Director Rian Johnson Shares First 'Star Wars Episode 8' Millennium Falcon Set Pic

Rian Johnson, who took up J.J. Abrams' directing duties after Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is quite active in social media, often sharing bits of his life online, and now that also includes the ongoing shoot of the still-untitled Star Wars Episode 8, as he just showed fans a little sneak peek of the current shoot -- from the Millennium Falcon!

Johnson, whose previous titles include Looper and arguably the best episode of Breaking Bad, "Ozymandias," took to Tumblr last Friday to share a snap of the set of the upcoming sequel, showing off what appears to be the cockpit of Han Solo's iconic spaceship, with Steve Yedlin, the film's cinematographer, posing alongside the ship.

"Hard to believe we're wrapping up week four already, it's just flying by," Johnson wrote on the blog.

Cinematographer Steve Yedlin.

Hard to believe we’re wrapping up week four already, it’s just flying by.
Shared from rcjohnso using Embeddlr

Of course, this is just a breadcrumb, but it's still great news that things are coming along as planned with Episode 8! So far, the level of secrecy from The Force Awakens has been upheld for the sequel, which won't be out until December 2017.

According to information from Making Star Wars, however, other people have tried to bypass the secrecy surrounding the upcoming sequel, and a few pictures from the set have been leaked. Kicking off week 5 of the shoot, the cast and crew has gone from the London studio to outdoor filming in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and of course fans and paparazzi have already published a few snaps.

Short of Harrison Ford for reasons obvious to whoever saw Force Awakens, most of the cast from the film will be returning to the sequel, including leads Daisy Ridley as Rey and John Boyega as Finn. New cast members include Laura Dern, Kelly Marie Tran and Oscar winner Benicio del Toro, and all their characters are so far completely secret.

While Episode 8 is still over a year away, fans of George Lucas' space saga will still be able to go back to a galaxy far away this year, when the spinoff film Rogue One is released this December, reportedly set right before the events of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.