Production begins on Star Wars: Episode VIII
You’ll never see the ending of Star Wars, and there’s no better way to be reminded of the dominance of the franchise than a Walt Disney Company quarterly earnings call. Speaking about the profitability of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and its merchandise, CEO Bob Iger revealed that not only has production begun on Star Wars: Episode VIII, but also that work on Star Wars: Episode IX is underway too.
“Filming of Star Wars: Episode VIII, the next chapter of the legendary saga, has just commenced and it will be in theaters December 2017. And production of Episode IX, a 2019 release, has also begun.”
Actor John Boyega took to Twitter to reveal how he marked the beginning of filming for the movie.
Time to bring out my Han Solo figure for everyone on set to sign. Sigh** can’t help it.
— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) February 10, 2016
Iger went on to speak about the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, saying filming is almost finished, a bit of a surprise since production began back in September.
“Filming of Rogue One is virtually completed and we absolutely love what we’ve seen so far.”
He went on to confirm that the planned Han Solo movie, written by Lawrence Kasdan & Jon Kasdan and to be directed by Phil Lord & Chris Miller, is still set to debut in May 2018. This may surprise some given Star Wars: Episode VIII‘s recent move to December, which appears to be the home for Star Wars for the foreseeable future.
Rogue One is set to star Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Diego Luna (Milk, Killing Them Softly), Ben Mendelsohn (“Bloodline,” Mississippi Grind), Donnie Yen (Ip Man, Blade II), Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly, Devils on the Doorstep), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Mads Mikkelsen (“Hannibal,” Casino Royale), Alan Tudyk (“Firefly”), who plays a performance-capture character in the film, and Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler, Four Lions). Directed by Gareth Edwards, the film will be released on December 16, 2016.
Star Wars: Episode VIII will star Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, and even more newcomers to the series. The Rian Johnson-directed film will be released on December 15, 2017.
