Rumor: Star Wars Episode VIII Production Delayed, Asian Actress Cast
By Elaine Tveit
Word on the hyperspace lane is production of Star Wars: Episode VIII has been delayed, while an Asian actress has joined the cast.
Making Star Wars fielded the rumor from an episode of Meet the Movie Press, in which Jeff Sneider reported there’s talk production of Episode VIII has been delayed “about a month” due to a rewrite of the script. Meanwhile, Jason Ward of Making Star Wars heard the shooting schedule had a “shakeup and start dates were shuffled for a lot of people in different parts of production.”
In the same episode of Meet the Movie Press, Sneider reported an Asian actress has been cast in the Episode VIII role Bel Powley was rumored to be considered for.
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It turns out the delay and the casting of a new actress may be related. Sneider said the script is being rewritten to make the new cast members’ roles smaller and Finn and Rey’s bigger in Episode VIII.
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I had been wondering why we hadn’t heard any official news from Disney and Lucasfilm about the beginning of shooting on the movie, as we had heard production on the film would begin in January 2016. A rewrite this late in the game sounds worrisome to me; but better they solve any problems they have with the script now than try to wing past them later on, after they’ve started shooting.
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Fortunately, Ward says, the delay shouldn’t effect the film’s release date of May 26th, 2017. Even if it does push it back to December 2017, The Force Awakens has proved that’s a good month for Star Wars movies at the box office.