The eighth and penultimate chapter of the Star Wars saga has an official title.
It will be titled Star Wars, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi.
The title was released by the Disney-owned Lucasfilm, which has produced the Star Wars saga and its spin-off films since 1977.
The title immediately sent the internet into speculation overdrive, over whether the saga's principal hero, the Jedi knight Luke Skywalker, is the "last Jedi" referred to in the title.
Or, others suggested, it might refer to Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, who was introduced in episode VII, The Force Awakens, a year ago.
The title fits the established style of the Star Wars episode titles; past chapters have been The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Though the primary narrative of the saga has always been the clash between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance, the chapter titles have always tapped the larger theme: a holy war between the knightly Jedi and their nemesis, the "dark side"-wielding Sith.
Both Jedi and Sith use an intangible power known as the Force, which, according to the Jedi master Yoda "surrounds us, penetrates us and binds the universe together".
The eighth episode will be written and directed by Rian Johnson.
It will pick up where the preceding chapter left off: Rey handing Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) the lightsaber he lost in a duel with his father, Darth Vader, in Cloud City in the Bespin system.
The whereabouts of the missing Jedi knight were the subject of a story thread in The Force Awakens.
Star Wars, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi will be released in December.
