Big Day for Star Wars. This is the first of a couple announcements we’ll be posting, so get excited. The first big announcement of the day is that we now have an official release date and director attached to Star Wars: Episode VIII: May 26, 2017. As it turns out the new film will be released exactly forty years and one day after the release of A New Hope. Behind the camera will be none other than Rian Johnson, of Looper. JJ Abrams will be sticking around as the executive producer. Here are the details from the Disney press release:
Bob 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.