Briefly: Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII is now filming.

Disney revealed the news today, noting new cast members, and showing off a quick teaser that features Rey and Luke together once again (right where we left them). It certainly had me reminiscing about The Force Awakens, and had me wondering if I should be headed to one last IMAX showing before the film leaves theatres.

The company also revealed that Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro, Academy Award nominee Laura Dern, and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran have joined the project.

As a huge fan of Johnson’s Brick and Looper, I could not be more excited for Star Wars: Episode VIII. Hell, after simply watching The Force Awakens, I could not be more excited for Episode VIII. Take a look at the teaser and full announcement below, and let us know who you’d like to see the new talent portray!

Star Wars: Episode VIII hits theatres on December 15th, 2017 (because of that delay, remember)!

Rey took her first steps into a larger world in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and will continue her epic journey with Finn, Poe, and Luke Skywalker in the next chapter of the continuing Star Wars saga, Star Wars: Episode VIII, which began principal photography at Pinewood Studios in London on February 15, 2016.

Star Wars: Episode VIII, which is written and directed by Rian Johnson and continues the storylines introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, welcomes back cast members Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis.  New cast members will include Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro, Academy Award nominee Laura Dern, and talented newcomer Kelly Marie Tran.

Star Wars: Episode VIII is produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman and executive produced by J.J. Abrams, Jason McGatlin, and Tom Karnowski. Joining the production crew will be some of the industry’s top talent, including Steve Yedlin (Director of Photography), Bob Ducsay (Editor), Rick Heinrichs (Production Designer), Peter Swords King (Hair and Make-Up Designer), and Mary Vernieu (US Casting Director). They will be joining returning crew members Pippa Anderson (Co-Producer, VP Post Production), Neal Scanlan (Creature & Droid FX Creative Supervisor), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Jamie Wilkinson (Prop Master), Chris Corbould (SFX Supervisor), Rob Inch (Stunt Coordinator), Ben Morris (VFX Supervisor), and Nina Gold (UK Casting Director). 

Star Wars: Episode VIII is scheduled for release December 15, 2017

Briefly: No!

We’re all still feeling an intense bout of Star Wars fever, and while we’re beyond excited for this year’s Star War Rogue One we’ll be waiting just a little longer for the next chapter in the saga’s main series.

The Rian Johnson directed Star Wars: Episode VIII was originally slated for May 26th, 2017, but will now hit theatres on December 15th, 2017.

Interestingly enough, this puts the release just 10 days before James Cameron’s Avatar sequel.

Here’s the official announcement from Disney:

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.

What do you hope to see in Episode VIII?

headerStarWarsJPNtrailer

Our friend Satine Phoenix returns to Geekscape after all these years and is here to talk about her new comic book series ‘New Praetorians’! It’s a new cyber-revenge story with a person twist and Satine’s artwork is insane! On top of this, Jonathan recommends both Marvel AND DC books for you while he and William heap large amounts of praise on ‘Ant-Man’! Benicio Del Toro is rumored to be in Star Wars: Episode VIII and NBC is bringing back ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’! Disney is giving ‘The Sword in the Stone’ the live-action treatment and we talk a bit of the Emmy’s! Plus! We want to know what was the most ridiculous depiction of the internet in film or TV ever!

Subscribe to Geekscape on Soundcloud!

Subscribe to the Geekscape podcast on iTunes!

Subscribe to Geekscape TV on YouTube!

You can file this one under “perfect choice”. Oscar award winning actor Benicio Del Toro has apparently been asked to play the bad guy in Star Wars: Episode VIII.

Looper director Rian Johnson is heading up the team of Episode VIII, which will be a direct sequel to Abrams Episode VII. 

No word from Disney confirming it, but multiple sources have told our friends over at The Wrap that the talks are young, but Disney and Lucasfilm are VERY interested in Del Toro.

Star Wars: Episode VIII is set to hit theaters May 26th, 2017, with filming to begin next year.