The seventh movie in the Star Wars series (or eighth if the still canonical Clone Wars animated movie is counted) The Force Awakens has smashed global box office records. Even before the movie was released, Disney executives announced the follow-up movie would receive a May 2017 release date.
This date has moved back to December 2017. The reasons for this are not entirely clear, although the BBC has picked up that there are problems with the script, resulting in the screenplay undergoing a re-write and this has created delays that cannot be overcome in good time. This could mean the next installment of the main films could go head-to-head with the second episode of Avatar, The May 2017 slot will now be taken by the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film, which is also part of the Disney “empire.”
Star Wars fans will get something in the way of consolation. The first of three “spin-off” movies will be out at the end of this year. The movie is titled Star Wars: Rogue One. This installment is set between episodes III and IV (at a time much closer to the events in episode IV: A New Hope, when Luke Skywalker makes his first chronological appearance) The plot focuses on a team of rebel pilots who undertake a risky mission to acquire the plans for the first Death Star. The movie may feature a Darth Vader cameo.
Rogue One is being directed by Gareth Edwards and the script has been written by Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz. It will be a standalone movie. The next movie in the “anthology” series is likely to be a Han Solo origin film. The one after that may be about either Boba Fett, the bounty hunter; or Obi Wan Kenobi.
