'Star Wars: Episode VIII' cast updates, news: Rian Johnson has finished script; sequel will feature another female lead

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The "Star Wars: Episode VIII" already has a release date. The sequel to "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will premiere on May 26, 2017. Rian Johnson will be directing the upcoming film. The "Looper" director is going to serve as a fresh point of view for the film franchise. The unpredictable director is already in the middle of production for "Episode VIII."

Johnson's script for "Star Wars: Episode VIII" is already finished. This was confirmed by J.J. Abrams ("The Force Awakens" director) in an interview with Wired. He said, "We had meetings with Rian and Ram Bergman, the producer of 'Episode VIII.' They were watching dailies when we were shooting our movie. We wanted them to be part of the process, to make the transition to their film as seamless as possible. I showed Rian an early cut of the movie, because I knew he was doing his rewrite and prepping."

This surely means that Johnson is trying to do the usual rewriting to fit in and furnish the transition of the sequel. Abrams even complimented Johnson because it seemed like he has chosen the best direction for the film and in such coincidence, it is pretty much in line with what they were thinking for the next film.

There are going to be new cast members for "Episode VIII," according to The Wrap. The film needs a new female lead and they already have three top prospects. Gina Rodriguez, Tatiana Maslany and Olivia Cooke are on the top list. "Jupiter Ascending" star Gugu Mbatha-Raw also got a mysterious character in the upcoming film.

On the other hand, Benecio Del Toro has been cast as the film's villain. He confirmed this in an interview with Rac1.org where he said, "'Star Wars' is coming up, we will see how that turns out. I think we start shooting in March."

"Star Wars: Episode VIII" will surely rake in a ton of money at the box office and will have fans going wild once more.

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