16 Feb – Disney has confirmed the new additions to the "Star Wars" family with Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran joining the cast. Del Toro is likely to portray the main villain in the eighth episode of the film series, while the roles of the two new ladies are unspecified at the moment. Dern is known for appearing in films such as "Jurassic Park" and "Little Fockers". The veteran actress earned Oscar nominations for her performance in 1991's "Rambling Rose" and 2014's "Wild". "Sicario's" Benicio Del Toro scored an Oscar for playing a morally conflicted cop in Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic" back in 2000. Variety had earlier reported that he will play the villain role in the next episode which hits theatres in December 2017 after getting pushed back from its initial date in May 2017. Rian Johnson from "Looper" will take charge of the next film replacing J.J. Abrams with 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 returning for the latest sequel. As reported by The Guardian, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" just passed the USD2 billion mark becoming the third-highest-grossing film of all time after 2009's "Avatar" and 1997's "Titanic". (Photo Source: people.com)