Itching for a look at Star Wars: Episode VIII? Director Rian Johnson delivers again

The Star Wars: Episode VIII release date feels far, far away, so Rian Johnson is throwing fans a bone: The director posted two new set photos on his Tumblr page Thursday.

Security on the shoot is reportedly tight, so any behind-the-scene images that we can get are always appreciated. Unfortunately, Johnson was clearly careful not to include too much information. There’s little that can be gleaned from his two latest black-and-white images, other than the fact that the Resistance and First Order are involved. (What a shocker.)

The juicier information is that filming has already reached the halfway point. “I can’t believe we’re halfway through the shoot. (We’re halfway through the shoot!)” he wrote in his post.

The director included one other tidbit with Thursdays photos: “Good. Bad. I’m the guy with the microfiber sham.” It’s not a lot to tide us over, but it is something anyway. Johnson’s post comes after he released two other images recently, one on March 10 and another on April 4.

Seeing Episode VIII progress is exciting, but it also serves as a stark — and sad — reminder that the upcoming installment in the space opera franchise isn’t due out until late next year. The film was slated for a May 2017 release until January, when Walt Disney Studios execs apparently decided to try to recreate the unprecedented box-office success enjoyed by Episode VIII – The Force Awakens. The Episode VIII date ended up being delayed by about six months. While we can’t blame them, that doesn’t make the extra wait time any easier.

Star Wars: Episode VIII now opens in theaters on December 15, 2017