Star Wars 8 has found it's new director! Rian Johnson-"Brick" and "Looper"-is currently talking with Disney and Lucasfilm to write and direct the franchise's next installment, Episode VIII, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
It has previously been reported that Johnson will direct two of the Star Wars film, however, later news confirms that he will only be writing a treatment for Episode IX.
Rolling Stone noted that instead of an official statement, Johnson posted a video on Twitter of an outer space classic movie, "The Right Stuff," where astronaut Alan Sheppard ( Scott Glenn) says, "Dear Lord, please don't let me f- up," before shooting off to space.
The Stone called Johnson's directorial career "brief, but influential." He only directed three feature films. His debuted with a teenage noir film, "Brick," which won the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. He then released "Brother's Bloom" in 2008. In 2012, he directed the time traveling sci-fi film, "Looper," with Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the ill-fated assassin who has to kill his future self (Bruce Willis).
Disney will be producing the new Star Wars trilogy with Lucasfilm. The films will focus on the franchise's popular characters, according to the Daily Mail. The Episode VII installment, with JJ Abrams at the helm, is currently in production. The original Star Wars cast members, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, and Peter Mayhew are joined by a new set of acclaimed actors and actresses. Lupita Nyong'o, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, John Boyega, Andy Serkis, Daisy Ridley, and Max von Sydow are confirmed to be joining the saga.
"Godzilla's" Gareth Edwards was reportedly tapped for a series of spinoff films, while "Chronicle's" Josh Tanker is set to direct one of the standalone films set seven years after his Star Wars-inspired short movie, "Stabbing At Leia's."
