doubleofive said:
So we can keep the other thread on directing.
Speaking of which, we kinda left behind the original Episode VII thread (from before a director had been hired).
From a film theory perspective, this forum is decidedly auteurist ;)
Anyway, it's cool that Gollum and Dr. Kynes / Ming the Merciless will both be in this. Very unexpected as I'm pretty sure they hadn't even been rumored, so someone did a good job of keeping their names under wraps.
As Cobb pointed out, it's cool that Driver and Isaac will be going into outer ... space(!) yet again. Driver had a small role in Lincoln, which, like many of Steven's movies, was produced by Kathleen Kennedy. For all we know, that might've helped him get the role.
Does the absence of Billy Dee's name on this particular list mean he's not in the movie at all?
Also, is everyone on that list even there in that picture??? It's so low-res I had to zoom in before realizing the guy with the ponytail was Mayhew. Is that Tony talking to Mark? Is that Oscar Isaac sitting next to Boyega? Is the guy sitting between Driver and JJ von Sydow, because if it is I barely recognize him at this angle/resolution. There are a couple other dudes, I'm assuming one of them is Gleeson, but whoever the other guy is he's not on the list. Is that Kathy Kennedy sitting between them? What about Kenny?
It's pretty funny seeing Andy Serkis sitting at a meeting for yet another huge sci-fi/fantasy franchise like it's nothing. After LotR, Kong, Apes, and directing 2nd Unit on The Hobbit, he's probably use to this kind of thing.