Pinewood Shepperton CEO Ivan Dunleavy has announced that Pinewood Studios have been booked for the next Star Wars movie, the Gareth Edwards-helmed standalone film rumoured to centre around the iconic bounty hunter Boba Fett.
This is not terribly surprising, except that it does indicate that there is forward momentum on the film. J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens commenced filming principal photography in May this year for a December 2015 release, so it stands to reason that Edwards’ film, due to be released in December 2016, will start filming May next year.
But does this announcement suggest that filming may start prior to when we expect? Unless there’s a need for protracted rewrites (as on Abrams’ film), could the Edwards shoot commence as early as first quarter next year? Only time will tell.