Much of the speculation surrounding 'Star Wars: Episode 7' has been in regards to its release date - mostly because it doesn't have an official one yet. But, when will J.J. Abrams and crew actually start production on the new 'Star Wars' film? Sounds like we have a pretty good idea now.

According to Latino Review, filming on 'Star Wars: Episode 7' will begin January 21, 2014. That's five months from now, which isn't a very long time if you think about it. We haven't heard any casting news (nothing confirmed anyway), but the recent hiring of cinematographer Dan Mindel, and the announcement that the sequel will shoot on 35mm, indicates that things are indeed moving along.

So, if it starts shooting in January, when will it hit theaters? Latino Review seconds a rumor we heard recently, that Disney will be releasing 'Star Wars: Episode 7' around Christmas, 2015, which would be almost a full two years after the start of production. That's plenty of time to work on the massive amount of visual effects the movie will be utilizing, not to mention it will move 'Star Wars' into the lucrative holiday merchandizing season. (It also gets the film out of the way of 'Avengers: Age of Ultron', 'Batman and Superman' and the rest of 2015's summer insanity.)

We'll wait for official word on this before we lock it down, but it's probably safe to say that if early 2014 is when 'Star Wars: Episode 7' starts rolling, casting announcements are not far, far away.

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