Adam Driver compares next Star Wars film to Empire Strikes Back

Actor Adam Driver is giving new hope to Star Wars fans, insisting the forthcoming Star Wars: Episode Viii is just like beloved sequel Empire Strikes Back.

The 1980 film is widely regarded as the best of all seven movies released to date, and Driver, who made his debut as Kylo Ren in 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, assures fans they are in for a treat when the film comes out in 2017.

While most details about the movie are being kept under wraps, Driver tells Collider.com the screenplay has a tone that may be familiar to many die-hard fans of the sci-fi franchise.

"It’s similar to how The Empire Strikes Back has a different tone to the original movie," he explained. "For that people always go 'Oooh, it’s dark', but I don’t know that it necessarily is. It’s just different in tone in a way that I think is great and necessary but also very clear.

"(Writer/director) Rian (Johnson) trusts that his audience is ready for nuance and ambiguity. He's not dumbing anything down for someone and that's really fun to play."

Looper filmmaker Johnson is jumping into the director's chair formerly occupied by J.J. Abrams, who helmed Episode VII, and the Girls star insists the movie is in good hands.

"Rian is coming into something that we kind of set up and he just took it to the next level in a really great way," he said. "He wrote it, too, and Rian’s writing is so clear. I learned a lot of things about my character through his writing... To understand what J.J. was doing and take ownership from there is kind of a remarkable thing."

Star Wars: Episode VIII is slated to hit cinemas on 15 December, 2017.