J.J. Abrams is poised to circle back to Lucasfilm’s galaxy far, far away.
That was the announcement that almost brought the Internet to a standstill earlier this morning, when the Star Wars house confirmed that Abrams is coming aboard to replace the ousted Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World, The Book of Henry) on the as-yet-untitled Star Wars: Episode IX.
Going one step further, buried in the official press release was news that J.J. Abrams will be directing from a script he plans to co-write alongside Chris Terrio, who is perhaps best known for his work on Justice League. Granted, Terrio now shares his screenwriting credit with Joss Whedon, after the two-time Avengers helmer was drafted in to see the DC tentpole over the finish line during the summer.
For Episode IX, though, that means Terrio will now pick up the reins from Jack Throne (Wonder), who was originally appointed to fine-tune the treatment submitted by Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly.
The official statement from Lucasfilm confirms as much, too, while also name-dropping Michelle Rejwan and studio head Kathleen Kennedy as producers.
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.
Even after this quick turnaround, Star Wars: Episode IX remains on course for a May 24th, 2019 release. Next up for that famous galaxy far, far away is the launch of The Last Jedi on December 15th, and recently there’s been new evidence to suggest that Rian Johnson’s sci-fi sequel will usher in a third (!) Death Star into the mix. Stay tuned for more on that one.