Hard to believe it's been three years since Rian Johnson first became attached to the Star Wars franchise with what we now know is Star Wars: The Last Jedi. At the time it seemed unfathomable that Lucasfilm would put their trust in a director who was largely beloved by cinephiles but wasn't known for blockbusters on such a scale. And that they were putting continued support behind him by having him also write the script for 'Episode IX' was more of a surprise. It suggested Johnson would be the key creative force behind this new director for the Star Wars universe.
Well, we should probably pull back on that thought a little bit, because Johnson confirmed in a Twitter exchange that he doesn't have anything to do with the 'Episode IX' screenplay...
@mattpeto That's old info, I haven't been involved in writing IX.— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) April 24, 2017
Before you start freaking out, just think about this for a second. 'Episode IX' already has Colin Trevorrow directing and co-writing the script with his Jurassic World collaborator Derek Connolly. There's no need for Johnson to make things crowded, especially since he's still busy with 'The Last Jedi'. So this is probably a good thing because there's only 18 months before 'Episode IX' opens on May 24th 2019. [Comicbook]
