UPDATE: 4:00 p.m. ET — In addition to the director news, “Star Wars” announced that the premiere date for “Episode IX” will be Dec. 20, 2019.
PREVIOUSLY:
The Force was with J.J. Abrams when he launched the new set of “Star Wars” films with “The Force Awakens,” so now Disney is bringing him back.
As Deadline reported on Tuesday, and according to a press release on StarWars.com, Abrams will return to write and direct “Star Wars: Episode IX.” The statement reads:
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.
After Disney unexpectedly parted ways with former “Episode IX” director Colin Trevorrow earlier this month, rumors that Rian Johnson, who is directing “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” would take over surfaced. But Deadline reports that Johnson decided not to take the offer to direct.
On Abrams’ hiring, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said, “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.”
After what we saw in “Force Awakens,” we’re pretty excited about it, too. We just hope they call it “The Return of the J.J.”
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