While Celebration didn’t quite yield the massive amount of news about Episode VIII that we’d been hoping for (saving themselves for San Diego, perhaps?), we still found out some interesting trivia from the various panels that took place throughout the weekend. Here are 5 things we took note of…
1) It’s inspired by classic cinema
Having previously directed Brick, The Brothers Bloom and Looper, director Rian Johnson has delved in and out of sci-fi. Still, his inspirations for Episode VIII reads like a roll call of classic war movies: Twelve O’Clock High, Letter Never Sent, Bridge On The River Kwai, Three Outlaw Samurai, Gunga Din and Sahara all getting a mention. You know how grim and gritty Rogue One looks? Episode VIII may well follow suit on this evidence.
2) It will pick up directly where The Force Awakens left off
It transpires that we won’t be left hanging after al when it comes to finding out whether Luke accepts Rey’s offer of his father’s lightsaber, as instead of the time jump that usually takes place between films, Episode VIII will directly follow on from The Force Awakens. “For the first time,” said Johnson, “this movie is going to start where the last one left off.” Makes sense, considering the filming on Skellig Michael that has been taking place.
3) It might feature some underwater scenes
While Mark Hamill’s one-man show was undoubtedly one of the highlights of Celebration, he did reveal some potentially interesting insights – one of which being that Luke and Rey may have some underwater scenes of sorts. “I did go up to Northern California and saw all of this conceptual art, like Luke in scuba gear with Daisy’s character,” said Hamill. Is this Jedi training, or a secret mission?
4) The stakes will be even higher
The phrase ‘no sh*t’ springs to mind – of course the stakes will be raised. Still, how do you top a star system-destroying superweapon? By challenging the heroes on a more personal level, according to Johnson: “We start zooming in on the characters and getting to the heart of them, challenging them, and pushing them deeper.”
5) It’ll be immensely quoteable
Bigging it up he might have been, but Hamill was highly praiseworthy about the script for Episode VIII based on what he’s seen of it: “I was looping Episode VIII the other day, and there’s dialogue there that made me think ‘I can already see this on a t-shirt.’ Forget about ‘May the Force be with you,’ there are catchphrases in there you won’t believe.”
Star Wars: Episode VIII will be released in cinemas on 15 December 2017. For all the latest movie news, pick up the new issue of SciFiNow.
