Star Wars Episode 8 delayed

Star Wars Episode VII is still tearing it up at the box office, with the global total now over $1.8 billion.Quite naturally, anticipation is already high for the sequel, and now we're going to have to wait a bit longer for it.

News is emerging this morning that Star Wars Episode VIII has moved from its May 2017 release date to the significantly later slot of December 2017. It's a big change for the franchise, which has almost always released in summer, which has long been considered the best time for blockbusters.

That said, Episode VII has had huge success with a Christmas release and Disney will want to retain that lead with the future ventures. It also helps to give this new series its own identity - George Lucas' films owned the summer time, so maybe the continuing adventures in that galaxy far, far away could own the winter holidays instead.