According to Latino Review, martial artist/actor Donnie Yen has signed on to appear in the as-yet-untitled Star Wars: Episode VIII, which is aiming for a May 26th, 2017 release date. His role is unknown, although with his incredible athletic abilities, it’d be a shame if he didn’t weild a lightsaber at some point or another.
Yen is well known to Chinese audiences for his roles in films such as Iron Monkey and Shanghai Knights as well as being the title character in the Ip Man films. He also played “Snowman” in Blade II.
Supposedly, a lot of Chinese actors have been a focus of interest for the new swath of Star Wars films, mainly because Hollywood is seeing that China provides a huge boost to global box office revenue.