Star Wars: Disney delays release of Episode VIII until December 2017

Toys based on characters from the new movie were hard to find after Christmas, said Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of toys and sporting goods review website TTPM.

The seventh movie in the Star Wars series (or eighth if the still canonical Clone Wars animated movie is counted) The Force Awakens has smashed global box office records. This is no bueno.

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. Disney is obviously seeing $/£ signs here.

Preproduction on the film, written and directed by Rian Johnson is now underway with principal photography due to begin in London next month.

As of now, nothing is much known about the film’s plot, but actor John Boyega, who plays Finn, told Vogue that it will be “much darker”.

Many new products feature the female scavenger Rey, the lead character in Force Awakens.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will now open in Episode VIII’s prior slot, opening May 26, 2017 instead of July 7.

Star Wars: Episode VIII was scheduled to hit movie theatres in May, 2017, but it has since been pushed back to December, 2017 – exactly two years after the launch of its record-breaking predecessor.

The decision came from Disney and Lucasfilm, which attribute the enormous success of Episode VII at the box-office with the delay of Episode VIII’s release.

The Force Awakens has already become the highest-grossing release in North America with $861m.

The Walt Disney Co. announced the new release date, December 15, on Wednesday.

Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman will produce and J.J. Abrams, Jason McGatlin, and Tom Karnowski will executive produce.

Now, for “Star Wars: Episode VIII”, the studio and filmmakers are going to the same page in the playbook.