“Star Wars 8” Release Date Postponed to Christmas 2017

As mentioned, “The Force Awakens” is the first movie in the franchise that did not release in the summer.

But now news from a galaxy far, far away has revealed that, well, the next instalment of the movie won’t be out for quite a while … far, far away. The pirate tale’s release date was moved earlier from July 7.

The next episode will be directed by Rian Johnson, who helmed the 2012 sci-fi thriller Looper, starring Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt. So that is seven months more of waiting for the next Star Wars movie, however this can also become a Christmas gift to Star Wars fans.

Although Disney and Lucasfilm officially mentioned that the change in release date is due to the enormous success the month of December was for them, there may be other reasons.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” smashed the box office since its release, generating US$1.8 billion (AU$2.61 billion) in global ticket sales and counting. However, it’s unlikely that there are any script issues with it as both legendary screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan and co-writer / director JJ Abrams have both praised the script publicly.

In a not-so-surprising move on Disney’s part, the next installment in the Star Wars saga has a brand new release date.

According to Variety, the studio have reportedly made a decision to give Kasdan “more time to put together the best product” by pushing the film’s release date back considerably.

The next Star Wars release will see the return of the main new characters introduced in The Force Awakens, interpreted by Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac.

Don’t fret over the delay, Star Wars fans, as the highly anticipated Rogue One is still slated to be released this year on December 16.

As pointed out on the Star Wars website, it has been revealed that the movie has been delayed to December 15, 2017, instead.