Could J.J. Abrams Return for Episode IX?
Via Latino-Review.com:
When we got the official announcement about the core production team behind the next two upcoming Star Wars films, Rogue One and Episode VIII, there was one name that was suspiciously absent from the creative team.
We’re all expecting the LucasFilm story group to have the reigns on how the overall Star Wars universe progresses, but that doesn’t mean the job of director on one of the core trilogy films isn’t a desirable one.
Despite his absence from the production team on the next installments, his commitment to other ongoing franchises and early rumors of disagreements between him and the Disney Team, there’s a good chance that J.J. Abrams will be back to direct Star Wars: Episode IX.
We can only report it as a rumor this far out, but those at Disney who have seen footage from The Force Awakens are very happy with what Abrams has delivered. J.J. himself has been vocal about how crazy the process has been, but has given equal time to his love of the series.
There are enough conversations about J.J. Abrams returning to direct Episode IX that we’ve been able to independently verify it four times that his name is the front-runner for the last trilogy installment and the movie isn’t due until 2019, but maybe the Disney process doesn’t clash with the Mystery Box Maker as much as we originally thought.
Expect denials from Abrams’ camp.