abrams and kasdan : will they continue to write for episode 8 and 9 ?

Is this confirmed ?

 

Not IX a for Alaskan, unless the script has already been written since SOLO a will be his last SW film, EVER .

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 4, 2015, Original Post Date: Dec 4, 2015 ---

Is what confirmed ?

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 4, 2015 ---

Kasdan will probably STILL have A "Producer" Credit, though .

 

Has anyone else noticed that up on wiki and wookiepaedias and imdb Rian Johnson is listed as the scriptwriter not just for VIII but for IX! I know these aren't the most reliable of sources as anyone can edit them, but I would be interested to know what that little datum originated. Either pulled from someones posterior or... maybe, just maybe insider info.

 

JJ is arrogant. He should be delighted and awed at having opportunity to make movies that are greater than he could ever hope to be without them. He aint "THAT GOOD" . He does ok but it is no where near what Lucas did...you can argue if you like but TFA billion dollars is Lucas 100%.

JJ just copies and enhances. Nothing original. Gene Rodenberry > JJ.

 

Abrams is posted as executive producer, Kasdan is not on the books for writing, but it is certain that he will be involved in thought as he is a good friend of Johnson.

 

It's bad enough that Abrams is continuing as a producer. After the mess he and Kasdan did with TFA, I'm glad that Rian Johnson is handling the writing and directing of EPISODE VIII.

 

I'd also remind that Abrams will mostly act like Lucas' role previously, due to Lucas personally picking Abrams to do so.
I think a lot of folks forget that Abrams is Lucas and Spielberg's directorial child.
It's no hidden knowledge that Spielberg has effectively professionally raised Abrams, even having Abrams (at 14) restore his old 8mm films from when he (Spielberg) was a child, and it's no secret that Spielberg and Lucas have long been very close friends, and Lucas often considered attempting to have Spielberg do Star Wars, but the timing was never right whenever that was an option that was available.

As such, it really should not be surprising, either, that Lucas would pick Abrams to carry on Star Wars to the next generation of directors.

Sometimes it reads like people think Star Wars was stolen from Lucas and bastardized by Abrams against Lucas' want, and this is not the case.
Lucas gave it away, picked Abrams, Abrams turned it down for family time, Abrams wife told him to reconsider, Abrams decided to go ahead, Lucas tried to stay on without getting too involved so he could spend more time with his family, and then decided that this wasn't going to be possible because he's fully aware that he's incapable of only slightly being involved in Star Wars and so decided to walk fully away, being happy with Abrams at the helm.

 

@Jayson
Who would you have gone with?

I personally would have like Speilberg to do the second one.
If j.j Abrams has defiantly walked away.
I think j.j Abrams brought a great team with him Speilberg and Lucas inspired, casdan and not overlooking simon Pegg who clearly would have been involved to some degree with the writing as they do on star trek.
I would have liked him to have stayed to the end and use the three movies to tell a coherent BIG story but yeh if not j.j Speilberg would have been nice.

 

I'm pretty happy with what it is, as it is.

Rian Johnson is a good writer, and a brilliant craftsman at bringing dark sensations to physically bright settings (e.g. Looper was a dark mood of a movie, but wasn't itself a physically dark setting), which is an impressive skill.
Further, Johnson is close friends with Kasdan, according to Kasdan, so they'll be hanging out together and talking Star Wars anyway.

Abrams is staying on as a producer over the project - taking on Lucas' sort of inspiration role, and most likely story assistant (as he often does on his various executive producer titles over the years - one if his strongest attributes is that he brings this child-like energy and excitement to everything he does).

Kathleen Kennedy is overseeing the entire project, and her list of projects stretches all the way back to E.T. and includes almost everything Spielberg has done (Back to the Future, Inidiana Jones, Schindler's List, Jurassic Park, Gremlins, etc...), plus great shows beyond Spielberg (Goonies, An American Tail, Who Frames Roger Rabbit, Sixth Sense, War of the Worlds, Congo, Benjamin Button, and several more; her IMDB page is worth a read).
So this is a person who is very familiar with Spielberg, Abrams, as well as has interacted very often with Lucas on several projects via ILM and Lucasfilm associations, and understands large franchise projects and maintaining multi-film continuity and identity.

The only real wild card is Trevorrow, and he is picking up the role of Marquand in RotJ; that is the role of character development amidst intense action.
I think it'll be an interesting mix between Johnson and Trevorrow that could work rather well.


I actually would not like Spielberg or Lucas to directly be involved at this point.
The reason why is because this is suppose to be the next generation of Star Wars; it should be moving on to a new style of film making and not hanging on to the old standards.
Spielberg, as great of a director as he is, is quite clear that he is beside himself on current film pacing and cannot keep up with that new model of faster paced films. He points out that his kids can without a problem, but after about 40 minutes or so, his mind is overloaded with a blur of what's going on with the newer film editing and formatting methods.

So if Spielberg took over, it would be sort of like handing the responsibility to the new adult, but then paying their rent for them.
It wouldn't really be a move to a new generation and carrying that feel that Lucas had decided needed to happen - a new generation, and for Star Wars to grow beyond his own form.


I also appreciate that they are doing the same model setup of directors as the OT; in that the first is directed by the flag bearer (Lucas in OT/Abrams in ST), and then each subsequent film picks up a new director to highlight their skills and form over the face of the Star Wars theme.

So I wouldn't change anything; I'm loving this current group and plan!