Star Wars: Episode VIII Officially Begins Production
Star Wars: Episode VIII is underway!
Lucasfilm and Disney made the announcement on Monday with a video welcoming new cast members and reintroducing Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) – who is still a resident of failure island. The video and subsequent announcement offer a few tantalising clues as to what we can expect when we return to a galaxy far, far away.
Firstly, throw out what you know about Star Wars because it looks as though we’re going to be staring right where we left our heroes in The Force Awakens – which is a first for the series. What’s more, other than the brief, force-induced flashback, brought about when Ray (Daisy Ridley) touch Luke’s old lightsabre, we’ve yet to have any actual flashbacks or deviation from linear storytelling in the Star Wars universe.
With so much yet to explain (off the top of my head: How significant is Max Von Sydow’s character to Luke? What’s relationship does The Resistance have with the rest of the galaxy? Was Leia’s force simply a splinter group of a larger army or all that remains of the rebellion?) could we have our first step back in time?
Now, to the casting announcements!
Traffic star and Oscar-winner Benicio Del Toro, who was long rumoured for a villainous part has now been confirmed as well as surprise addition, Jurassic Park and Enlightened star Laura Dern.
While Del Toro has confirmed he’s playing someone who tilts toward the dark side, there has been no indication who Dern might play – although if Episode VIII delves into the question of Rey’s family, she seems to be a likely option to play her mother. But for now, the possibilities are endless.
Dern and Del Toro are joined by relative unknown Kelly Marie Tran, a San Diego native, UCLA grad, and veteran of the improv comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade. Calling her a ‘newcomer’ is a bit of a stretch, since she’s been working for years in small roles such as CollegeHumor shorts and bit parts in TV shows such as About a Boy, Comedy Bang! Bang! and Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Her role was also unspecified, but presumably it’s a significant one. The presence of an Asian-American actress among the main cast is another step forward for the Star Wars universe, which began significantly diversifying its human population with The Force Awakens.
So what else do we know about Episode VIII? Well, it’s being written and directed by Looper and Brick filmmaker Rian Johnson and will be produced by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and Johnson’s long time producing partner Ram Bergman.
Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Anthony Daniels will all return, joining the galaxy’s new generation: Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Domhnall Gleeson. Captain Phasma clearly survived her drop into the garbage compactor, since Gwendoline Christie is returning as the chrome trooper, and we’ll get more of Supreme Leader Snoke and kindly Maz Kanata, with performance-capture stars Andy Serkis and Lupita Nyong’o resuming their roles.
If we are to believe George Lucas’ old adage that there’s a ‘poetry’ and a ‘symmetry’ to these films then, as we are in the second act of a trilogy, let’s hope someone is working on a blue cape for our old friend Lando Calrissian– as played by Billy Dee Williams.
Could there be a surprise appearance from Han Solo’s frenemy and inveterate con artist turned Cloud City politician?
Episode VIII will be executive produced by J.J. Abrams, Jason McGatlin, and Tom Karnowski, and the sequel will get some new crew as well. Among them, cinematographer Steve Yedlin (Looper), editor Bob Ducsay (Looper), production designer Rick Heinrichs (Fargo), hair and make-up designer Peter Swords King (The Lord of the Rings saga), and U.S. casting director Mary Vernieu (Looper…again).
Star Wars: Episode VIII is set for release Dec. 15, 2017, but before that, we’ll be getting more outer space adventures on the big screen with Star Wars: Rogue One, a stand-alone story about the team that steals the plans for the original Death Star, dropping this year, on Dec. 16.