Rian Johnson, who directed Brick and Looper, has signed on to write and directStar Wars: Episode VIII, sources tell The Wrap. Johnson will also reportedly write the treatment for the ninth movie, but will not direct it.
Source:
MOVIES: Star Wars Episode VIII - Rian Johnson to Write and Direct
20 Jun 2014
Movies
Sign Up for the SpoilerTV Newsletter where we talk all things TV!
There a reason their pulling it from Abrams?
ReplyDeleteJJ abrams might want to go back to Star Trek 3 so I bet he still be around as executive producer
ReplyDeleteSomehow i don't think anyone could 'pull' anything away from J.J.Abrams if he wanted it.
ReplyDeleteI remember from the start they planned to have different directors for the trilogy and the spin-off films, I guess to keep things fresh
ReplyDeleteOn on hand I'm said Rian won't be doing any original films for quite a while now he is locked into that, other the other hand I have a whole lot of faith in him and I'm excited to see what he does with the franchise and I hope if it proves successful he will have all the money to create the projects he wants to.
ReplyDeleteexcept that Johnson is said to be involved with the next TWO installments and not just episode 8.
ReplyDeleteFrom the beginning I think Abrams has been hesitant and has been fighting certain things (story, location, ect)...So either he just doesn't want to continue on with Disney/have this weight on his shoulders, will have enough money from episode 7 to not have to co-produce with other power house companies, or he is somehow still obligated to Paramount beyond Star Trek III (Roberto Orci most likely will direct and co-write) and MI:IV (which currently with MI Bad Robot is a only co-producing, not writing and/or directing)...
ReplyDeleteThe way the article reads seems to indicate that Rain Johnson is in Disney's opinion a better fit, otherwise they wouldn't let him have dibs on episode 8 AND 9!
I'm sure he'll have EP credit, but I would expect given HOW big Disney is that Bad Robot will have very little say over the franchise's future, but at the very least he will now have some better supplemental income for future use that will hopefully make Bad Robot stronger and more in charge of their own projects.
ReplyDeleteHe is involved with the next two, yes, but he's only directing 8, he'll only be writing a treatment for 9... which will most likely be rewritten several times and his version could change drastically.
ReplyDeleteI don't know, except that George Lucas still serves as a consultant and does have some say in drafting the story...I think the fact that Abrams turned Disney down once speaks volumes about his concern with it from the get go...
ReplyDeleteTrue, but still this article makes point that RJ has more future involvement than Abrams at this point, because Abrams has not "yet" been credited with ANY future Star wars involvement. The fact that he turned down Disney the first time, argued about filming locations (didn't want to move his family to London) and wanted to extend Bad Robot's facilities so that he could have more control over post production (which I do not know if that's still happening or not), along with changing writers, all suggest that it's not a good fit...but it could also be about Paramount too...
ReplyDeleteI figured he he was committed to something else,but the way it was written the made it seem he didn't have a choice,they didn't want him and i just didn't take it that way...
ReplyDeleteYa, I mean why not say Rain Johnson is directing 8 and will executive produce/consult on 9 and then say J.J. Abrams is executive producing/consultant on 8 and 9?? The fact that they didn't mention Abrams on the future of Star Wars projects at all seems like one way or another they are at odds or possibly in negotiations...
ReplyDelete