Star Wars 8 will be directed by Rian Johnson and is officially slated for 2017.
After plenty of rumours and almost-confirmations, it looks as though Rian Johnson is officially on board for Star Wars 8 in 2017… and Disney has even set a rather interesting release date.
Revealed by Bob Iger during the company’s annual shareholders meeting, the Star Wars 8 director is finally set in stone.
“Rian Johnson will write and direct Star Wars: Episode VIII,” said the official press release. “The film, which continues the saga after the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is set for release on May 26, 2017 — forty years and a day after the release of Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977.”
Of course, Johnson is perhaps best known for Looper – the mind-bending time-travel flick starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
“Johnson is widely considered one of cinema’s most gifted young filmmakers, having directed the modern sci-fi classic, Looper, as well as Brick and The Brothers Bloom. He was also behind the camera for three episodes of the critically-acclaimed TV series Breaking Bad, including Ozymandias, which series creator Vince Gilligan named as the best instalment of the show. Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman, producer of Looper, Don Jon, Brick, and The Brothers Bloom, are on board to produce.”
Interestingly, it looks as though Disney has decided to move away from the end-of-year release date that was given to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and has instead revealed that Star Wars 8 will be release in the summer of 2017.
Why is that such a big deal? Well, it was long-rumoured that J.J. Abrams had been pushing for The Force Awakens to be moved up to a summer release date. And while Disney didn’t grant him his wish, it looks as though they may have taken his advice on board.
Interestingly, it looks as though Abrams isn’t listed as a producer for either ‘Star Wars VIII’ or the newly announced Star Wars: Rogue One. Could this mean Abrams lost the creative battle within Disney?
For now, we’ll have to wait and see… but today’s Star Wars news is interesting to say the least.
Star Wars 8 heads to cinemas on 26 May 2017.
Are you looking forward to Star Wars 8? Is Rian Johnson the right director for the job? Let us know what you think in the comments below…
