  Here’s what ILM President and General Manager Lynwen Brennan had to say about the big business coming their way:

"At least six Star Wars films are on the way that means we can plan our technical advancements and production capacity needed over a ten-year period.”

Via The Guardian, Kennedy noted that Lucasfilm is “within three weeks of finishing filming on Star Wars: Episode VII.”  She also added:

"This continues a long tradition of Star Wars movies being made in London.  It goes back to 1976, and to know that we are now coming back and we will be making the movies once again based out of Pinewood and now we're looking to put together ILM London, it's rather remarkable that this has come together in less than two years."

In addition to the new Star Wars films, ILM UK is doing some work on Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man as well.

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