Star Wars Episode VIII Pushed Back To Christmas 2017

Claiming that a Christmas release is better for business, Disney have pushed back the release of Star Wars Episode VIII to 15th December 2017 from its original release date of 26th May. The move shouldn't come as too much of a shock, as it moves it out of the fairly crowded summer marketplace into the fairly open December slot to reap the same rewards as The Force Awakens. On the plus side for fans, this gives incoming director Rian Johnson more time to finish the movie and really get it right. This move puts Episode VIII in direct competition with Steven Spielberg's adaptation of cult sci-fi novel Ready Player One, arguably making life a little harder for that blockbuster - equally, don't be surprised if Dreamworks and Spielberg up sticks in response. Additionally, Episode VIII's old release date wasn't even cold before Disney moved Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales into it. A confident, business-minded statement from Disney said;

"Star Wars: Episode VIII, originally scheduled for release on May 26, 2017, will now debut on December 15, 2017. The move follows the extraordinary success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was the first Star Wars movie to premiere in December. In the popular holiday moviegoing corridor, it smashed numerous records, including biggest domestic and global debuts of all time as well as the biggest domestic second and third weekends, en route to becoming the highest grossing domestic release of all time with over $861M and the third biggest global release ever with $1.887B."

The move keeps the next couple of Star Wars in the festive season, and who knows, the Han Solo spinoff currently slated for a May 2018 may even follow suit. How do you feel about the release date change? Be sure to strike back in the comments below. Star Wars: Episode VIII will be released on 15th December 2017.