Source: StarWars.com | Posted By: Dan Geer
Well, any hopes of getting director Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII in the summer following Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One this December have been shattered. Lucasfilm has made an official announcement regarding the release date, which is now set for December 15, 2017, instead of the original May 26, 2017 date that it was previously slated for. Read on for the official press release!
Via StarWars.com:
Today, Disney and Lucasfilm announced that Star Wars: Episode VIII, originally scheduled for release in summer 2017, will now debut on December 15, 2017.
The move follows the extraordinary success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was the first Star Wars movie to premiere outside the traditional summer blockbuster window and smashed numerous records, including biggest domestic and global debuts of all time as well as the biggest domestic second and third weekends, en route to becoming the highest grossing domestic release of all time with over $861.3 million and the third biggest global release ever with $1,886.7 billion.
Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Star Wars: Episode VIII is currently in preproduction and will begin principal photography in London next month. Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman will produce and J.J. Abrams, Jason McGatlin, and Tom Karnowski will executive produce. Stay tuned for exciting updates in the coming weeks.
StarWars.com. All Star Wars, all the time.
To be honest, releasing Episode VIII in the summer of 2017 was probably too much to ask, and would have probably resulted in a rushed production, which is not what the fans want. A similar situation happened with J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens, where the film was also pushed back from May to December, although this was more Abrams’ idea than Disney’s (I think the majority of us can agree that it was the right decision). This time, it looks like the decision to push back Episode VIII was mainly due to how well The Force Awakens performed at the box office with a December release (although I would not be surprised if Rian Johnson had a say in this as well, since having only a year and a half to produce a great film is asking a bit much).
All in all, this is not bad news at all, and at least Gareth Edwards is delivering Rogue One: A Star Wars Story this December to hold us over until we get the next chapter in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy! Never a greater time to be a fan than now.
Star Wars: Episode VIII, written and directed by Rian Johnson, stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford (allegedly), Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Benicio Del Toro, Peter Mayhew, Lupita Nyong’o, Anthony Daniels, Andy Serkis, and Jimmy Vee. It is slated for release on December 15, 2017!
