Upcoming Star Wars films get director and cast
Beyond the scope of this year’s The Force Awakens, the D23 Expo this weekend showed fans some behind-the-scenes choices on some of the other upcoming films in the Star Wars franchise.
Amongst the big reveals was director Colin Trevorrow taking the lead on Star Wars: Episode IX. Trevorrow was behind this summer’s Jurassic World, which turned out to be a massive hit despite the initial skepticism leading up to its release. Jurassic World currently sits at #3 on the list of highest grossing films of all time, having earned $638 Million to date, dethroning the previous holder of that spot, 2012’s The Avengers.
The director choices for the next Star Wars trilogy are officially complete with this announcement. J.J. Abrams of course is tackling Episode VII, and Rian Johnson (Looper, Brick) will be doing Episode VIII. There were initial reports that Rian Johnson was being given the keys to both Episodes 8 and 9, but now it’s leaning towards Johnson writing a story treatment for 9. At this point, an actual writer still hasn’t been added to Episode XI, which is the only missing piece left.
We also got a formal cast release for the first sidestory film to be released in the Star Wars canon, now officially titled Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Set in the events preceeding A New Hope, the new film “…will be a departure from the saga films but have elements that are familiar to the Star Wars universe,” according to Kathleen Kennedy, the film’s producer. “It goes into new territory, exploring the galactic struggle from a ground-war perspective while maintaining that essential Star Wars feel that fans have come to know.”
Felicity Jones leads the new team of rebel scum.
Kennedy’s statement regarding the tone of the film implies that we can expect some distinctly different films when it comes to Star Wars movies outside of the base trilogy, which is an exciting prospect in comparison to other expansive franchise movies that tend to be decidedly cut-and-paste. Gareth Edwards, who took over directing duties from Fantastic Four’s Josh Trank back in April of this year, backed up this claim by emphasizing the “war” aspect of Star Wars. “It’s about the fact that god’s not coming to save us, and we’re on our own,” said Edwards about the film. “The absence of the Jedi is omnipresent in the film. It hangs over the whole movie.” The film is set to center around the Rebel’s attempts to steal the Death Star plans prior to the infamous Battle of Yavin.
Actors Felicity Jones, Alan Tudyk, Mads Mikkelsen and Diego Luna will be working with Edwards towards Rogue One, which releases December 16th, 2016. Star Wars: Episode XI will release in 2018.
