TOS says filming on Ep. 8 is underway, while announcing new cast members Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern and Benicio DeToro. I'm pretty sure we knew about DeToro, but the other two are new announcements.

Official Ep. 8 Announcement





Interesting how front and center Luke is in this video, while so much of the pre and post-TFA releases ignored him altogether.

Excited to see what Rian Johnson does with this!

Neat video to kick off production.

I truly hope for the return of the Webisodes like with the Prequels.

Great.

Cue the Laura Dern = Rey's mother theories.

Yawn.

Or maybe Dern will be another bucket head who appears just long enough to get her ass handed to her.

After the letdown of TFA I will this time keep my expectations down the barrel. However I DID love Looper. Rian is one talented dude and its interesting because he also wrote EP8 which is HUGE.

I hope they are not doing a direct continuation. I kinda like that some time passed, maybe us catching Rey in the middle of her Training. I dunno. Someone was saying that the announcement thing has new footage but I think its just TFA footage from different angle. Also this time, I don't give a damn about not reading spoilers. Maybe that will help to keep expectations in check. Kinda getting tired of having to wait 30+ yrs for a GREAT new SW movie (I said great not just good).

Spoiler: you will never see another Star Wars movie as good as ESB, as magical as ANH or as emotionally conclusive as ROTJ.

I don't know how you define great, but I think we'll get very good with elements approaching greatness. I'm not as hard on TFA as you are, so our benchmarks are different. I don't think the ST is necessary or enlightened additions to the canon but I can appreciate elements that work.

Yeah You are 100% correct. I mean I know its unfair to expect Empire greatness since Nostalgia plays a big part but I dont know what the magic really is or was. Maybe the cast was just THAT good. Luke made Yoda real. You gotta give him props for that.

Not to beat a dead horse but TFA was hardly good. Considering talent involved I expected more. Maybe not empire great but at least good. TFA wasnt good in my book. I have no desire to even purchase the Bluray after 3 viewings. But of course I respect the other fans opinions and if people loved it more power to them. I just don't mesh well with mediocre filmmaking. I have a good feeling about EP8 however. If they just slow down the pace a bit and focus on a real decent story that hasn't been told before, it could be good. Here's to hope.

Ah, that's a bit unfair - fair enough that you didn't like - of course you're entitled to your opinion, but it was hardly mediocre film making. I'll grant you there's a tendency with modern audiences to polarise and extremely like or extremely dislike
something, with no room for subtlety, but TFA was hardly mediocre filmmaking. The recent "Man from UNCLE" fell into that category plot wise for me, but the actual film making even there was incredibly well done. Shame it didn't all gel though.



I've got a good feeling about VIII too. While I agree with the discerning fan that TFA was effectively a 'soft' reboot/retelling of ANH, I think they needed to play it safe, to remind people why they loved Star Wars in the first place, and for me and many others, they accomplished that. But VIII needs to knock it out of the park. After the prequels, TFA brought me back to parity, reminded me why I liked Star Wars.

Episode VIII needs to make me love it again

Photos from the set?
http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/13/heres-a-c ... 8-5749974/

More behind the scenes photos? Or could these be from Rogue One?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7WEurc ... e=youtu.be

Metric fucktons of images coming out of Dubrovnik

Makes me wonder how valid they'll end up being....

it's almost too easy.

Whoah, there will be no time lapse between the end of Episode VII and the beginning of Episode VIII? Does anyone else think that could make the opening crawl...well, weird?

Depends on what the opening crawl says.
I can imagine it talking about the state of the galaxy, and ending with something along the lines of "meanwhile, Rey is about to begin her Jedi training with Luke Skywalker..." etc.

Yeah. Each SW movie had a timelapse. Esp. Empire. Its opening was so good. I really already dont like that they reshoot her giving the saber to Luke again because they already look different then in the original scene. It would be really weird to break that 'tradition'. Like first shot of EP8 and shes still holding the saber? It would complete kill the scenes power it had during TFA end. I dunno. All guessing of course. But I was hoping we will catch them in the middle of training or something else. I dont want to already roll my eyes on the first opening shot of EP8!! haha

I don't believe they'd go for it. Especially that it would mean breaking another important tradition: right after opening scroll there is ALWAYS a space scene.
Also, what new could we learn from the scroll? "The fearsome FIRST ORDER has been seeking Rey for many seconds...."

Actually, now that I think of it, I can imagine a solution for the space scene: a pursuit. First Order ship coming out of hyperspace right after opening scroll and heading towards the planet where Rey and Luke... Well, there has to be a reason why they re-shot the meeting - or perhaps it's just a prank and they were filming a training scene?

You are correct. It cant start right where 7 left off. I for one would love a different kind of opening but I guess its tradition by now. My fav is still ESB. Also I just rewatched Looper. Oh man. Hopefully EP8 will channel ESB a little bit, mood wise. It will be so awesome!

Rumor: Luke dresses like a bad-ass Count Jedi gunslinger in Episode VIII (link):

Episode VIII is officially a wrap! Here's hoping we get some tidbits of info or maybe a title reveal at SW Celebration this weekend.

Officially revealed that E8 kicks off right as E7 ends.

We'll see how it goes, but I'm not sure how much I like this. I love the discovery of learning what's been going on between chapters in the opening crawl. What could the crawl possibly "catch us up on?" I also loved seeing that our characters have developed even if only the slightest bit.

I trust Rian Johnson but I think the events of the last Episode need time to breathe.

The opening crawl could update us on who survived the Starkiller destruction (Kylo, Hux, Phasma), and what's happening with the First Order and what remains of the Republic. Then, "Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker begins training a new Jedi apprentice..."
Camera pans down to the island with Luke and Rey.

But we already know that information because we just saw it all happen in Episode VII.

They could catch us up on stuff that was happening offscreen during VII, and take the story in a new direction. Something like: "With its fleet on Hosnian Prime destroyed by Starkiller Base, the Republic is struggling to maintain peace and security." And then get into the Laura Dern / Del Toro characters and how they may factor into the power struggle to lead republic forces. (assuming that is their role)

^That too. There are all kinds of possibilities.

Not to bitch already but I just dont like the fact that we cutting to the Luke Rey meeting at the beginning. I mean i trust Johnson of course but the traditional 'time has passed' makes this feel more of a TFA part 2 than Ep8. Of course, im overthinking it. Thats what we do no? Bitch and overthink everything.

In anyways, I wonder if we will get a teaser in front of Rogue one?