We’ve got a bad feeling about this: Disney announced today that the next in third trilogy of Star Wars films, Episode VIII, will be postponed until Dec. 15, 2017. The film had originally been slated to be released in May, 2017.
Episode VIII has not even begun filming yet—it’s currently in pre-production—but the delay gives director Rian Johnson, known for the action film Looper and dark comedy The Brothers Bloom, more time to get the film together. Few details about Episode VIII have leaked out yet, but according to Slashfilm, the film is currently working through some rewrites to the script, which might account for the delay. Filling its place in the summer blockbuster lineup will be the latest installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Disney said.
Disney also announced that the critically hailed The Force Awakens is now the third-highest grossing film of all time, having taken in roughly $1.88 billion in revenue to date. The company’s shares was down about 1% at the time of publication, although this could be down to other factors, including a broad stock market decline.
Star Wars fans can take some solace in the fact that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a spin-off film which documents the actions of a group of spies that secured the plans to the Death Star before Episode VI, is still due out on Dec. 16, 2016.