J.J. Abrams Not Doing Full STAR WARS Trilogy

At least Star Trek got two films out of him!

Numerous sources are reporting that J.J. Abrams will be one and done when it comes the new Star Wars trilogy, and that he will be handing the reins over to Rian Johnson starting with Episode VIII.

The only question is what will be the extent of Johnson involvement. Both Deadline and The Wrap say that he will be writing and directing Episode VIII and a treatment for Episode IX. Deadline says Johnson will also be directing the latter movie, while The Wrap says he will only be writing it.

While I do have to say that I loved Johnson’s Looper, the one concern I have about this is that Johnson’s typical tone is a bit darker than what you’d expect from a Star Wars film. I don’t know if this means that future episodes will be darker or that Johnson will be adapting his style to fit.

Even though Johnson is a skilled and talented director, the fact that Abrams is doing all the films is a bit disappointing. While changing directors mid-stream in the Original Trilogy did give us The Empire Strikes Back, it also gave us Return of the Jedi.

More on this as it develops.