Two months ago, Star Wars: The Force Awakens took the box office by storm. Today, the cast and crew are officially back at work on Star Wars: Episode VIII. Lucasfilm made the announcement with a new video that shows incoming director Rian Johnson welcoming the crew back for another Star Wars adventure.
Lucasfilm also confirmed that Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern, and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran are the latest additions to the Episode VIII cast alongside returning performers, Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis. Del Toro had previously been rumored to be playing a new villain in Episode VIII, but it’s currently unknown whom Dern and Tran will portray.
Perhaps more intriguingly, the Episode VIII announcement video appears to be picking up directly at the end of The Force Awakens, as Luke Skywalker comes face-to-face with Rey. We may actually get to see that scene play out instead of the traditional time jump between Star Wars films.
Back in January, Lucasfilm’s Story Group member Pablo Hidalgo confirmed the name of the planet where Luke was found. If you don’t want to know any details, stop reading now!
According to Hidalgo and The Force Awakens junior novelization, the planet is called Ahch-To, and it is the location of the first Jedi temple that Luke was looking for before he disappeared.
Star Wars Episode VIII will fly into theaters on December 15, 2017.
What do you think about the Episode VIII announcement video? Let us know in the comment section below!
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HT: StarWars.com
Image Credit:Â Lucasfilm
