Han Solo ‘Star Wars’ Spinoff Filming in February, Plus When to Expect the First ‘Episode 8’ Teaser

With Rogue One in theaters now (go go go!), fans are already turning their attention to the next round of Star Wars movies because pop culture isn’t about what’s new — it’s about what’s next. Lucky for you, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has a couple of brief updates on the next installments in the franchise: Episode VIII and the Han Solo spinoff. It’s just enough to keep you satisfied until Monday, probably, when someone else will undoubtedly say something interesting about the Star Wars franchise.

In a brief chat with Kennedy about the franchise’s future, journalist Lizo Mzimba learned a couple of interesting things:

First up, the Star Wars: Episode VIII teaser: While some speculated that the first teaser would debut with Rogue One, that (obviously) wasn’t the case when the film opened last night. According to Kennedy, Lucasfilm wants to give Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars Story some “breathing room” before launching the Episode VIII campaign. So when will we see the first teaser? “Probably heading into spring,” Kennedy says, implying that it could premiere at Star Wars Celebration in April, or a little earlier, perhaps (Beauty and the Beast hits theaters in March, which seems like a logical pairing). The big question now is whether Lucasfilm will reveal the official subtitle before the teaser debuts.

As for the Han Solo film, Phil Lord and Chris Miller have been in pre-production on the highly-anticipated spinoff for a while now, recently adding Donald Glover (young Lando Calrissian) and Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke (character unknown) to the cast, headlined by Alden Ehrenreich. Filming will begin in February with cinematographer Bradford Young (Arrival), and we can presumably expect more casting updates between now and then.

Star Wars: Episode VIII hits theaters on December 15, 2017. The untitled Han Solo spinoff arrives on May 25, 2018.