The Force won’t be with you for a while
There is a disturbance in the force.
The release of Star Wars: Episode VIII has been delayed from May 2017 to Dec. 15, 2017, the Walt Disney Co. announced Wednesday. The date change postpones the next Star Wars instalment set to follow the box-office hit The Force Awakens.
Though Star Wars was once synonymous with the summer blockbuster, the date change means that the franchise will again look to dominate movie theatres in the holiday season. It has proven a lucrative match for The Force Awakens, which has made a record $1.88 billion (U.S.) globally in five weeks of release.
Disney offered no reason for the delay, but rumours have recently swirled that writer-director Rian Johnson ( Looper), who is taking over for J.J. Abrams, is rewriting the script. Production is set to begin next month in London.
In the interim, Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars spinoff Rogue One is due out Dec. 16 this year.
With prominent release dates now staked out by studios years in advance for their largest franchises, the impact of the switch immediately caused ripples. Disney moved one of its other billion-dollar franchises, Pirates of the Caribbean, to May 26, 2017. The Johnny Depp series returns with Dead Men Tell No Tales.
At the same time, Sony Pictures moved two of its biggest movies into summer 2017. The next Spider-Man, starring Tom Holland and directed by Jon Watts, shifted up three weeks to July 28, 2017. Jake Kasdan’s Jumanji remake shifted from Christmas 2016 to July 28, 2017.