Star Wars 8 director shares image to commemorate the first day of editing

Star Wars 8 wrapped filming last month in spectacular fashion, bringing to a close the principal photography portion on one of the most anticipated movies since... err... The Force Awakens. With the footage in the can, it's now time for director Rian Johnson to begin shaping and sculpting the sequel. To commemorate his first day of post-production the director shared a snap of himself on Instagram, sat in the edit suite: 

Day one!

A photo posted by @riancjohnson on Aug 15, 2016 at 7:15pm PDT

As there's well over a year to go before the as-yet untitled Episode 8 arrives he's got plenty of time to tinker around before it gets shipped to theaters. The shoot lasted approximately five months, which means he's got a LOT of footage to rifle through prior to even contemplating the final polished product.  

Having such a generous period of time is necessary for a flick of this magnitude. There's all the CGI elements that need to be inserted into the footage along with the possibility of reshoots. We also learned that franchise composer John Williams is back to score the movie, another process that requires a finished, locked-down cut before he can finalise his compositions. In any case, we should definitely expect some more little reveals on Johnson's social media over the next few months.  

Directed by Rian Johnson and starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Laura Dern, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie, and Benicio del Toro, Star Wars: Episode 8 opens in cinemas on December 15, 2017. 

Images: Lucasfilm, Rian Johnson

Gem Seddon

Gem Seddon is GamesRadar+'s west coast Entertainment News Reporter, working to keep all of you updated on all of the latest and greatest movies and shows on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Outside of entertainment journalism, Gem can frequently be found writing about the alternative health and wellness industry, and obsessing over all things Aliens and Terminator on Twitter. 

Latest in Star Wars Movies
John Boyega as Finn in Star Wars: The Last Jedi
John Boyega reveals Tom Cruise actually helped him get cast in Star Wars
Watto in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars confirms Watto isn’t dead after all in new comic, and fans are celebrating his miraculous survival
The Rise of Skywalker
Despite those retirement reports, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy is "very involved" in the Rey Star Wars movie, according to Daisy Ridley
Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
After 26 years, a secret Star Wars reference to George Lucas has been uncovered: "We got a new Phantom Menace Easter Egg before GTA 6"
Liam Neeson in The Phantom Menace
"Wise mentor" or "awful Jedi"? Star Wars fans are debating if Qui-Gon Jinn is to blame for Anakin's turn to the dark side
Darth Vader in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Longlegs director pitches horrifying Star Wars movie with Darth Vader, and we want it to happen
Latest in News
Team Liquid clears Chrome King Gallywix
World of Warcraft's latest raid race ends in disappointment after 12 days with a final boss so lackluster the team who won was visibly confused to have beaten it
Mario odyssey screenshot showing mario standing with sentient forks
8 years later, Super Mario Odyssey players are still getting awed by the discovery that you can destroy metal crates by turning into a bird and pecking them 200 times
Wyrdsong
Skyrim and Fallout veterans' new open-world RPG is now a roguelike that's not open-world, after funding issues brought the team "down to a skeleton crew"
Diego Luna as Cassian Andor in Andor season 2
Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy says his Star Wars show is trying to be "more serious about this sh*t than anybody ever has been"
Baldur's Gate 3 screenshot showing companion Shadowheart, a young half-elf woman with long tied-back black hair
Baldur's Gate 3 animation impresses Larian Studios, prompting one dev to say "mature" animation of the RPG "would pop the f*** off"
Captain America holds up his shield in Marvel Rivals
Marvel Rivals devs reveal Season 2 is already completed, and that the studio has already completed designs for Season 3 and 4