Star Wars: The Force Awakens director JJ Abrams will return to the sci-fi saga to direct and co-write Star Wars: Episode IX.
It didn’ t take long for Disney and Lucasfilm to find a new director for Star Wars: Episode IX — and he’s a familiar face to fans of the franchise.
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens director J. Abrams will direct and co-write Episode IX with Academy Award winner Chris Terrio (Argo, Justice League) . Abrams replaces former director Colin Trevorrow, who exited the project a week ago due to creative differences with the studio.
“With The Force Awakens, 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 in a statement accompanying the announcement on StarWars.com.
Little is known about the plot of Episode IX at this early stage, as Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi is scheduled to hit theaters December 15 and will set up the events of Episode IX. In the studio’s official statement regarding Abrams’ attachment as director, Episode IX was referred to as “the concluding chapter in the sequel trilogy.”
Given the success of Abrams’ franchise-relaunching sequel The Force Awakens, the decision to bring him back for Episode IX seems like a safe bet for the studio.
Released in 2015, The Force Awakens went on to break nearly every box-office record possible, earning $936.6 million in U. S. theaters and more than $2 billion worldwide. It’s currently the highest-grossing movie of all time domestically, and in third place on the all-time worldwide box-office charts (after Avatar and Titanic) . The film also received overwhelmingly positive reviews from professional critics and fans alike, and currently ranks third (after Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strike Back and the franchise-starting Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) and among the best-reviewed films in the franchise on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.
While it’s unknown which established Star Wars characters will appear in Episode IX, their stories will continue in this year’s The Last Jedi, which was written and directed by Brick and Looper filmmaker Rian Johnson. Confirmed to appear in that film are returning cast members Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, recently deceased actress Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Lupita Nyong’ o as Maz Kanata, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Domhnall Gleeson as Hux, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, and Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma. Andy Serkis will also return to provide a performance-capture performance as Supreme Leader Snoke.
New cast members in The Last Jedi include Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern, and Kelly Marie Tran.
Star Wars: Episode IX is scheduled to premiere in theaters May 24,2019.
