Star Wars Episode VIII - Everything We Know So Far

9. Rian Johnson Will Direct And Also Write The Story For Episode IX

Unlike Abrams, who directed The Force Awakens but co-wrote the script with veteran scribe Lawrence Kasdan, Rian Johnson has assumed all directorial and screenwriting on his own for Episode VIII. He also seems to have been granted a good amount of creative freedom by Disney, as highlighted by this quote from producer Kathleen Kennedy:

"When Rian came in and started writing his script, he started from scratch, other than knowing what we had done in Episode VII and projecting out where it was going. He then sat down and put pen to paper; it€™s 100 percent him."

It's nice to see that there's less of a "Marvel Studios vibe" with regards to the creative process driving Episode VIII, which bodes well for the movie. There's also the matter of Episode IX, which will be directed by Jurassic World's Colin Trevorrow, but is set to be based on a treatment penned by - you guessed it - Rian Johnson. Which pretty much means that the ball is in Johnson's court as far as the future of the trilogy is concerned; of all people involved the films at this point, it appears as though he'll have the most influence over the story arc going forwards.