The ever-prolific J.J. Abrams was in attendance at the NBC portion of the TCA Press Tour, to talk about his latest TV venture Believe, created by Alfonso Cuarón and for which he is executive producer.  As expected, the conversation turned to Star Wars: Episode VII and possible updates.

During the interview, JJ Abrams talked about how the Star Wars script is done and they’re in deep prep on the film, that they’re working really hard on casting, just how many crazy rumors there have been, that he has spoken to actor Jesse Plemons about a role, and how, even though he’ll be shooting Star Wars on film, he’d like to shoot in IMAX again, at some point, when the cameras become more manageable.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

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Question:  Are you close to finding a director for Star Trek 3?

JJ ABRAMS:  I’m just focusing on Episode VII, right now.  That’s the focus.

Where are you on Star Wars?  Is the script done?

ABRAMS:  Yeah.  We’re working really hard.  We’ve got our script and we’re in deep prep.  We’re full steam ahead.

Since you’re going to have to start production soon, when might we hear announcements about cast?

ABRAMS:  When the announcements happen.  But, we’re working really hard on it and it’s quite a thrill.

What are the craziest rumors you heard?

ABRAMS:  God, there have been so many of them, honestly.  I don’t know.  But, it’s amazing to see how many there are.  It’s really remarkable.  But, it’s sweet because it shows that there’s an interest in this movie that we all obviously know is there.  It is an incredible thing to see how many crazy things get thrown out that people then often write commentaries about how happy they are or how disappointed they are about something that’s completely false.  But, it’s a lot of noise, frankly.

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Was the Jesse Plemons report accurate?

ABRAMS:  He is one of the actors that we’ve talked to, yeah.  It’s not often that I read about actors that I’m going to be meeting.  I get to read articles about actors who were going to come in, so I get to see someone and say, “Oh, I read that I was going to see you.  It’s very nice to see you.”  It’s usually agents talking to people about what’s happening.  It’s just a lot of noise.

Would you like to shoot it in IMAX, at all?

ABRAMS:  In the right situation, I’d like to use IMAX again.  The problem with IMAX is that it’s a very loud camera.  It’s a very unreliable camera.  Only so much film can be in the camera.  You can’t really do intimate scenes with it.  It’s slow.  They break down often.  Having said that, they’re working on digital versions of that, so there may be a version one day.  But, we’re going to be shooting this next movie on film.