Fans have fallen in love with the latest Star Wars installment "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and now they are hungry for information about "Star Wars: Episode VIII."
"Star Wars: Episode VIII" will begin its principal filming in January 2016 in England, although there were already some pre-production filming that took place in September this year on the island of Skellig Michael, Ireland, which they have started already to take better advantage of weather conditions.
Between the sixth and twelfth centuries, Skellig Michael was known as a monastic settlement. In the "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," the ruins of Skellig Michael was shown as Luke Skywalker's hideaway.
The filming for Episode VIII will take place at Pinewood Studios, just outside of London. In May this year, the British government formally announced that the next Star Wars installment will be filmed in the UK.
"Pleased to announce #StarWarsVIII will be filmed here in UK @PinewoodStudios - great news for @starwars fans & our UK creative industries," George Osborne tweeted. Osborne is the UK chancellor of the exchequer, the British equivalent of the secretary of the treasury. Osborne also mentioned the $152 million (₤100 million) inward investment and 3,000 jobs which the production will bring.
J.J. Abrams, who directed and co-wrote with Lawrence Kasdan the newly released "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," said the script for Episode VIII is complete.
"The script for VIII is written. I'm sure rewrites are going to be endless, like they always are," Abrams said in an interview with Wired.
He said that what he and Kasdan did was "set up certain key relationships, certain key questions, conflicts. And we knew where certain things were going. We had meetings with Rian and Ram Bergman, the producer of VIII. They were watching dailies when we were shooting our movie. We wanted them to be part of the process, to make the transition to their film as seamless as possible. I showed Rian an early cut of the movie, because I knew he was doing his rewrite and prepping."
Abrams said he has not withheld any information from Rian Johnson, who will direct Episode VIII.
"As executive producer of [Episode] VIII, I need that movie to be really good. Withholding serves no one and certainly not the fans. So we've been as transparent as possible," Abrams added.
J.J. Abrams will serve as executive producer for Episode VIII while Kathleen Kennedy, Ram Bergman, Lawrence Kasdan, and Simon Kinberg will serve as producers. Steve Yedlin will serve as the next installment's cinematographer.
The "Star Wars Episode VIII" is slated for release on May 26, 2017.
Benicio Del Toro has confirmed he will be joining Episode VIII and will have a role as a villain. Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, will definitely be in the film along with Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey; John Boyega and Oscar Isaac.
On December 17, at the London premiere for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Kennedy announced that the entire cast would return for Episode VIII, although, according to her, there will be a handful of new cast members.
The "Star Wars Episode IX" will be directed by Colin Trevorrow and is expected to be released in 2019.
