New Star Wars Film Changes Writers

Star Wars: Episode VII has seemingly hit a bump in the road.

Director J.J. Abrams and The Empire Strikes BackandReturn of the Jedi co-writer Lawrence Kasdan have taken over screenwriting duties from Toy Story 3 scribe Michael Arndt, Entertainment Weeklyreports.

In January, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced plans to continue the franchise, which ended in 2005 with Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Episode VII, which is set after the death of Darth Vader, will go into production in spring 2014 and is scheduled to hit theaters in 2015.

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"I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and J.J. working on the script," Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement. "There are very few people who fundamentally understand the way a Star Wars story works like Larry, and it is nothing short of incredible to have him even more deeply involved in its return to the big screen. J.J. of course is an incredible storyteller in his own right. Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point and we have an amazing filmmaking and design team in place already prepping for production."

Kasdan, whose other credits include Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Big ChillandThe Bodyguard, is also working on other Star Wars spin-off prequels.