Disney and Lucasfilm announced that Star Wars: Episode VIII, originally scheduled for release in summer 2017, will now debut on December 15, 2017.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will still be released December 16, 2016.
The move makes sense. Not only does it give director Rian Johnson, who is rumored to be doing major rewrites, more time, it will now mirror the release schedule of The Force Awakens, which is still enjoying massive success over a month after release thanks to a lack of competition. The May release, the traditional date for the previous six Star Wars movies, would mean stiffer competition from other summer blockbusters.
Star Wars will now face a showdown with Avatar 2, which will also be released in December 2017.
Because of the move, the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Dead Men Tell No Tales, will take over the release date of May 26, 2017.
Johnson responded to the news with this lovely tweet.
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) January 20, 2016
The move follows the extraordinary success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was the first Star Wars movie to premiere outside the traditional summer blockbuster window and smashed numerous records, including biggest domestic and global debuts of all time as well as the biggest domestic second and third weekends, en route to becoming the highest grossing domestic release of all time with over $861.3 million and the third biggest global release ever with $1.886.7 billion.
Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Star Wars: Episode VIII is currently in preproduction and will begin principal photography in London next month. Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman will produce and J.J. Abrams, Jason McGatlin, and Tom Karnowski will executive produce.