J.J. Abrams is getting back in the cockpit to direct the ninth installment of the Star Wars saga, Disney and Lucasfilm announced Tuesday. Abrams, who wrote and directed Episode VII: The Force Awakens, will replace Jurassic World director and co-writer Colin Trevorrow who reportedly didn’t see eye-to-eye with Lucasfilm’s top brass on the direction of the movie, reports Variety.
In enlisting Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio, Disney will hope to recreate the critical, fan, and box office success of The Force Awakens—which has grossed more than $2 billion to date.
Despite the success of The Force Awakens and standalone story Rogue One, Lucasfilm has had a hard time finding directors to fit with their new projects. This summer, Apollo 13 director Ron Howard replaced Phil Lord and Chris Miller as the director of an in-production Han Solo spinoff movie, and Fantastic Four director Josh Trank left the pre-production of another standalone project.
The eighth installment of the original saga, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, is set for release December 15.
