While fans are eagerly waiting for the month of December to arrive so they can watch "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Disney decided to go onto fifth gear and confirmed the released dates for "Star Wars Episodes VIII" and "Star Wars Episode IX." In addition to this, Disney's upcoming three films will just be a taste of what the franchise has got in store for fans.
Get Your Geek On quotes Disney's CEO Bob Iger as saying, "And it's only the beginning of a new era of exceptional Star Wars storytelling; next year we'll release our first standalone movie based on these characters, followed by Star Wars: Episode VIII in 2017, and we'll finish this trilogy with Episode IX in 2019."
It is safe to assume that the upcoming "Star Wars" trilogy will not be the only films planned by the company.
While this is yet to be confirmed by Disney, it has been rumored that "Star Wars: Episode VIII" will be directed by Rian Johnson, the director of "Looper," while Gareth Edwards is expected to be spearheading the first "Star Wars" spin-off project. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is directed by J.J Abrams and the film is scheduled to hit theaters on Dec. 18.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has its timeline set 30 years after the events that took place in "Return of the Jedi." The follow-up events will determine the next objectives of the recurring cast members along with new leads that will be appearing in the film. Similar to "The Force Awakens," filming for "Episode VIII" will reportedly take place in London.
