We haven’t even seen a trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi yet, but while many are still basking in the glow of Rogue One or getting pumped up about the Han Solo movie, some hardcore fans are already looking ahead to Star Wars 9. MovieCastingCall.org has revealed that the sequel will begin shooting in July 2017.
Interestingly, the site claims that casting directors are “setting up auditions for new lead and supporting roles.” New lead roles, eh? Is that a hint that Rey, Finn, Poe, or Kylo Ren might not make it out of The Last Jedi alive? It’s certainly possible, and I can easily imagine Johnson being delighted with being allowed to throw the audience an unexpected curveball like that - especially in a Disney-led franchise where we all assume the lead characters will make it to the end of the story.
A July production start would give director Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) 22 months to finish the movie before its May 2019 release, which is the same amount of time allotted to Rian Johnson for The Last Jedi. For comparison, 22 months is far longer than the 19 months J.J. Abrams had to complete The Force Awakens or the 16 months Gareth Edwards had for Rogue One. After the extensive reshoots we saw for that movie, resulting in trailers that were much different than the final film, hopefully that extra time means Trevorrow and co-writer Derek Connolly were able to perfect the script so they can get it right the first go-around and not have to dramatically revamp the story along the way.
Directed by Colin Trevorrow and presumably starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, and Mark Hamill, Star Wars: Episode 9 arrives in theaters on May 23, 2019.
Image: Disney/Lucasfilm
