Arndt has been working on Star Wars even before Disney announced it was buying Lucasfilm in October 2012, writing a 40- to 50-page treatment for Episode VII. The announcement also contained the news that Disney was planning new movies in the Star Wars universe, including Episode VII, with a 2015 release planned. Then in late 2012, Arndt was formally hired to write the screenplay.

PHOTOS: The Surprising Symmetry of 'Star Wars' and Disney

While George Lucas is considered the author of the stories for the Star Wars movies, the screenplays for both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were written with collaborators.

Kasdan and Leigh Brackett collaborated on the script for Empire -- considered by many fans and most critics to be the best story of all the Star Wars movies -- and also worked with Lucas on Return.

The Episode VII script news was announced on StarWars.com, which also revealed the below-the-line crew that Abrams has assembled, which includes Dan Mindel, the director of photography behind Abrams' Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness.

Also on board are production designers Rick Carter (Lincoln, Avatar) 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 (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception), sound designer Ben Burtt (Wall-E, Star Wars: Episodes I-VI), re-recording mixer Gary Rydstrom (Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan), supervising sound editor Matthew Wood (The Master, There Will Be Blood) of Skywalker Sound, and visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett (Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith) of Industrial Light & Magic.