Star Wars Episode VIII begins filming, Episode IX enters production

With Star Wars: The Force Awakens helping drive Disney to record quarterly earnings, it's no surprise that production on its follow-up films is in lightspeed. Announced during its recently quarterly earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that not only has filming begun on Star Wars: Episode VIII, but that the third film in the new core trilogy, Episode IX, is already in production.

“Filming of Star Wars: Episode VIII, the next chapter of the legendary saga, has just commenced and it will be in theaters December 2017," Iger said. "And production of Episode IX, a 2019 release, has also begun.”

Last month, Disney announced a delay in the release of Episode VIII, pushing it back from its summer 2017 window to December 15, 2017. The reasoning behind the move was not made public, but perhaps Disney figures a holiday release window to be best given the box office success of The Force Awakens. Not to mention, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story — the first of Disney's planned Star Wars Anthology spin-off movies — is due out this December. Maybe Disney was worried about potential franchise fatigue with only a five month span in between the two films. Whatever the reasoning, Star Wars: Episode VIII will probably be just fine in its new slot.

Not much is known about Star Wars: Episode VIII except that it's being written and directed by Rian Johnson with J.J. Abrams as executive producer. Actor John Boyega, who plays newcomer Finn in The Force Awakens, recently teased Episode VIII will be "much darker" than its predecessor. The actor is also getting incredibly ripped for the film, which makes sense considering he also said the sequel will be "much more physical."

The real surprise coming out of Disney's earnings call is that production on Episode IX has already begun. Last September, director Colin Trevorrow previously teased his preparation for the third film in the new trilogy, which is slated to hit theaters in 2019. Even less is known about Episode IX, for obvious reasons, but Trevorrow is said to already be collaborating with other Star Wars directors and production teams.