While the departure of Colin Trevorrow from the director’s chair of Star Wars: Episode IX had a lot of people, myself included, that Rian Johnson would come back for another round, Johnson made clear yesterday that that was not in the cards for him.
The official Star Wars site has now confirmed who will be taking on the duties for the film with JJ Abrams stepping back into the chair to direct it and co-write it with Chris Terio.
J.J. Abrams, who launched a new era of Star Wars with The Force Awakens in 2015, is returning to complete the sequel trilogy as writer and director of Star Wars: Episode IX. Abrams will co-write the film with Chris Terrio. Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan, Abrams, Bad Robot, and Lucasfilm.
“With The Force Awakens, J.J. delivered everything we could have possibly hoped for, and I am so excited that he is coming back to close out this trilogy,” said Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy.
Abrams hasn’t been doing much in the way of directing since The Force Awakens but has been involved in a wide range of projects that he’s producing, which includes Westworld and the upcoming Mission: Impossible 6 film. There’s nothing on the slate that he had signed on to direct which makes this an easy slide into place.
Terio has a handful of projects that he’s written, getting an Academy Award on Argo but also writing Batman V Superman and working on the treatment for Justice League. A lot of it just depends on what it is that the overall franchise wants, which has a lot built into it as part of the trilogy that Lucasfilm has orchestrated, so it’s expected to be something that in working with Abrams will go pretty smoothly as Abrams knows exactly what’s expected within the structure of this mini-studio.
