Listen, director Rian Johnson could have easily taken over the director's chair for Episode IX, but Disney decided otherwise. They opted for JJ Abrams, who was the brainchild behind this trilogy and probably saw Johnson starting to interfere too much with his original vision of the way things should be going in the story. Johnson's risk-taking was a breath of fresh air, but I never doubted that we'd be going back to business as usual with Abrams hopping on-board Episode IX. It had to go back to normality, especially after the backlash from longtime fans due to what Johnson concocted in"The Last Jedi." It made $300M less than Abrams' "The Force Awakens," which is probably due to hardcores not going to see it a second or third time in theaters, like they normally would with any other Star Wars movie, because, well, they were not happy with what they say the first time around.
Read moreLucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy's Contract Extended For Three Additional Years
Star Wars has been a hot-button topic the last year for many hardcore fans, especially those starting to doubt their faith in the sci-fi enterprise. Of course, enemy numero uno for these pissed off Star Wars fans seems to be Kathleen Kennedy. Pressure has been building up on the Lucasfilm head to steer the ship back to safe ground and regain the trust of many of these, now, rogue fans she may have lost. According to THR, Kennedy has signed a contract extension of three more years, which means that the final chapter of the “Star Wars” Skywalker Saga, ‘Episode IX,’ due in theaters December 2019, will be overseen by Kennedy.
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