Star Warsfandom has once again hit truly feverish levels, since the release ofRogue One: A Star Wars Storyis just around the corner and pre-sale tickets recently became available. Despite the tremendous excitement surrounding the very first everStar Warsspinoff, fans can’t help but look ahead toStar Wars Episode VIII. So the question is, when will we see the first trailer forStar Wars 8? Fans had hoped it would maybe be attached toStar Wars: Rogue Oneupon release and that almost certainly won’t be the case. But theStar Wars Episode VIIItrailer may still land in front ofRogue Onein the near future. Allow us to explain.
Mike Zeroh recently published a video to hisYoutubechannel and claims that the first teaser forStar Wars 8will drop sometime in the first quarter of 2017. That timeline would seem to make sense. It stands to reason that Disney will want to get a trailer out for the movie sooner rather than later, but their focus right now is making sure that people are aware of and excited forRogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is set to hit theaters on December 16. Even a monster movie likeRogue Onewill have made the bulk of its money by the end of January and definitely by February. That is where strategy may come into play on the part ofLucasfilm’s marketing team.
After Disney and Lucasfilm are sure they have made most of the box office dollars they can fromStar Wars: Rogue One, they could then attach theStar Wars Episode VIIIteaser to the movie several weeks after its release to reignite interest in it and get another little box office boost. In this day and age, trailers are easily accessible online so going to a movie theater to see a trailer simply isn’t a necessity. If Disney made it a necessity, even for a brief period, that could be a lucrative, if potentially frustrating, strategy.Star Warsfans are tremendously feverish. The pre-sale for bothStar Wars: The Force AwakensandRogue One: A Star Wars Storyso far have proved that to be the case.
This strategy would also mean that, at least for the immediate future, the conversation would remain focused onStar Wars: Rogue One. Assuming they did release the first teaser forEpisode VIIIon opening weekend December 16, people would probably be talking about that just as much if not more thanRogue One. Lucasfilm would be shooting themselves in the foot. They could give us a title forStar Wars 8in that timeframe to sort of satiate fans a bit, but the trailer would be counterproductive to their interests. Honestly, it might not work great for fans either, because they would probably be thinking aboutStar Wars Episode VIIIthe whole time instead of truly absorbingStar Wars: Rogue One. The strategy of attaching it to the movie a month or so later makes way more sense.
Not so much in the age of the internet, but this is a strategy that has been used before. Years ago, the trailers for bothStar Wars: The Empire Strikes BackandStar Wars: Return of the Jediwere attached to re-releases of the previous entry in the franchise. That brought fans out in droves to see the movie again, if for no other reason than to see the trailer for the next installment. Similarly, thousands ofStar Warsfans bought tickets for theBrad PittmovieMeet Joe Blackin 1998 just so they could see the trailer forStar Wars: The Phantom Menace. It will be more difficult to pull off in the modern age, but if anyone can do it, Disney can.
We will have to wait and see how Disney and Lucasfilm want to handle it, but this is a possibility. Another option is that they could wait and release the trailer atStar WarsCelebration in April, but nobody wants to wait that long.Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyis set for release on December 16 withStar Wars: Episode VIIIslated to come out a year later onDecember 15, 2017.
