Release years confirmed for Star Wars Episodes VIII and IX!

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be the first film in a new trilogy of films for the Star Wars franchise released by Disney. Though it is still too early to say whether these new films will be good or bad, the footage that we saw in the first trailer and concept art that we have seen look great.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is currently set to hit theaters on December 18, 2015 with a separate stand alone Star Wars film tentatively scheduled for a December 16, 2016 release date.

During a recent stock holders report, Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke about the franchise and it's upcoming films. In his statement he confirms the release years of Star Wars Episode VIII and Star Wars Episode IX.

""As one of the few people allowed to visit the set during filming….and one of the fewer who’s seen most of the footage…I can assure the millions of Star Wars fans who have spent the last decade hoping for a new movie this one will be worth the wait. And it’s only the beginning of a new era of exceptional Star Wars storytelling; next year we’ll release our first standalone movie based on these characters, followed by Star Wars: Episode VIII in 2017, and we’ll finish this trilogy with Episode IX in 2019.""

It is great to have years tied to the films and this confirms what Disney stated earlier about wanting a main Star Wars film out every two years. They also stated that possible stand alone films could come out at about the same time interval. This news along with the 2016 release date for the first stand alone film makes it look like we could be seeing a new Star Wars film ever year. This sounds pretty cool but I just hope that Disney does not over-saturate the market with so many films that it ruins the franchise. There are also those who are looking at the phrase "finish this trilogy" as meaning that we could see another main Star Wars trilogy in the future. This may be true but as a fan I'll stay focused on the current trilogy in the works until we get confirmation from Disney for another.

Source: Star Wars Underworld