Disney books "Star Wars Episode VIII" release dateMarch 13, 2015 - 15:19 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Disney has booked a release date for "Star Wars Episode VIII". The studio announced it at their annual shareholders meeting in San Francisco on Thursday, March 12. The eighth movie in the franchise is set for North American release on May 26, 2017, AceShowbiz reports. The Mouse House also revealed the title of one of the "Star Wars" spin-offs. Directed by Gareth Edwards and scripted by Chris Weitz ("Cinderella"), the stand-alone film is called "Rogue One" with Felicity Jones taking on the lead role. It is scheduled for December 16, 2016. The plot is still kept under tight wraps, but the title itself seems to refer to the starfighter squadron led by Luke Skywalker in 1980's "The Empire Strikes Back" during the Battle of Hoth. The squadron also appeared in 1983's "Return of the Jedi" during the attack on the second Death Star. A sequel to J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" which is due December 18 this year, "Episode VIII" will be directed by "Looper" helmer Rian Johnson. It is expected to be followed by another spin-off before "Star Wars Episode IX" bows in 2019. Another major announcement at the shareholders meeting was the confirmation that "Frozen 2" is in the works. No other details including the release date are shared, but the original directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck are set to return for the sequel. Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |