'Star Wars 7' Casting News, Rumors: J.J. Abrams' 'Episode VII' is set 30 years after 'Return of the Jedi'

Thanks to a Twitter post from The Wall Street Journal's film reporter Ben Fritz, we now know that the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII film is set 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi (Star Wars: Episode VI). The official Star Wars website has also confirmed this news.

Star Wars Episode VII will take place 30 years after Return of the Jedi, Iger says. "Very familiar faces" along with trio of young leads

— Ben Fritz (@benfritz) March 18, 2014

The official website for the franchise also confirmed that filming for the upcoming J.J. Abrams movie will start in May of this year. Here is an excerpt from the website:

Disney and Lucasfilm are excited to announce that principal photography on Star Wars: Episode VII, directed by J.J. Abrams, will commence May 2014, and will be based at London's historic Pinewood Studios. This will be the first Star Wars film to start shooting in the month of May ... It has also been confirmed that Star Wars: Episode VII is set about 30 years after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and will star a trio of new young leads along with some very familiar faces. No further details on casting or plot are available at this time. 

Check out Lucasfilm's has documentation of the first day of principal photography for every installment of the Star Wars saga here!

So far the only casting news is based on rumors, with plenty of speculation claiming Mark Hamill, Carri Fisher and Harrison Ford returning to the franchise. Also, Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o is rumored to be cast as a Sith in the film, with Girls star Adam Driver also supposedly cast as another villain.