Earlier today, we brought you news that Star Wars: Rogue One would be the first in a planned series of Star Wars spinoff films – but that’s not the only news coming from a galaxy far, far away. Disney CEO Bob Iger also confirmed that Rian Johnson would write and direct Star Wars Episode VIII for a May 26, 2017 release.
The news came as part of the same investor call where the spinoff title was revealed. We’ve known about Johnson’s involvement in the Star Wars franchise since the middle of last summer, but this is the first time Disney and Lucasfilm have publicly acknowledged it. There have also been rumors that Johnson would be writing Episode IX, but those have not been confirmed at this time.
Here’s what the official Star Wars website says about Johnson and Episode VIII:
Iger confirmed that Rian Johnson will write and direct Star Wars: Episode VIII. 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. 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 installment of the show. Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman, producer of Looper, Don Jon, Brick, and The Brothers Bloom, are on board to produce, and J.J. Abrams will serve as executive producer.
With this news, Disney is poised to have a massive summer movie season in 2017 – in addition to Star Wars: Episode VIII, the studio will also release Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Toy Story 4 within a few months of each other.
No word yet on what the story for Episode VIII will look like – which makes sense, given that we’re still nine months away from the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But as always, we’ll keep you posted.
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