A Disney movie executive has dropped the bombshell that shooting has already begun on JJ Abrams' eagerly anticipated Star Wars Episode VII.

Being questioned by The Hollywood Reporter in front of an audience, Alan Horn surprised his interviewer and the crowd by saying: "We're actually shooting some of it now. We're up against it."

And commenting on the set-up for the seven-quel, he added: "It takes off where six left off - and where six left off is 35 years ago by the time this is released in December 2015."

Horn also reveals that the next three Star Wars movies will NOT be shot back-to-back, as has become the trend for some film franchises.

Emphasising the importance of the screenplay to the project, he acknowledged that it had been rewritten by Lawrence Kasdan and JJ Abrams from an original draft by Michael Arndt.

"It has to be screenplay, screenplay, screenplay," he stressed.

And when asked if the screenplay was not where it needed to be, he replied: "It actually is now."

And on the subject of the much-discussed casting of the movie, he said: "We have a lot of them. We're just not completely done yet."