Terrible news for Star Wars fans as it looks like we’ll be waiting a bit longer for the next installment in the franchise. Rian Johnson’s untitled Episode VIII was set to be released in May 26, 2017, but has now been reportedly pushed back to December 15, 2017. Seven months, we’re hardly talking about a day or two here…
Yesterday we reported that Episode VIII was going to be delayed as the script underwent a rewrite in order to give Finn, Poe and Rey more prominent roles than they already had and it looks as though it has directly affected when we will be seeing the film, which was set to begin production next month.
John Boyega recently revealed that it will be a lot darker and will involve more physically demanding role for himself, while Daisy Ridley said she’d read the script and said it was ‘really good.’ Well, with the new rewrite, it’ll hopefully get even better.
Meanwhile, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales — is jumping from its July 7th, 2017 slot into Episode VIII’s vacated May release date, so that one will now be released on May 26th, 2017. It will also see Marvel and Sony’s Spider-Man reboot released at the slightly earlier date of July 7, as opposed to July 28.
Here is Disney’s official statement:
This morning, The Walt Disney Studios announced new release dates for upcoming films from two of its major franchises.
Star Wars: Episode VIII, originally scheduled for release on May 26, 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 in December. In the popular holiday moviegoing corridor, it 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 $861M and the third biggest global release ever with $1.887B.
Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Star Wars: Episode VIII is currently in pre–production and will begin principal photography in London next month. Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman will produce and J.J. Abrams, Tom Karnowski, and Jason McGatlinwill executive produce. Stay tuned to StarWars.com for exciting updates in the coming weeks.
With Star Wars: Episode VIII jumping to December, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will set sail on May 26, 2017, from its previously scheduled July 7, 2017, berth. The blockbuster franchise’s previous installment, the $1B-grossingPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, also debuted in late May.
In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow with Geoffrey Rush back on board as Barbossa, Orlando Bloom resurfacing as Will Turner, and a terrifying new adversary, Captain Salazar, played by Javier Bardem, in the mix. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, the film is currently in post-production.
Cheers to the guys at Squareeyed
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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