"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is still fresh in its release, and the hype of the anticipated sci-fi film hasn't died down just yet. Now, the hype is focused on the upcoming movie, "Star Wars: Episode VIII."
Lawrence Kasdan, "Episode VII's" screenwriter, won't be in-charge for the scripts of "Episode VIII" but had seen the upcoming installment and described it to be "weird."
"These movies will all be so different. ["Episode VIII" director] Rian Johnson is a friend of mine — he's going to make some weird thing," Kasdan revealed to Los Angeles Times in an interview earlier in December.
"If you've seen Rian's work, you know it's not going be like anything that's ever been in "Star Wars," he added.
The upcoming "Star Wars" movie is already scheduled for a May 2017 release, so it would be more than a full year of waiting for fans, which doesn't really matter much, considering that all of them would be willing to wait for something as big as "Star Wars."
Aside from the release date, casting for the movie has also been revealed. Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm president, already confirmed that Gwendoline Christie, who played Captain Phasma, will reprise her role in "Episode VIII."
"She's an important character, a baddie in the best sense of the word," Kennedy said, according to a report from Los Angeles Times.
There are also rumors that Hayden Christensen, who was not seen in the latest film, will return for "Episode VIII," but that still needs to be confirmed.
Kennedy also revealed during a premiere night in London that the rest of the cast will be coming back to "Episode VIII," as reported in Evening Standard.
"There will be a handful of new cast members in Episode VIII but also all the cast members you see here tonight will be in it as well," Kennedy said.
Does that mean that (spoiler alert) Harrison Ford's Hans Solo will be back from the dead as well?
With all the hype surrounding the upcoming movie, it's easy for fans to get too excited. Even Kennedy admitted she's excited for the team to get back together for a new project.
Filming for "Episode VIII" will start in January 2016, as confirmed by Kennedy. The production team has been preparing for the movie for the past year, she said.
