Episode VIII delayed until December of 2017

The BBC has an article about a disturbance in the Force:

The release of the next Star Wars film has been delayed until the end of 2017, Disney has announced. Star Wars: Episode VIII was due for global release in May of 2017, but will not be aired until the following December.
It follows The Force Awakens, which is still showing and has become the biggest-grossing film in US history. In the five weeks since its release, The Force Awakens has earned over eight hundred million dollars in the US alone and almost two billion dollars globally.
Disney did not say why the film had been delayed until 15 December 2017, but there has been speculation that the script was being rewritten. Production is set to begin next month at Pinewood Studios, west of London, England.
The new release date means it could come up against another long-awaited blockbuster, Avatar 2, which is set for Christmas of 2017, but could also be further delayed.
Despite the bad news concerning the postponement, Star Wars fans have the consolation of the spin-off, Rogue One, which is due out in December of 2016. The film, starring Felicity Jones, is set in the Star Wars universe, but with new characters.

Disney will be releasing the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film (see the trailer, above) in May of 2017, in the slot that would have been occupied by Episode VIII.
Daisy Ridley, who stars as Rey (photo) in the revived Star Wars franchise, will also be teaming up with director JJ Abrams at the Oscar Wilde awards on 25 February. Ridley is to be honored at the ceremony, as she has Irish ancestry, and also shot a scene of The Force Awakens on Skellig Michael, off the west coast of Ireland.
Abrams hosts the event, which has been held at his Bad Robot production company in Santa Monica, California in recent years.

Rico says no whining, now...