Having spent billions to buy Lucasfilm, it’s not surprising Disney wants to make their money back. They’re certainly investing vast amounts of money to make the most of their investment, and they’re doing so before the first new Star Wars film has even arrived in cinemas.
JJ Abrams’ The Force Awakens, which is Episode VII of the central story, will arrive later this year, and another film based in the Star Wars universe, Rogue One, is already in production. As well as that, standalone movies about the likes of a young Han Solo are already being developed, and screenwriters are hard at work on Episodes VIII & IX.
Rian Johnson has previously been announced to direct Episode VIII, and now Disney has confirmed rumours that Jurassic World helmer Colin Trevorrow will take on Episode IX. While production won’t begin for a few years, Trevorrow is heading to Lucasfilm this year to begin working with artists and his fellow Star Wars directors. “Colin is someone I’ve been interested in working with ever since I saw Safety Not Guaranteed,” says Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy. “The power of that film paired with the enormous success of Jurassic World speaks volumes about his abilities both as a storyteller and skilled filmmaker. We are thrilled to have such an incredible talent as Colin join our family and step into the Star Wars universe.”
It should mean he still has time to helm the Jurassic World sequel which is due out in 2017.
Alongside the announcement of Trevorrow, Disney have released the first official pic from Rogue One, as well as the logo. They also confirmed the cast, which will include Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk and Riz Ahmed.
Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) is directing that more, which is set shortly before the events of A New Hope, and follows a rogue band of resistance fighters who unite for a daring mission to steal the Death Star plans and bring new hope to the galaxy (AKA the plans that end up stowed away in R2D2 at the beginning of A New Hope). Take a look at the first pic from Rogue One above.
