J.J. Abrams is directing Star Wars: Episode IX

J.J. Abrams is directing Star Wars: Episode IX
J.J. Abrams directed The Force Awakens but not 2017's upcoming film The Last Jedi

After a fair bit of confusion and turmoil over the last couple of weeks, Episode IX appears to have a steady hand at the helm. That hand belongs to a director who previously helped reinvigorate Star Wars on the big screen. Yes indeed, J.J. Abrams is directing Star Wars: Episode IX. While he also directed 2015’s The Force Awakens, he had decided to step down. Control was handed over to Rian Johnson who has directed 2017’s upcoming entry, The Last Jedi.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see exactly what this does to the plot of the film, not to mention the overarching theme of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Colin Trevorrow departed from Episode IX over creative differences, so there are clearly internal debates over exactly where things are headed.

We’ll be waiting a while before we find out however, we now have an official release date. Star Wars: Episode IX will be in theaters on December 20th, 2019. We’ve also got the still-untitled Han Solo standalone film to look forward to, which will release in 2018.

In the meanwhile, if you’re looking forward to the most immediate upcoming Star Wars film, be sure to check out the teaser trailer for The Last Jedi here.