--- description: Actor Benicio del Toro reportedly has received an offer to play the main villain in Star Wars: Episode VIII title: Benicio del Toro Reportedly Offered Villainous Role in 'Star Wars' Sequel image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d55adc8a74d6950/69885bb1a988ca51536b389c/benicio-del-toro.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Benicio del Toro Reportedly Offered Villainous Role in 'Star Wars' Sequel  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 21, 2015 12:26 PM CUT  Benicio del Toro poses for photographers as he arrives for the screening of the film Sicario at the 68th international film festival, Cannes, southern France on May 19, 2015. Benicio del Toro poses for photographers as he arrives for the screening of the film Sicario at the 68th international film festival, Cannes, southern France on May 19, 2015.Arthur Mola—Invision/AP  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 21, 2015 12:26 PM CUT Actor Benicio del Toro reportedly has received an offer to play the main villain in _Star Wars: Episode VIII_, sources familiar with the casting said on Tuesday. Several unnamed sources [told](http://www.thewrap.com/star-wars-episode-viii-eyes-benicio-del-toro-to-play-villain-exclusive/ "undefined") the Wrap that the Academy Award wining actor was in the very early stages of negotiations for the role. Disney, the production company backing the second installment of the hotly anticipated trilogy, has not officially commented on the offer. _Star Wars: Episode VIII_ is set to release around May, 2017, roughly a year and a half after _Star Wars: The Force Awakens_ [releases](http://time.com/3954437/star-wars-the-force-awakens-video/ "undefined") in theaters this year on December 18. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3965622/benicio-del-toro-star-wars/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3965622/benicio-del-toro-star-wars/"},"headline":"Benicio del Toro Reportedly Offered Villainous Role in 'Star Wars' Sequel","datePublished":"2015-07-21T12:26:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:25:26.983Z","description":"Sources familiar with the casting for Star Wars: Episode VIII say negotiations are already under way","url":"https://time.com/3965622/benicio-del-toro-star-wars/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d55adc8a74d6950/69885bb1a988ca51536b389c/benicio-del-toro.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d55adc8a74d6950/69885bb1a988ca51536b389c/benicio-del-toro.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Benicio del Toro","caption":"Benicio del Toro","creditText":"Arthur Mola—Invision/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3965622/benicio-del-toro-star-wars/","name":"Benicio del Toro Reportedly Offered Villainous Role in 'Star Wars' Sequel"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Star Wars- The Force Awakens Official Teaser #2","description":"Star Wars- The Force Awakens Official Teaser #2","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/2eKGIE6L/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-04-16T18:16:42.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2eKGIE6L.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3965622/benicio-del-toro-star-wars/","duration":"PT1M59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3965622/benicio-del-toro-star-wars/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```