Colin Trevorrow will direct ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’

Greig Fraser, who shot the dark films Zero Dark Thirty and Foxcatcher, was picked to be director of photography. Abrams directing, while the eighth episode of the franchise is due out in 2017 with Rian Johnson at the help, so Trevorrow has a bit of time before his work will be the film world’s focus – but it’s coming soon!

Iger also teased two new flagship attractions: One in which visitors can “take control of the Millennium Falcon on a customized secret mission”, and “an epic Star Wars adventure that puts you right in the middle of a climactic battle between the First Order and the Resistance”.

The film, directed by Gareth Edwards (“Godzilla“) is set for a December. 16, 2016 release.

While it has been rumored thanks to a scoop by Heroic Hollywood for a few weeks, it’s now official, as the news landed on StarWars.com after first being announced at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.

Veteran ILM visual effects supervisor John Knoll, who shares a long history with the “Star Wars” movies, dating back to the mid-1990s, originated the idea for the movie.

Trevorrow said: “This is not a job or an assignment”. It is a seat at a campfire, surrounded by an extraordinary group of storytellers, filmmakers, artists and craftspeople.

In a statement, LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy says that “Rogue One… will be a departure from the saga films but have elements that are familiar to the Star Wars universe”. We will do this by channeling something George Lucas instilled in all of us: “boundless creativity, pure invention and hope”. She adds, “It goes into new territory, exploring the galactic struggle from a ground-war perspective while maintaining that essential Star Wars feel that fans have come to know”.