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Star Wars 8 To Be Released May 2017 - Studio

Star Wars 8 To Be Released May 2017 - Studio

The eighth film in the Star Wars series will be released on 26 May 2017, the chief executive of Walt Disney has announced.

Bob Iger, speaking at Disney's annual shareholder meeting, also said there will be a spin-off from the franchise called 'Rogue One'.

British star of The Theory of Everything and Oscar nominee Felicity Jones will star in Rogue One which will be released December 2016, according to the studio.

The film is the first in a series of spin-offs that explore "the characters and events beyond the core Star Wars saga" a press release announcing the news revealed.

Little has been revealed about the plot, but Mr Iger said the idea came from John Knoll, a visual effects supervisor at Industrial Light and Magic - the special effects firm set up by George Lucas to help make the Star Wars films.

A spokesman for Disney said: "The film starts shooting this summer in London and is due for release on December 16, 2016."

Episode 8 of the Star Wars series is due for release 40 years and a day after Star Wars: A New Hope first hit the screens in 1977.

Mr Iger said it continues the saga after the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens - episode 7, which is in production.

The trailer for Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens has been viewed nearly 60 million times since it was posted on YouTube in December.

The seventh film in the series is set for release in December this year and is expected to feature Imperial TIE fighters attacking the Millennium Falcon.

Several X-wing fighters are also shown in the trailer flying just above water along with a shadowy hooded figure carrying a sword-style light sabre in a snowy forest.

British actor John Boyega features in the trailer and several of the original cast signed on to reprise their roles.

Other new cast members are believed to include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow and Andy Serkis.

Some of the filming for The Force Awakens took place on Skellig Michael, an island off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland.

The movie, which is set 30 years after Star Wars: Episode 6 - Return Of The Jedi, is directed by JJ Abrams, who breathed new life into the Star Trek franchise.