Star Wars 8 won’t be Star Wars 8 forever.
With production on the sequel to The Force Awakens now underway, it’s safe to assume that Rian Johnson, who has written the latest installment to the hugely popular franchise as well as directing it, has already figured out what the blockbuster will be called.
We’re yet to be made privy to the title. But, now that the cast and crew for the blockbuster are heading to the set to start filming, further little tidbits of information regarding Star Wars 8 are now expected to be revealed.
Especially since the likes of Twitter and Facebook will soon be lit up with posts regarding the production. In fact, an early tweet from none other than Carrie Fisher, who portrayed Princess Leia in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as well as the original trilogy, has already proven that she is on set shooting some scenes for Star Wars 8.
Uploading a picture of her beloved pet dog, Gary, Carrie Fisher also inadvertently revealed the working title for Star Wars 8, too. And it’s particularly weird. You can check out the revealing Tweet below.
Y?????????????????????????®???????????????? pic.twitter.com/Y3eyMSb48z
— Carrie Fisher (@carrieffisher) February 19, 2016
For those of you that can’t quite see the title blazoned across Carrie Fisher’s on-set chair, it reads, “ Space Bear: Episode VIII.”
Production on Star Wars 8 kicked into full swing earlier this week. While it was previously reported that second unit photography actually shot some scenes at Skellig Michael in Ireland back in September, which was done because shooting there during other parts of the year is particularly difficult, the cast and crew, which included Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley, were brought back earlier this week to shoot some scenes.
Skellig Michael was the scene for the final shot of Star Wars: The Force Awakens , and there’s every chance that the impending follow-up will carry on exactly where its predecessor left off.
After shooting the first day of Star Wars 8 , Rian Johnson decided to upload a video of Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley’s work on Skellig Michael to celebrate and share with the fans.
We are thrilled to announce that #StarWars : #EpisodeVIII has begun principal photography at Pinewood Studios! https://t.co/4Lu9A6x1rt
— Star Wars (@starwars) February 15, 2016
It’s actually a relief to learn that Star Wars 8 has begun production so early. That’s because, in January, 2016, it was announced that Episode VIII would actually be delayed due to scripting rewrites. This rewrites were ordered so that the new film could focus more on the characters that had been introduced to us in The Force Awakens , which included Daisy Ridley’s Rey, John Boyega’s Finn, and Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron.
This not only meant that production on the blockbuster would be pushed back by a couple of weeks, but that its release would be delayed from May, 2017, all the way back until December, 2017.
There was even a threat that Star Wars 8 ‘s production could be pushed back even further because of a contract dispute between the Producers Alliance For Cinema And Television and the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph, and Theatre Union. This disagreement had lead to threats of a strike.
However, Bob Iger told an investors call on February 10, 2016, that production on Star Wars 8 had finally begun, slightly ahead of schedule. According to Entertainment Weekly , Iger told investors, “There is no better way to propel this franchise into the future than producing quality products.”
He continued, “Filming of Star Wars: Episode VIII , the next chapter of the legendary saga, has just commenced and it will be in theaters December, 2017. And production of Episode IX , a 2019 release, has also begun.”
Star Wars Episode 8 will finally be with us on December 15, 2017.
[Image via Lucasfilm]