Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern Revealed as New Cast Members for ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’

Let the guessing games continue.

Star Wars released the first production trailer on Monday announcing that filming has started for Star Wars: Episode VIII along with some big names joining the cast.

The production video features a short clip that shows an alternative perspective at the cliffhanger ending from The Force Awakens. While the video doesn’t give away any major clues, it shows Rey meeting with Luke Skywalker.

Along with the trailer, Star Wars shared on their website the new cast members who would be joining the franchise:

“Star Wars: Episode VIII, which is written and directed by Rian Johnson and continues the storylines introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, welcomes back cast members Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis. New cast members will include Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro, Academy Award nominee Laura Dern, and talented newcomer Kelly Marie Tran.”

After the news was released, fans started to speculate who the newcomers would play in the series.

I really hope Benicio Del Toro is a Sith. That'd be sick.

— Dominick Rabrun (@domrabrun) February 15, 2016

https://twitter.com/TomWarwickCSM/status/699256630710562818

Laura Dern is in the new #StarWars movie! 🙌🏽 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

Rey's mom? https://t.co/hDr1MpMurH https://t.co/mTblRjWyV8

— Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) February 15, 2016

Star Wars has a history of keeping production super tight so expect to be kept in the dark for a while. The film has already been pushed back seven months by Disney hoping to garner another box office blow out by releasing the movie during Christmas time.

For now, fans will have to settle for the anthology film, Rouge One, which will be released on December 16, 2016.

Star Wars: Episode VIII hits theaters on December 15, 2017.