Laura Dern, Benicio Del Toro Joining Episode VIII Cast

Laura Dern and Benicio Del Toro are set to join the follow-up to “The Force Awakens,” Disney revealed recently. The upcoming movie currently has a simple title, “Star Wars: Episode VIII.” Shooting is set to start soon at Pinewood Studios in London. Earlier reports had hinted at the possibility that Del Toro will join the movie after the Puerto Rican actor revealed to HitFix that he is set to play the role of a villain in the upcoming movie. He said while he was not supposed to say it, it was “out there,” and he will not try to fight it.

For the moment, no details were revealed about the role of the 49-year-old Laura Dern on the movie. In addition to the Oscar nominee, Disney revealed that Kelly Marie Tran will also join the cast of the upcoming movie. Disney acquired Lucasfilm, the production company of Star Wars, in October 2012.

Last month, reports emerged indicating that the script for the upcoming movie was rewritten by Rian Johnson to focus on the characters from the previous movie. Cast members Daisy Ridley and John Boyega will reprise their roles along with Gwendoline Christie, Domhnall Gleeson and Lupita Nyong’o.

Laura Dern, Benicio Del Toro Joining Episode VIII Cast - image credit: en.wikipedia.org

The return of Nyong’o gives an indication that additional details about Maz Kanata will be revealed on Episode VIII. On “The Force Awakens,” the diminutive alien had a frustrating and controversial background. Christie revealed earlier that she will return to reprise her role of Captain Phasma and the presence of Gleeson may indicate that General Hux escaped the destruction of Starkiller Base.

Disney had announced earlier that the release date of Episode VIII was moved back seven months to December 15, 2017. Its original release date was May 26, 2017. “The Force Awakens” passed the $ 2 billion mark recently as it earned a total of $2.025 billion in the international box office.

In addition, to Laura Dern and Benicio Del Toro, Episode VIII will also have Carrie Fisher, Oscar Isaac, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Anthony Daniels and Andy Serkis in its cast.

Posted by Kade Quinn on Tuesday February 16 2016, 9:35 AM EDT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0