News

Star Wars Adds Lupita Nyong'o & Gwendoline Christie To Its Cast, Plus Set Pics

By Danny F. Santos (doddleNEWS)

Fresh off winning an Academy Award for 12 Years a Slave, Lupita Nyong'o has officially joined the cast for Star Wars: Episode VII. Nyong'o was reported to have been reading for a part in the next episode in the Star Wars saga back in March, so the news isn’t a complete shock, but we still don’t know what part she will be playing.

Rumors are she’ll be playing a key character in the film but what role that might be is up to speculation. When it was first reported that she was in the running Latino Review claimed that their sources said she would be playing a sith. My best guess (based on an absence of information) is that she’ll be one of the Nightsisters who were created in the novels but have appeared in the canonical Clone Wars television series.

Gwendoline Christie being cast in Star Wars, however, was very much out of left field so to speak. Christie plays Brienne of Tarth in HBO’s Game of Thrones, and has been doing a bang up job. In fact, she’s my favorite character in the series so I’m glad the actress is expanding into another one of my choice genre properties. There’s no clue how large a part she may have in the film.

If that wasn’t enough Star Wars news for you, TMZ released some brand new spy set photos?taken in Abu Dhabi, so check out that link for the pictures. The photos pretty much indicate what everyone already suspected, we’ll be returning to Tatooine — you can make out the distinctive moisture vaporators in the background. There’s also a giant warthog/lizard thing that reportedly takes five people to operate. Seems like JJ Abrams is true to his word when he said that the next film will have more animatronic components than the prequel trilogy.

Star Wars: Episode VII hits theaters December 18, 2015. Here’s the official press release for the casting:

Lupita Nyong'o joins the recently announced cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. This year, her breakthrough performance in 12 Years a Slave earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Gwendoline Christie, currently starring in the hit television series Game of Thrones as Brienne of Tarth, has also been cast in the production. She can next be seen in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 2.

"I could not be more excited about Lupita and Gwendoline joining the cast of Episode VII," says Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. "It's thrilling to see this extraordinarily talented ensemble taking shape."

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.

Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.

The post Star Wars Adds Lupita Nyong'o & Gwendoline Christie To Its Cast, Plus Set Pics appeared first on Doddle.