'Star Wars' shake
Rian Johnson is set to take the reins of the 'Star Wars' franchise. The 'Looper' filmmaker will write and direct 'Star Wars: Episode VIII' and pen a treatment for 'Episode IX,' a representative for Johnson confirmed to Hero Complex.
Johnson takes over for J.J. Abrams, who is currently helming 'Episode VII' from a script he wrote with Lawrence Kasdan.
A representative for Disney, which owns Lucasfilm, declined to comment on the news of Johnson's hiring.
Johnson's previous films include the high-school noir 'Brick' and the caper comedy 'The Brothers Bloom,' and he's best known for the mind-bending time-travel thriller 'Looper,' starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis. The 2012 movie grossed $176 million at the worldwide box office.
Johnson, 40, is the latest genre-savvy young filmmaker to join the 'Star Wars' universe: 'Godzilla' director Garreth Edwards and 'Chronicle' director Josh Trank have also been enlisted to direct two 'Star Wars' standalone movies.
Abrams' 'Episode VII,' which hits theaters Dec. 18, 2015, is the first installment of a planned trilogy set 30 years after 'Return of the Jedi.' The cast includes 'Star Wars' veterans Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker, as well as franchise newcomers John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson and Max von Sydow.
On Johnson's Twitter account Friday, he posted a cheeky YouTube video clip from 'The Right Stuff' in which Scott Glenn, playing astronaut Alan Sheppard, prepares for launch and says, 'Dear lord, please don't let me ... up.'
- Oliver Gettell | @LATHeroComplex
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