Following Disney's recent purchase of Lucasfilm , the Star Wars reboot/continuation plan has been all systems go. After hiring Michael Arndt ( Toy Story 3 ) for the first new installment, Deadline is reporting that Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are set to take up writing duties for Episodes VIII and IX .
The rumoured involvement of Kasdan is a mouthwatering prospect considering he has co-written, arguably, the best Star Wars film to date, The Empire Strikes Back . Not to mention he co-wrote Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Return Of The Jedi . Kasdan's involvement would bring credibility and genuine intrigue to the upcoming trilogy.
However, Simon Kinberg would be a sound catch as well. Alongside Arndt, Kinberg is an up-and-coming writer with an already strong CV, including the likes of Sherlock Holmes and the upcoming X-Men: Days Of Future Past , indicating that he can pen a good popcorn flick. Whether this would transfer to the Star Wars universe, we'll just have to wait and see.
It's important to point out that the connection of these writers to Star Wars has not been confirmed by Disney yet, so let's not get ahead of ourselves. Disney themselves have made no comment on the issue yet; however, Deadline seems certain the pair will sign on.
What we do know for certain is that Michael Arndt will script Michael Arndt will script Star Wars: Episode VII , which will hit UK screens in 2015.
