Star Wars Spin-Off Gets Title And Episode VIII Gets Release Date

You wait ages for a decent nugget of Star Wars news and then two or three come along at once!

Disney delivered the goods at a shareholders' meeting yesterday - first revealing that Star Wars Episode VIII will be landing in cinemas on 26 May, 2017.

And there was even more exciting news about the spin-off movie being helmed by British director Gareth Edwards, with a title and leading lady revealed.

Called Rogue One, the project will star Oscar nominee Felicity Jones and will go into production this summer.

Set outside the main saga - but with connections and possibly shared characters - the spin-off movie is set to arrive in cinemas next December - filling the gap between main series episodes.

It was also confirmed at the investor meeting that Looper's Rian Johnson will both write and direct Episode VIII.

While some purists may bemoan the eighth instalment not arriving on 4 May for "may the fourth be with you" reasons - the date of 26 May has actually been set for a very cool reason.

It's the 40th anniversary of the release of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope!