‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ postponed to December 2017

“Star Wars: Episode VIII” is now in pre-production and will begin principal photography in London next month.

A number of reasons are being cited for the move, with one of the most obvious being the success of “The Force Awakens”.

The movie is written and directed by Rian Johnson, who is best known for his work on the films “Brick”, “The Brothers Bloom”, and “Looper” and directing a few episodes of the hit TV show “Breaking Bad”. It makes sense, with other film’s abandoning the same release schedule of “Star Wars” this year, Disney should be able to obtain the same reign over the box-office in 2017. It will also be produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman along with J.J. Abrams, Jason McGatlin, and Tom Karnowski as executive producers.

It should be noted that “The Force Awakens” was the first film in the “Star Wars” franchise to choose a release-window outside of the traditional “summer blockbuster” schedule.

Many “Star Wars” fans on Twitter were weirdly okay with the new release date, as if some grizzled Jedi had waved his hand and told them: This is the release date you’re looking for.

Originally set as a summer 2017 release date, the film will now release in December.

Its total global gross now stands at $1.8 billion, making it the third biggest movie of all time, behind “Titanic” at two, and “Avatar“.

A spin-off, titled “Rogue One”, which will be set shortly before the events portrayed in the original 1977 “Star Wars” film, is set to reach screens on December 16. The second Avatar movie is now scheduled for a Christmas Day 2017 release.