Star Wars: Episode VIII Started Filming

Director Rian Johnson has started filming on Star Wars: Episode VIII.

Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed the news in a quarterly earnings call, which also saw Iger talk about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode IX and Star Wars: Rogue One.

Regarding Episode VIII, EW.com says the sequel was originally set to begin filming in January, but principal photography was pushed back a few weeks around the same time the movie’s release was shifted from May 2017 to December 2017.

Iger noted Star Wars: The Force Awakens is only the third film in history to collect more than $2 billion at box office, and it is the only movie to collect more than $900 million in the U.S. Iger also gave an update about the Star Wars: The Force Awakens merchandise with mention it has earned more than $3 billion globally in consumer products.

“There is no better way to propel this franchise into the future than producing quality products,” Iger said. “Filming of Star Wars: Episode VIII, the next chapter of the legendary saga, has just commenced and it will be in theaters December 2017. And production of Episode IX, a 2019 release, has also begun.”

The next Star Wars movie is Star Wars: Rogue One, with Iger noting filming is just about done.

“Filming of Rogue One is virtually completed and we absolutely love what we’ve seen so far,” Iger said. “This is the first of a set of planned stand-alone stories and we’re already in preproduction on our next one, for release in May of 2018.”

Rogue One has a December 16, 2016 release, and the next standalone Star Wars movie is about Han Solo.