AKIPRESS.COM - The first Star Wars movie to be made under Walt Disney Co. has begun shooting in Abu Dhabi, according to Alan Horn, chairman of the company’s film division, who said the casting will be announced soon.

Horn spoke at a Bloomberg Business of Entertainment event today in New York, before heading to the U.K. with other Disney executives overseeing the project. Filming thus far has involved secondary scenes, he said. The U.K.’s Pinewood Studios will be the primary site, he said.

“We have to give it that ‘Star Wars’-ian look,” Horn said. “So we need to go to different places that give us the right look and feel.”

The movie, to be released in December 2015, will be the seventh “Star Wars” picture from Lucasfilm, purchased in 2012 by Disney in a $4.05 billion bet on the franchise created by George Lucas. Lucas is a consultant on the film, Horn said.