UUUUGH NOOOOOO alert: looks like we’re going to have to wait 7 months longer than originally anticipated for the follow up to The Force Awakens. (I know, I know—take your time freaking out and petulantly pouting. We’ll wait.) According to a press release from Disney on Wednesday morning, Star Wars: Episode VIII will now debut on December 15, 2017 instead of May 26, 2017. SIGH.

There’s not a lot of information as to why this is going down on the Rian Johnson written and directed installment, but we do know Episode VIII is currently in pre–production, with principal photography slated to begin in London next month. Maybe there are some production snafus/conflicts—after all, the film’s stars are majorly hot commodities these days. And it’s worth noting the rumor coming out of the Meet the Movies podcast: that Johnson’s decided the script needs another rewrite to “[shrink] the new roles in order to spend more time with Rey, Poe and so on.”

But it could also be as simple as the fact that TFA absolutely slayed at the box office over the holidays this year, smashing records left and right—including biggest domestic and global debut of all time (not adjusted for inflation) as well as the biggest domestic second and third weekends. The film’s domestic release is sitting pretty at $861 million, and is currently the third biggest global release ever with $1.887 billion. 

So what does that mean for May 26, 2017? Well, Disney’s going to fill in the hole by pushing up the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (originally scheduled to premiere on July 7, 2017).

What do you think about the news? Let us know in the comments below.

https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/689901195532509184

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Image Credit: Disney/Lucasfilm

Alicia Lutes is the Managing Editor of The Nerdist. Find her cosplaying Rey in her mind on Twitter (@alicialutes). 

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