Barely a month has passed since "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" has been released on theaters and now 2017 has already entered its third week and we're hearing more news on the upcoming "Episode VIII" film. Along with the numerous drops of information scattering across the internet, director Rian Johnson has actually revealed that an "Episode VIII" title was already thought of from the get-go.
According to a recent interview with USA Today, Johnson actually mentioned the presence of the title already being there even before he worked on production as part of the five must-know facts about "Episode VIII". Admittedly, he said: "It was in the very first draft I wrote."
During the interview, the director confessed that "blurt [the title] out right now" when asked if he would get it off his chest. Of course, giving the entire "Star Wars" fanbase respect, Johnson wants to tell them the title with proper decorum. "All in good time, my friend," he further stressed.
It goes without saying that fans would cast their suspicions on what the title would be. Just like back in December when fans thought that the next title would be "Star Wars Force of Destiny" to a trademark request filed by Lucasfilm for the title. However, plenty were ready to refute this claim. Even ComicBook.com's "Star Wars" expert Lucas Siegel felt that the discreet approach was best for the fans and production team alike.
"The problem with this as a title of a film is it isn't doing anything," said "Star Wars" expert Lucas Siegel. "Episodes 1 and 4 lacked a verb, but both had 'Emerges' as the implied verb behind their phrases. Everything else? Attack, Revenge, Strikes, Return, Awakens; I'd expect Episode VIII to follow suit with an active title."
"Star Wars Episode VIII" will be released on Dec. 15, 2017.