Star Wars: Episode VII has a new writing team: J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan. The pair takes over on the script from Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3), who was announced as the screenwriter of the sequel a year ago.

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Director of photography Dan Mindel (Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness)

Production designers Rick Carter (Lincoln, Avatar, Forrest Gump) and Darren Gilford (Oblivion, TRON: Legacy)

Costume designer Michael Kaplan (Star Trek Into Darkness, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Fight Club)

Special effects supervisor Chris Corbould (Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception)

Sound designer Ben Burtt (Lincoln, Wall-E, Star Wars: Episodes I-VI)

Re-recording mixer Gary Rydstrom (Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Toy Story, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol)

Supervising sound editor Matthew Wood (Star Trek Into Darkness, The Master, There Will Be Blood) of Skywalker Sound

Visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett (Star Trek Into Darkness, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith) of Industrial Light & Magic

Producers Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk

Executive Producers Tommy Harper (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Jack Ryan, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Jason McGatlin (Tintin, War of the Worlds)

Composer John Williams

As per StarWars.com , Kasdan and Abrams “have assumed screenwriting duties for the film.” Kasdan, who co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, had been serving as a consultant on Episode VII. Abrams, of course, is also directing the film. (Kasdan has also been rumored to be working on one of the standalone films set in the Star Wars world.)"I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and J.J. working on the script," says Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy in the company’s announcement. "There are very few people who fundamentally understand the way a Star Wars story works like Larry, and it is nothing short of incredible to have him even more deeply involved in its return to the big screen. J.J. of course is an incredible storyteller in his own right. Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point and we have an amazing filmmaking and design team in place already prepping for production."The story adds that location scouting, production design, casting, and costume design are already underway on the film for a Spring 2014 shoot at Pinewood Studios and an “expected” 2015 release. “Expected”?It’s unclear how much (if any) of Arndt’s script will be utilized by Abrams and Kasdan, but it seems unlikely that this is just a polish. A studio wouldn’t announce its two biggest names associated with a project for such a thing… which raises the question: If Star Wars: Episode VII is getting a serious rewrite, how do-able are those production start and release dates?The following personnel are also now confirmed to be onboard the film:

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