Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, and a variety of other outlets are quoting sources saying that Lawrence Kasdan, the screenwriter behind The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Simon Kinberg, one of the minds behind the X-Men: First Class films, will be working on writing Episodes VIII and IX.
There is no word on how they will split that work up or if they’ll work as a team. THR is also saying they will be producing.
If this news turns out to be true, I will be the happiest man on the planet. I think Kasdan is one of the greatest screenwriters who ever lived and if his work across the Lucasfilm galaxy wasn’t enough, he’s behind classics like Silverado, The Big Chill, and The Accidental Tourist. And for anyone interested in the craft of storytelling, not only are his films worth studying, you really need to track down the PDF of his script conference with Lucas and Spielberg about Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s a stunning document that offers an unprecedented window into the creative process.
For his part, Kinberg is working on the follow up to one of the finest screenplays in the the entire genre of superhero films with the stellar X-Men: Days of Future Past. He also was a writer of X3, which we won’t speak of.
If it pans out, this is great news for Star Wars fans everywhere.