In the first 'official' Star Wars: Episode VII news after months of casting rumours and speculation, the official Star Wars website has revealed a significant change to the much-anticipated first film in the upcoming sequel trilogy. Director J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan - one of the co-writers of The Empire Strikes Back, who had already been drafted into work on one of the franchise's new 'spin-off' films - will now be 'assuming' screenwriting duties.

Writer Michael Arndt - who has previously worked on films such as Toy Story 3 and Little Miss Sunshine - had been working on developing the script since late last year. The announcement does not explain whether Abrams and Kasdan will be rewriting or completely reworking Ardnt's existing script, or whether he will be involved with the rest of the series. However, a quote from Lucasfilm producer Kathleen Kennedy explains "I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and J.J. working on the script... 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".

The web post also announces or confirms some of the other crew who will be working on the film. Star Wars veteran Ben Burtt will return as sound designer, while frequent Abrams collaborator Dan Mindel will serve as the film's director of photography. John Williams, responsible for all Star Wars scores to date, will compose the soundtrack. As of yet, there are no confirmed casting details, although Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher are all expected to reprise their roles from the original films.

Episode VII will start shooting in Spring next year in advance of a 2015 release date.