Harrison Ford in a still from The Force Awakens (courtesy YouTube)
Los Angeles:
Sci-fi filmmaker J J Abrams is to direct Star Wars: Episode IX, Lucasfilm announced on Tuesday, following the departure of Colin Trevorrow over creative differences. Abrams - a familiar face in the Star Wars universe, who directed The Force Awakens (2015), will co-write the film with Chris Terrio, who won an Oscar for the screenplay for Argo, (2012), the Disney-owned studio said. "With The Force Awakens, Abrams delivered everything we could have possibly hoped for, and I am so excited that he is coming back to close out this trilogy," Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement.
Abrams has considerable pedigree in sci-fi, having successfully rebooted the Star Trek franchise, directing two of the new films, as well as producing the Cloverfield trilogy and the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi.
But it hasn't been plain sailing for Lucasfilm, which has parted company with several of its directors recently, starting with Josh Trank, who dropped out of developing a Star Wars spinoff in 2015, citing the enormous pressures of being involved with the franchise.
Rogue One itself made headlines in 2016 when Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Legacy) was brought in to helm extensive reshoots just a few months ahead of the release of the Gareth Edwards-directed movie.
Lucasfilm announced a week ago that Trevorrow had left as director of Episode IX, attributing his exit to differing visions between the filmmaker and studio executives.
The Hollywood Reporter, citing unnamed sources, said the main point of contention was ongoing "script issues," with Trevorrow being forced into several rewrites.
The weekly trade paper reported that the relationship between Trevorrow and Kennedy had become "unmanageable," although it added that she had tried to avoid losing another director.
In June, Lucasfilm sacked directing duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie), who were just weeks away from wrapping principal photography on the hotly-anticipated Han Solo spinoff.
The pair were replaced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron Howard after clashing with Kennedy and writer Lawrence Kasdan, according to reports.
Trevorrow's departure was seen as a significant upheaval as he is considered hot property after scoring big with Universal's creature feature Jurassic World (2015), the fourth-highest grossing movie of all time.
The untitled Han Solo movie is due out on May 25 next year, while filming has yet to start on Star Wars: Episode IX, slated for release 12 months later.
The Last Jedi, the next film in the Star Wars franchise, directed by Rian Johnson, opens on December 15.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Abrams has considerable pedigree in sci-fi, having successfully rebooted the Star Trek franchise, directing two of the new films, as well as producing the Cloverfield trilogy and the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi.
But it hasn't been plain sailing for Lucasfilm, which has parted company with several of its directors recently, starting with Josh Trank, who dropped out of developing a Star Wars spinoff in 2015, citing the enormous pressures of being involved with the franchise.
Rogue One itself made headlines in 2016 when Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Legacy) was brought in to helm extensive reshoots just a few months ahead of the release of the Gareth Edwards-directed movie.
Lucasfilm announced a week ago that Trevorrow had left as director of Episode IX, attributing his exit to differing visions between the filmmaker and studio executives.
The Hollywood Reporter, citing unnamed sources, said the main point of contention was ongoing "script issues," with Trevorrow being forced into several rewrites.
The weekly trade paper reported that the relationship between Trevorrow and Kennedy had become "unmanageable," although it added that she had tried to avoid losing another director.
In June, Lucasfilm sacked directing duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie), who were just weeks away from wrapping principal photography on the hotly-anticipated Han Solo spinoff.
The pair were replaced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron Howard after clashing with Kennedy and writer Lawrence Kasdan, according to reports.
Trevorrow's departure was seen as a significant upheaval as he is considered hot property after scoring big with Universal's creature feature Jurassic World (2015), the fourth-highest grossing movie of all time.
The untitled Han Solo movie is due out on May 25 next year, while filming has yet to start on Star Wars: Episode IX, slated for release 12 months later.
The Last Jedi, the next film in the Star Wars franchise, directed by Rian Johnson, opens on December 15.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
