Ridley revealed to Geek Le Mag that J.J. Abrams, who directed and co-wrote The Force Awakens, also wrote scripts for Episode VIII and IX before Rian Johnson and Colin Trevorrow jumped in to direct the sequels. Exactly how much of the Sequel Trilogy was outlined in the early days of development by Abrams and the Lucasfilm Story Group remains a bit hazy, but we do know that Abrams and Johnson collaborated when it came to bridging the gap between The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Johnson, for example, asked Abrams to send R2-D2 on the mission to find Luke Skywalker instead of BB-8 so that the astromech droid could play back Leia’s original message to Obi-Wan Kenobi for Luke in The Last Jedi. “Rian Johnson and J. J. Abrams met to discuss all of this, although Episode VIII is still his very own work,” Ridley explained of Abrams’ involvement with The Last Jedi. “I believe Rian didn’t keep anything from the first draft of Episode VIII.” While Abrams did not end up being the writer of Episode VIII, he is set to return as the co-writer (with Chris Terrio) and director of Episode IX after replacing Trevorrow in 2017. Abrams updated fans on the status of IX back in February, revealing that the script is finished and that filming will begin in July.
