We learned a lot about ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story‘ during Star Wars Celebration but we also found out some fun new details about ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII‘! From characters to how the film was shot to so much more, a slew of details were released that don’t give away any spoilers for the film itself. Not only that, but we’ll be learning more at the Star Wars Celebration that takes place in Orlando on April 13th to 16th, 2017. At that point, we’ll probably be getting our first teaser trailer and the title reveal for the movie.
Unfortunately, I bet it will be exclusive to the con itself just as the latest ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ trailer was.
So what did we learn”?
The Film’s Inspirations.
First off, when pre-production was about to kick off, director Rian Johnson made some of the Lucasfilm staff watch the movies that were going to be the inspiration for his entree into the Star Wars Sage. Those movies were: ’12 O’clock High’, ‘Bridge of the River Kwai’, ‘Three Outlaw Samurai’, ‘Sahara’, ‘Letter Never Sent’, and ‘Gunga Din’. While they were all inspirational for ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ that ’12 O’clock’ High’ best fit the one that he was going for.
For those unfamiliar with the film it is described as:
A callous general assumes command of a bomber squadron based in England. At first, the new commander has little rapport with the 918th Bomber Group, whose loyalties still belong with their previous commander. As they continue to fly dangerous missions over Germany, however, the group and their new leader develop mutual respect and admiration, until the once-alienated commander feels that his men are part of a family–men whose bravery transcends the rigors of rigid discipline and by-the-book leadership.
The common themes here are war and the coming together of the main characters. Much as we saw the cast of the original Star Wars films really becoming their own team as it were, this is where it sounds like we’ll see it happen for the new trilogy.
The Film’s Timing
There are two important things to know about the timing of ‘Etar Wars: Episode VIII’. Those are when it will take place and when it was filmed.
The first is that it will begin right where ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ leaves off. We’re not going to have a jump forward in time or have to wait to see more on Luke and Rey meeting on screen. This is a small departure from previous ‘Star Wars’ films which usually jumped forward in time quite a bit but one that fans should like as they won’t feel cheated out of this meeting.
The second is that this movie was going into pre-production while ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ was shooting. They didn’t have the final product to view yet and that means it was working off of the script and dailies coming through which really amplifies how much that ending resonated with him.
It sounds like Colin Trevorrow is doing the same thing for ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ as well.
What Does The Timing And Inspiration Mean For Our Characters
Johnson says that unlike ‘The Force Awakens’ where we were quickly introduced to everyone that this chapter will have us “zooming in on the characters, challenging them, getting deeper.”
This makes sense as his inspirations have groups coming together to form a bond and we’ll be jumping right in on Rey and Luke as the film opens. It makes me wonder if Billie Lourd, Carrie Fisher’s daughter, will have a larger part when she returns. Thankfully we do also know that John Boyega’s Finn will not be in a coma for the entire movie so he’ll be able to get in on the action as well. Unless of course he comes out of the coma right at the end of the movie and doesn’t get any lines like fans were waiting to happen for the entire movie.
Ahem.
It sounds like we’ll be getting small hints of what is to come for quite some time
Are you looking forward to ‘Star Wars Episode VIII’ from what we’ve been hearing so far? Are you happy that it will be taking place directly after ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’? Share your thoughts below!
‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ will be released on a theater not in a galaxy far far away on December 15th, 2017.
Sources: IO9, Slash Film
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
