Star Wars Episode VII News: Week 48

J.J. Abrams to Direct Episode IX?

     Spoiler rumors get old after a while, and after several weeks, there is no longer any shock value to be had. That's why I will ignore this weeks "ANOTHER major character dies!" rumors, because they are all circumstantial, regardless if they're true or not. But that doesn't mean nothing happened these past few weeks on the Star Wars front.

     First, Disney announced a 20 new books to be released this fall, directly before the release of The Force Awakens. These books go into detail about what happened after the Battle of Endor. The first book, titled Aftermath, will pick up after the fall of the Empire. No wonder all of the EU was scrapped. It would be interesting to see how it would differ from the EU, but also the similarities between the two. It's more money in the bank. Milk that $4.5 billion dollars for all it's worth! Merchandising! If Disney wants to appease EU fans, the books they release should rival the quality of the Thrawn trilogy and other Expanded Universe classics.  If the Disney books flop, it might have a negative impact on the enthusiasm for the film to devoted fans. But would it affect ticket sales? It would depend on how bad the books are. But who reads, right?

     We know that Rian Johnson is directing Episode VIII, and its release date is May 26, 2017, almost exactly 40 years after Star Wars was released, off by one day. The first spinoff, Rogue One, scheduled for December 2016, is directed by Gareth Edwards. But the sequel to The Force Awakens doesn't have a director named. granted, it's over four years away from release, but surely one must be chosen. There were rumors that Abrams would kick off the series, but then Rian Johnson would take the helm for the next two movies. However, Latino Review reported that there were some rumors that confirmed that the Disney team watched some footage from The Force Awakens, and that they were very pleased, and are considering Abrams for the role of the director in the ninth installment (not counting the spinoffs). Now this sounds very convincing, but remember that tensions remain between Abrams and Disney, who have numerous creative differences. Abrams himself said that his job was extremely stressful an that he was under a lot of pressure. Even if Disney did want Abrams to direct Episode IX, would he accept? Will J.J. Abrams rise to direct two Star Wars movies? It depends on the response to The Force Awakens And that remains to be seen.