LucasFilm Trolls Everyone With Image of Empty Toy Box

LucasFilm has done the impossible and gotten an empty cardboard box to go viral. The pure stroke of marketing genius came earlier this week in the form of a press release announcing a new line of Star Wars toys. Accompanying the release was an image of an empty toy box, which still became newsworthy thanks to an image of the three main characters plastered across the top. Poe Dameron is decked out in his Resistance pilot gear. Finn is still wearing Poe’s jacket, spawning a million fan-fics on tumblr, I’m sure. And Rey has traded in her trademark buns for a new, longer hairdo. Speculation on the significance of the new style has already skyrocketed, with many a fanboy wondering if or how it will factor into her Jedi training under Luke. Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi will force its way into theaters on December 15, 2017.

Star Wars Episode VIII Title Revealed

Read it and weep tears of joy.

This week, Disney/Lucasfilm has revealed the title of the next installment in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. This December, everyone and their momma is going to see Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. Approximately five microseconds after images of the title hit the internet, the rumor mills were already up and running, speculating on the meaning of the title. Who is this titular “Last Jedi”? Luke Skywalker, or Rey? If it is one of them, does that mean the other will die, or worse, fall to the Dark Side? Will they throw us a curveball and let Finn swing around a lightsaber this time (please, after Mace, I just really want a black Jedi again)? Some astute fans on the internet have already pointed out that Jedi can be singular or plural, in which case this may refer to more than one force-wielder, but the fact remains that this sets an ominous tone for the sequel. The answers to all these burning questions are still a few months off; Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi hyperdrives into theaters December 15, 2017.

Episode VIII Director Rian Johnson Hints at What’s to Come

Star Wars Episode VIII director Rian Johnson is finally beginning to let some details trickle out about the middle installment in the sequel trilogy. In a recent sit-down with USA Today, Johnson took a few moments to comment on the hotly anticipated film’s tone, plot elements and its mysterious title. He surprised everybody by saying he wanted the next film “to be a blast and to be funny and to be a ride the way The Force Awakens and the original Star Wars movies were.” This flies in the face of what pretty much every cast member from Daisy Ridley to Adam Driver was saying before this, drawing comparisons between Episode VIII and the original trilogy’s darker second installment, The Empire Strikes Back. Johnson also revealed that audiences would be learning more about each of the the three main characters, Finn, Rey, and Poe Dameron, as each is exposed to new challenges and threats, stating his goal was to “Figure out what’s the most difficult thing each of them could be challenged with now.” As for the driving force of the story, Johnson made sure to emphasize that the bond between Rey and Luke would play a central role, stating that “‘What's going on with Luke Skywalker?’ is the essential question at the heart of the new film.” The one thing he’s remaining mum about? The title, although he did mention that he’d had it in mind since his very first draft of the script. The next major media event, Star Wars Celebration, is still three months away, so hopefully we’ll find out more before the film debuts on December 15, 2017.

[h/t USA Today]