Star Wars: The Force Awakens - 10 Things You Need To Know

3. Why J.J. Abrams Is Only Directing The One Movie (Maybe)

As you may already have heard, J.J. Abrams wasn't particularly happy about having to relocate to the UK to shoot Star Wars: The Force Awakens because of the disruption such a move caused to his children. That's understandable, and also explains why he has no intention to return for the sequel. Most of us would have been perfectly happy to see Abrams dedicate the next few years of his life to this franchise, but the filmmaker is so determined to return home that he spent a considerable amount refitting his Los Angeles based Bad Robot studios so he can work on Star Wars' post-production there. Now, Rian Johnson (Looper) is attached to write and direct Star Wars: Episode VIII, but there are conflicting reports about where things will go from there. It's been said that Johnson will also pen Episode IX and might direct too. If he doesn't end up taking the helm, Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow is one of the names to have been mentioned as being considered, though a far more interesting report claims that Abrams is planning to return for that final instalment. How this will impact the series visually and tonally is hard to say, but it's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out over the news couple of years nonetheless!