REPORT: 'Star Wars: Episode VII' Looking at Fassbender and Others as Abrams Refocuses Plot

We haven't had a good Star Wars rumor in awhile, have we? The Hollywood Reporter launched a few new rumors over the weekend, reporting that JJ Abrams and his team have been looking at Michael Fassbender, Adam Driver, Hugo Weaving and Jesse Plemons for roles in Star Wars: Episode VII. (Yes, Todd from Breaking Bad could possibly be a Jedi. Bastard.) For most of those actors, there isn't a specific character attached, but according to THR, Weaving is being looked at to play an imperial commander.

THR also reports that since screenwriter Michael Arndt left the film, the story for Episode VII has "changed significantly" under Abrams and Empire Strikes Back scribe Lawrence Kasdan.

Arndt is said to have focused on the offspring of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), with the original trilogy heroes taking on supporting roles. Abrams, however, wanted Episode VII to focus on the classic trio of characters, so audiences could have one more chance to enjoy them before a fitting send-off. The new characters, the offspring, will now be in supporting roles, according to these sources, and take center stage in Episode VIII and IX. Some characters have disappeared from the Arndt script and new ones are being drafted.  

Star Wars creator George Lucas, who directed the 1977 original and each of the most recent trilogy, was also involved in the debate, according to insiders. But Lucas, who sold his Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, acquiesced to Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy, who now runs Lucasfilm.

It sounds like the shift in story focus has also rendered many of the previous Star Wars: Episode VII casting rumors moot, as characters have been rewritten or eliminated completely. According to THR, "one part that was initially conceived as a 20-year old male is now being rewritten to be a 40-year old" and "that Abrams and Lucasfilm are now searching for a 20-something female actress who is either of mixed race or black. The rumor is that Obi-Wan Kenobi had a daughter or granddaughter."

Obi-Wan has a daughter or granddaughter?