'Star Wars Episode VIII': Here's Why Rian Johnson Decided To Rewrite The Screenplay [SPOILERS]

The world is already looking forward to Star Wars Episode VIII after the mind-blowing success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but it looks like the release of the sequel will be delayed due to rewriting of the film's screenplay. But what could possibly make director Rian Johnson call for a rewrite of a script that is already finished?

It looks like it may have a lot to do with the way fans reacted to The Force Awakens last December. During a recent Youtube episode of Meet The Movie Press, Jeff Sneider of the website TheWrap revealed that an Asian actress has been cast in one of the two new lead roles in Episode VIII. However, her role and that of Gugu Mbatha-Raw's could be reduced to minor roles once the rewrite is done.

But why would Johnson want to do away with the opportunity of presenting two possibly strong female leads? Sneider explained that Johnson wants to bring the focus back on the lead characters that have already been established in The Force Awakens. This means more screen time for Daisy Ridley's Rey, John Boyega's Finn and Oscar Isaac's Poe.

It certainly sounds like the right way to go to appease fans who want to know more about Rey or Finn's story, but it also raises curiosity over these two new characters who were initially supposed to be the stars of Episode VIII. There have been speculations that one of the female characters will be sharing a lot of screen time with Finn, making her a possible love interest. Meanwhile, the second character is rumored to be a villain who might work with Adam Driver's Kylo Ren or Benicio del Toro's still-unspecified character.

Star Wars Episode VIII was initially scheduled to premiere in July 2017 but the release date has been moved back to December 15, 2017.