A US film blog has posted what it claims are essential plot details from the upcoming new Star Wars film, Episode VII.
Badass Digest claims JJ Abrams' movie focuses on the hunt for Luke Skywalker after an opening scene in which the ageing Jedi Knight's severed hand, complete with lightsaber, tumbles through space and is found on a desert planet by two young adventurers. The pair, played by Britain's Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, recognise the weapon as a Jedi weapon and set out to return it to its rightful owner.
According to the site: "Their quest takes them off world, and they meet up with Han Solo and Chewbacca, who aren't flying around in the Millennium Falcon anymore … Han and Chewie recognise the lightsaber as Luke's, and they say they haven't seen their friend in thirty years, since the events of Return of the Jedi.
"So begins a quest to find the missing Jedi Master. Meanwhile, on an ice planet, nefarious forces are building a super weapon, one capable of destroying not planets but entire solar systems … "
According to Badass Digest, the narrative sweep of Episode VII intentionally echoes 1977's Star Wars, with the quest for Skywalker replacing the original protagonist's hunt for Obi Wan Kenobi. Boyega, whose character is described as someone trying to change his path is life, is described as "owning" the new instalment.
"Instead of R2 coming to Tatooine it's a hand falling from the sky, but the basic sweep of the story is similar, and intentionally so," says the site. "But things that seem familiar may not be as familiar as you think - don't assume that every ice or desert planet in the galaxy has already been visited, if you know what I'm saying."
Disney has so far refused to confirm or deny the rumoured plot details, which remain unconfirmed.
Badass Digest's report would appear to contradict the widely held assumption that Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, returning to the classic roles of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo from the original trilogy which hit cinemas between 1977 and 1983, will be the obvious leads in Episode VII. Ridley and Boyega are part of a swathe of actors – also including Girls' Adam Driver and Ingmar Bergman regular Max von Sydow – who were confirmed by studio Disney in May.
Abrams recently put production for the film on a two-week hiatus to allow Ford to recover from a broken leg sustained on set. The Star Trek film-maker has been shooting at Pinewood Studios in London and the deserts of Abu Dhabi. There have also been reports that a crew visited Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean, where TV shows such as Merlin, Dr Who and Atlantis have been filmed.
Episode VII remains on course for a December 2015 release date.
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