Disney CEO Bob Iger said this week that production on Star Wars: Episode VIII has already started filming, meaning that Daisy Ridley and John Boyega have had to cut their celebrations short.
During a meeting with investors to go over the company’s quarterly earnings report, Iger revealed that filming has already started on the follow-up to The Force Awakens, notes Entertainment Weekly.
Production was supposed to start last month, but Disney decided to give writer/director Rian Johnson (Looper) some extra time to breathe. The film was ultimately delayed to Dec. 15, 2017. Considering the massive success The Force Awakens met after a December release, the studio probably figured that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to push it back.
“There is no better way to propel this franchise into the future than producing quality products,” Iger said. “Filming of Star Wars: Episode VIII, the next chapter of the legendary saga, has just commenced and it will be in theaters December 2017. And production of Episode IX, a 2019 release, has also begun.”
That last sentence is a bit weird. Even though Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) has already been hired to make Episode IX, it probably shouldn’t be in production at the same time as Episode VIII. Iger probably just meant that the film is in pre-production, as Johnson is supposedly also working on the script for that film.
Iger also sounded excited about the stand-alone Star Wars movies, which will start with Rogue One this December. The next film will be Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s “young Han Solo” movie for 2018. Iger made it sound like Disney was still targeting a May release for the Han Solo movie, despite moving all the other movies to December.