Word on the street is that Disney's planning to release this thing in December of 2015. Way less competition at the box office and more time to finish the movie.
I guess it's too late for them to push it back to May of 2016 (which the traditionalists in all of us would prefer) after spouting a date of 2015 in every single proclamation since the Disney deal was announced back in October. Also, yeah, I guess they like money a lot. Even if May of 2016 is still an empty playing field, it'll fill up fast. December of '15, on the other hand, isn't likely to be crowded with anything other than oscar-bait.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the original film not start shooting until March of '76??? I realize they still need to iron out the script, but whatever happened to all this talk of making it "the old-fashioned way?"
As for box office competition, I would've thought they'd like the idea of releasing Avengers 2 and Ep7 at opposite ends of May, guaranteeing first place for well over a month. I guess spreading things out makes a little more sense, though.
Anyway, nothing official yet, just a rumor.