BleedingCool picked up on a report from FilmChronicles that states that British actor Benedict Cumberbatch (Fifth Estate, 12 Years A Slave) has indeed be cast in J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII. BC reveals their backing of the site's reputation, something I can't exactly do myself. However, they extent a hand revealing that they've also heard the chatter of an official casting announcement coming from LucasFilm/Disney very soon. They mention names which have been linked to that talk includes Cumberbatch, Leonardo DiCaprio (Inception, Django Unchained, Departed) and Dane DeHaan (Amazing Spider-Man 2, Chronicle). If true, LucasFilm/Disney will likely announce something soon as production is expected to begin in January. Casting would need to be completed for pre-production soon, so actors can have enough time to be trained for the action sequences.
"There’s a lot of gossip swirling around that Lucasfilm are about to make a big casting announcement regarding Star Wars VII, and that casting announcement appears to be none-other than Benedict Cumberbatch, most recently seen in director JJ Abrams’ previous movie, ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’."
It's not hard to see why Abrams would consider working with his Star Trek Into Darkness actor again. Ben was the most impressive aspect of the film and his action sequences were top notch. Seeing him play either jedi or sith could be something that the new franchise could use. Dane seems like the right age for a character like Jacen Solo which Miles Teller might have recently tested for. I have to assume that DiCaprio is being considered for the role of Ben Skywalker. As he's a similar age to Ryan Gosling who was reportedly turned down the role. He had been in the mix for the villain role in Matthew Vaughn's (had been in the mix for directing Episode VII) The Secret Service (which includes Mark Hamill playing himself) but passed on it. Speaking of passing, Cumberbatch recently dropped his role in Guillermo del Toro's horror flick Crimson Peak for unknown reasons. The draw-back from his involvement with a Star Wars trilogy is that Ben might have to turn down possible roles in the MCU (Doctor Strange or Ant-Man). Depending on the size of the role, which is sounding could be the villain (according to BadassDigest). Perhaps, taking on the role of long rumored Grand Admiral Thrawn since the movies are likely to take cues from the expanded universe. BadassDigest in an updated post say that Cumberbatch might actually take the role of a Vader-type sith. ScreenCrush dug up Ben's quotes to TotalFilm about joining Star Wars.
"I thought, ‘Yeah, I grew up with them,’ and I just looked recently at when they were released and now I’m like, ‘No, I didn’t grow up with them, I was born with them.’ They were a huge part of my background, and my upbringing. I was much more connected to [Star Wars] as a kid, in the way that a lot of kids are because it’s immediate storytelling, very simple – a beautifully, outrageously simple narrative in a way – and a wonderful three-act melodrama, opera. And I loved them. I really, really loved those films and I always wanted to be Han Solo."
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