A couple weeks ago, we learned that screenwriter Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) had left Star Wars: Episode VII, and director J.J. Abrams would write the script with Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back). A week later, it was reported that although producer Kathleen Kennedy had sought to push the film’s release to 2016, but Disney refused to budge and held on to the previously-announced 2015 release. Now the two stories have converged with J.J. Abrams explaining that in order to meet the release date, they needed to bring in Kasdan.

Hit the jump for more. [Update: Disney has announced that Star Wars: Episode VII will be released in 3D on December 18, 2015]

During a conference call to promote his upcoming series Almost Human, Abrams said that the demands of the schedule necessitated bringing in the old pro:

“Working with Michael was a wonderful experience and I couldn’t be a bigger fan of his or adore him more, He’s a wonderful guy and was incredibly helpful in the process. And working with Lawrence Kasdan, especially on a Star Wars movie, is unbeatable. It became clear that given the time frame and given the process and the way the thing was going that working with Larry, in this way, was going to get us where we need to be and when we needed to be. That doesn’t preclude working with Michael again in the future, at all. I couldn’t say enough good things about him. He’s one of the smartest guys, and one of the best writers around.”

In other words, “Nothing to see here, nothing is fucked, we’re going to get this film out in 2015, the Force is strong with Kasdan.” This could be the case, but every bump in the road is going to feel like an earthquake to fans who want desperately want Episode VII to meet their high expectations.