As the finishing touches are being put on ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ ahead of its December premiere, Disney and Lucasfilm are already looking ahead to the next stories from a galaxy far, far away. Gareth Edwards is already deep into production on ‘Star Wars: Rogue One’, the first spinoff film of the franchise. ‘Looper’ writer and director Rian Johnson is also hard at work on the script for ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’. However, as pre-production progresses on the next chapter of the new trilogy, it seems like it may have already cast its first big name.
Last month, multiple sources reported the rumor that Benicio Del Toro was in line to play a villain in ‘Episode VIII’. But now we’re hearing from the actor himself that the deal is as good as done. While attending the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Grants Banquet, the actor known for his roles in ‘Snatch’, ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, and ‘Che’ told Entertainment Tonight that the deal for him to appear in the upcoming ‘Star Wars’ film is as good as inked. Although, as expected, he can’t really talk about it:
“I can’t tell you much about it, but I think that it might happen. It looks like it’s gonna happen, so I’m very excited. I can’t talk too much about it. The script is hard to get. They told me they’d cut my finger if I talk about it.”
Whether this comes to fruition or not, this isn’t the first major space franchise that Del Toro has been associated with. Back in 2011, Del Toro was in negotiations to play Khan in ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ before Benedict Cumberbatch landed the role instead. The actor then went on to star in Marvel Studios’ ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ as The Collector. As for his potential role in ‘Star Wars’, there’s no word on the character yet, but the rumor is that Joaquin Phoenix is also up for the same role.
Would you like to see Benicio Del Toro take a role in ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’? Sound off in the comments below.
‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ is set to hit theaters on May 26, 2017.
