starwars.com /star-wars-episode-viii-to-open-december-15-2017/




hollywoodreporter.com /heat-vision/

Star Wars: Episode VIII is being pushed back seven months, from Memorial Day weekend in 2017 to December 15 of that year.

Instead, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will open on May 26, 2017, Star Wars' old home. The Pirates movie was to have originally launched in theaters on July 7.

Disney insiders say the decision to push back the release of Star Wars comes after the blockbuster success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens over the year-end holidays. They say they have now decided to give Episode VIII the same Christmas treatment.

Force Awakens has made more than $1.8 billion worldwide, including a record $852.3 million in North America

Well, if this was done for quality it would be fine, but if it's done just for Christmas, that's horrible.

Not a bit surprised.

A bit disappointed as I was looking forward to Star Wars returning to May release dates, especially to jive with the 40th anniversary.

I can't imagine why Episode 8 wouldn't focus on the new leads established in Episode 7, and if the rumour is true that there were new leads that "minimized" the Episode 7 characters well then that's pretty stupid.

A little disappointed, like others I like the Memorial Day releases.

Coupled with rumors of them doing rewrites for Ep 8, it does make me a little nervous. I may be reading into things too much, but I hope its not a situation where Disney is dictating things. I am expecting what Johnson came up with was dark, maybe a little too dark for Disney.

The rumors CoGro mentions above are puzzling to me as well - I don't know why Ep 8 would really need to introduce many new characters of significance. That would be pretty silly to waste the investment they've made in Rey, Finn & Poe.

I wonder how much of the new release date is creative vs. financial. Not only did TFA draw a huge box office number in December, but I'd have to think Disney didn't mind having all the hype surrounding the release coinciding with all the merchandise in stores for the holidays.

Seriously though, I don't mind the change. I liked having a new SW movie come out in December, makes the holiday season all the more sweeter and exciting. I read some reports about Rogue One going through rewrites but this is the first I've heard of any scuttlebutt about EpVIII's script. At least principal photography begins next month, we need juicier news stat.

Remember, Avatar 2 is scheduled for release the same month.

That's true, but it's really not a huge risk. People forget that the 3D novelty was the real reason Avatar was so successful. I mean, it wasn't a bad movie, but the novelty is what put butts in seats.

I don't see any of the sequels / spin-offs / theme parks / whatever coming anywhere close to capturing that lightning-in-a-bottle.

Plus, J.C. hasn't even gone to camera yet.

Looks like Jimmy Cameron just got the hell out of dodge. http://www.slashfilm.com/avatar-2-delay ... 17-window/

The timing is fucking hilarious.

Funny indeed. However, Avatar 2017 was already unlikely. The scuttlebutt is that Cameron has gone mad with world building while simultaneously getting little accomplished. I'm very curious if audiences even want another Avatar, let alone support three.

Wow, that was quick xD

I guess I share the same concerns already expressed. Although I would prefer the reasoning be the marketing machine for the holidays rather than script issues. J.J. himself already said it was amazing and he was sorry he wasn't directing it so I can't imagine it's needed that much of an overhaul? :S

Overhaul is a strong word. They used "complete rewrite" when discussing what JJ and Larry did with Arndt's script, but it's clear a lot of the core elements stayed the same.

At worst, it'll be "add this here, less of that there." You can't go to camera in a month without a script...Unless you're Peter Jackson and directing the Hobbit trilogy apparently.

I agree that the notion that Kasdan and Abrams did a complete rewrite - which is what was sold to us - wasn't really true. And what deficiencies there are in TFA, I actually largely blame on Kasdan and JJ not starting from scratch but trying to leverage the work Arndt and the concept team had already done. As I was reading Art of TFA, I couldn't believe how late in the game Kasdan was brought in. Of course by then they couldn't trash a year or pre-pro or whatever it was.

Starkiller should've never survived, but that late in the game, I doubt it was ever really second-guessed.

I think the main deficiency in TFA from a storytelling POV - and it certainly didn't kill the movie for me - was that what the film started about, what was at stake, and what the conflict was, was not what the film ended up being about. Starkiller derailed it from that, and then finding Luke became a throwaway at the end with R2 abruptly turning on. I think that's a real weakness, and I find it hard to believe that weakness would be there had Kasdan started from scratch. The guy brought us Raiders of the Lost Ark and Empire Strikes Back - those stories are clear, efficient and simple in a good way.

And don't get me wrong, I still love TFA.