Disney has impressed me with their hiring policy lately. Facts are shaky just now, but reports so far suggest that Looper writer and director, Rian Johnson, will write and direct the next two Star Wars films, taking over from current director, JJ Abrams.

This is in keeping with the use of young, yet tried and tested sci-fi directors, with Josh Trank (Chronicle) and Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) being named as directors for Star Wars spin-offs recently.

The appointment of Johnson is especially well-judged though. It took great vision, directing and producing skill to create a film of Looper’s quality, especially having to write a time-travel story that didn’t bore and confuse audiences with dimensional rules.

To think that this talent could be applied to Star Wars means that the possibilities are very exciting; in a galaxy where hyperspace travel and superpowers are commonplace, an imagination like Johnson’s should come up with a story we won’t see coming!

There are some disagreements as to how involved Johnson will be; Deadline.com, who broke the story first, reported that he will write and direct both episodes VIII and IX. However, TheWrap claimed that, according to their insider sources, he will write and direct Ep. VIII, but only write the treatment for Ep. IX.

Watch this space I say, don’t be shocked if another hot young director is chosen for the last film. A triumvirate of star directors for possibly the most anticipated trilogy ever, it seems fitting!

The writer of this piece was: Lewis “Daft Vader” Campbell
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