A still from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The next and eighth episode in the
Star Wars saga will premiere on December 15, 2017, seven months later than originally planned, Disney and Lucasfilm announced Wednesday.
"The move follows the extraordinary success of
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was the first
Star Wars movie to premiere outside the traditional summer blockbuster window and smashed numerous records," the studios said in a statement on the movie's
official website.
The seventh episode in the series,
The Force Awakens, quickly surpassed the $760.5 million record set in 2009 by
Avatar to become the top-grossing film ever in the North American market.
The film has now grossed $858.9 million in North America and $1.865 billion worldwide. (Also Read:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Shatters North American Box Office Record)
The next episode will be directed by Rian Johnson, who directed the 2012 sci-fi thriller
Looper, starring Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt.
It will feature the stars of
The Force Awakens - Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega.
The movie is in pre-production, with filming set to begin in February in London, the studios said.
Disney and Lucasfilm plan to release a further instalment, Episode 9 of the saga, on May 24, 2019.
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.