J.J. Abrams Co-Writing and Directing ‘Star Wars Episode IX’

In news that will come as a complete and total shock to no one, Lucasfilm announced just after 10:30 EST this morning that J.J. Abrams will return to direct and co-write Star Wars Episode IX. He'll be co-writing the script with Oscar winner Chris Terrio (Argo, Justice League), though no mention is made in the announcement as to what will happen with the script that Jack Thorne was brought in to work on.

In fact, here's the entirety of the announcement. There's not much to it, probably because we've been expecting it since Trevorrow got canned...

J.J. Abrams, who launched a new era of Star Wars with The Force Awakens in 2015, is returning to complete the sequel trilogy as writer and director of Star Wars: Episode IX. Abrams will co-write the film with Chris Terrio. Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan, Abrams, Bad Robot, and Lucasfilm.

“With The Force Awakens, J.J. delivered everything we could have possibly hoped for, and I am so excited that he is coming back to close out this trilogy,” said Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy.

So there you have it. No one's surprised, some people are relieved, others are angry. As Abe Lincoln once said, "What's so civil about war anyway." The best thing about this is that Abrams will finally be forced to deliver some answers to these "mystery box questions" he loves to burden other writers and directors with.