Rey took her first steps into a larger world in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and will continue her epic journey with Finn, Poe, and Luke Skywalker in the next chapter of the continuing Star Wars saga, Star Wars: Episode VIII, which began principal photography at Pinewood Studios in London on February 15, 2016.
There’s been no shortage within martial arts action superstar Donnie Yen‘s international fanbase for him to appear in major roles following his smaller stints in films like Highlander: Endgame, Blade 2 and Shanghai Knights opposite fellow genre mainstay Jackie Chan. Recent mentions in the last several years have even thrown his name in the mix for Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables franchise until the opposite was confirmed, leaving fans curious about his later prospects.
So, of course we’ll be learning more about his forthcoming Hollywood lead debut in Noodle Man, for starters. Meanwhile, it appears that Disney’s latest rebranding of the Star Wars franchise for its future film prospects have shared in the fervor of several popular names in Asian cinema rumored to be joining the fray in some capacity. Those reports have kept quiet as a lot of these updates come at the behest of knee-jerk fandom, random leaks and tabloid media, which also brings speculation to the latest blurb now breaking the internet courtesy of HK tabloid Apple Daily, which states that Yen will be appearing as a Jedi for Looper helmer Rian Johnson in Star Wars: Episode VIII.
The news comes just as Yen wrapped principle photography on the now third trilogical installment of the Ip Man franchise late last month while according to Twitchfilm, the forwarded update comes just as actor Oscar Isaac is said to be the otherwise only confirmed name to appear in the film, and franchise mainstay, actor Harrison Ford is also said to appear as well. Namely, actors Jet Li, Stephen Chow, Leehom Wang, Chang Chen and upcoming AMC series Into The Badlands star Daniel Wu were among the who’s-who of contenders beaten out by Yen, something which already has the appeal of fans as this latest blurb continues to take on a life of its own.
Of course, hopefully some results will subside after this weekend’s Comic Con launch in San Diego while regular followers of Yen’s official Facebook fan page will be more keen on official news should it come about as active as he is, and will likely be as we approach the August deadline for the upcoming release of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2: The Green Legend. In the meantime, Star Wars: Episode VIII awaits an official title ahead of its set release on May 26, 2017 following Isaac and Ford’s starring roles in J.J. Abrams’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens on December 18, 2015.
The latest production of Star Wars VII has already undergone a significant challenge due to the current recovery of principle franchise cast member, actor Harrison Ford since breaking his leg last week on set, leaving him to take two months off from filming. Nonetheless, filming continues with director J.J. Abrams at the helm for the film’s expected December 18, 2015 release date, and with at least two spin-offs on the way, the word is now that Looper helmer Rian Johnson is said to be in talks and will begin working on episode VIII, in addition to episode IX which is still possibly seeking a director.
Franchise auteur George Lucas is an acting consultant on the new trilogy moving forward from the first six films with VII directed by none other a cast that joins Ford with Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, Lupita Nyong’o and Gwendoline Christie. Lawrence Kasdan wrote the script with Abrams who is producing Kathleen Kennedy and Bryan Burk are producing. Composer John Williams is scoring the soundtrack.
Godzilla helmer Gareth Edwards is currently tapped to direct one of two Star Wars spin-offs before heading off to work on Godzilla 2; The second spin-off will be handled by Fantastic Four reboot and Chronicle helmer Josh Trank.
Star Wars VIII and XI will release respectively sometime in 2017 and 2019.
H/T: Deadline