One director already said they won’t take over “Star Wars: Episode IX,” but don’t worry, there’ll be another

Recently, news broke that Colin Trevorrow would no longer direct Star Wars: Episode IX. Which was weird in and of itself, and even more so because this news followed the announcement that Chris Miller and Phil Lord would no longer direct the Young Han Solo movie.

There’s certainly been a disturbance in the Force lately. Some wondered if Rian Johnson would return to Star Wars to take Trevorrow’s place and restore balance to the cinematic universe. He did direct The Last Jedi (in theaters December 15th), meaning he knows the world. Plus, Episode IX is next after The Last Jedi in this trilogy, so he has continuity going for him, too.

But Johnson just shot that idea down.

"It was never in the plan for me to direct Episode IX, so I don’t know what’s going to happen with it," he explained at a press conference in Japan. "For me, I was entirely focused on Episode VIII and having this experience. Now I’m just thinking about putting the movie out there and seeing how audiences respond to it. So no, I’m not really thinking about that right now."

Key words: Right now. Perhaps he could think about it in the future? So we’re not ruling out the possibility entirely.

Then again, he did sort of double down. “Whoever does it, I’m going to be really excited to be an audience member again,” he said, adding, “And to sit down and see what the next filmmaker has to show us and where this story ends up going.”

We are too, but would love to know who’s going to direct Episode IX. In the meantime, we’ll be looking forward to The Last Jedi.

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