Star Wars 8 release date revealed, countdown can commence
Principal photography begins imminently
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Your support makes all the difference.Disney has officially given Star Wars: Episode VIII a release date of 15 December, 2017. when it will hit cinemas worldwide.
This is just shy of two years after the release of The Force Awakens, which has smashed numerous box office records since its release last month.
Star Wars 8 was originally slated for 26 May, 2017, but is rumoured to have been pushed back due to script rewrites.
The new slot puts it head to head with Warner Bros’ Steven Spielberg sci-fi film Ready Player One, which potentially might shift its launch to avoid the clash.
No other new information was served up unfortunately, besides the fact that principal photography will commence in London in February (when you can start looking out for leaked set photos).
It’s a long time to wait, but Disney is plugging the gap with Rogue One, the first in a series of stand-alone anthology films that will centre on a group of Rebel spies on a mission to steal the plans for the Death Star.
Here’s the official statement in full:
'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.'
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