"Star Wars Episode VIII," the eighth movie in the core Star Wars movie franchise, will be released on May 26, 2017, Disney announced Thursday.
This will be the sequel to "The Force Awakens," the new "Star Wars" movie that will be released on December 18, 2015.
When Disney bought Lucasfilm and the "Star Wars" franchise in 2012, it committed to making at least six new "Star Wars" movies.
The new trilogy, Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, will continue the original story from the other six "Star Wars" movies.
Disney is also making three spin-off movies that tell new stories outside the core "Star Wars" movies. The first spin-off movie will be called "Rogue One." It will be released on December 16, 2016.
Here's the press release from Disney:
In addition, Iger confirmed that Rian Johnson will write and direct Star Wars: Episode VIII. The film, which continues the saga after the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is set for release on May 26, 2017 — forty years and a day after the release of Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977. Johnson is widely considered one of cinema’s most gifted young filmmakers, having directed the modern sci-fi classic, Looper, as well as Brick and The Brothers Bloom. He was also behind the camera for three episodes of the critically-acclaimed TV series Breaking Bad, including “Ozymandias,” which series creator Vince Gilligan named as the best installment of the show. Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman, producer of Looper, Don Jon, Brick, and The Brothers Bloom, are on board to produce.
SEE ALSO: The title of the first "Star Wars" spinoff will be "Rogue One."
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