Star Wars: Episode IX Adds Jack Thorne as Writer
As we slowly make our approach towards the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and the as yet untitled Han Solo film it is easy to forget that it will only be a few short years until this new sequel trilogy comes to a close with Star Wars: Episode IX. Information on the third chapter of the new trilogy has obviously been quite limited considering we still know so little about the eight installment, but today we have a bit of news from THR.
According to THR, Jack Thorne has been brought on as a new writer for Episode IX. Thorne is a prominent British TV writer and writer of the upcoming film Wonder starring Julia Roberts and Jacob Trembley. As for his genre credits, he recently created the stage play adaption of the new theatrical addition to the Harry Potter universe with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and writes for the Phillip K Dick’s Electric Dreams anthology series.
Episode IX, as THR points out, was being written by director Colin Trevorrow and his writing partner Derek Connolly. THR doesn’t specify how much of the movie is being re-written by Thorne, so this could range anywhere from a touch up now that the final product of The Last Jedi has been seen to something a bit more significant. We’ll have to wait for more news on that as it comes.
Check out the full piece over a THR for details.
I’m glad to see they’re getting more eyes on the script. While Trevarrow is a capable director, his and Connolly’s script was my biggest concern. I thought that Rian Johnson stated that he did not write a treatment for Ep. IX. Anyone else remember that?
Yeah he didn’t write a treatment. They leave it completely to the writers of the next film, with little to no foundation beforehand.
terrifying
Especially considering they said no changes would be made to Episode 8 after Carrie died. This makes writing 9 almost impossible. I get the feeling after this trilogy is said and done Leia’s character will be a let down overall. No changes to 8, no CG or stand-in actress = terrifying. They said that 9 was supposed to be her movie yet they are not changing 8…. I got nothing.
“no CG or stand-in actress”
They never said they couldn’t recast, actually. i wouldn’t be opposed to it.
Yeah, i thought that was odd and I’ve updated to correct that. The
initial THR report had the old Rian Johnson rumored treatment
referenced. They have since removed that from their piece, so we have updated above as well. Thanks for pointing it out.
God help us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8KA3vU7F9o
We can look forward to a naked, insane Finn running around the countryside beating people with rocks.
lmao!
This could be bad.
LOL What the hell?
“With, uh, the stuff I’ve done, uh, as a writer, I’ve always, uh, tried to keep doing different stuff…”
Is August 1st the new April 1st?
What the shit, Kathy?
Disney will probably fire him 90% through filming and hire Opie to reshoot.
When they creatively differentiate from Colin ‘Spielberg-Glasses’ Trevorrow, it’ll be Ron’s revenge for him making his daughter wear high heels that whole damn movie.
What, you don’t think it’s realistic seeing a woman in high heels running from dinosaurs through the mud? /s
I never even saw Jurassic World, heard it was mediocre.
Yep — it’s typical of the “dinosaurs run loose in a theme park” genre
That movie was painful to get through. And yes, the running in high heels is a scene that keeps coming to mind
I’m not usually prone to cynicism and being pessimistic, but the guy can barely speak coherent sentences. Not exactly the type of guy to inspire confidence.
I severely hope that his personality and speaking patterns have no correlation with the quality of his work.
Speaking and writing are different skills.
better hope he doesn’t write using Vista Speech Recognition
I agree, hence why I said I hope that he has no correlation.
He clearly has some sort of speech or social deficiency. Let’s judge him on the quality of his work, not his unrelated disabilities.
Agreed
Better yet, let’s not judge him, but his work, instead 🙂 (What I’ve heard so far about his work is not good, though)
Well, we can judge his abilities as a screenwriter, which is what I meant.
Could be simple as this (from LFL’s perspective) — if this poor shlub
can collaborate with a control-freak nutjob such as J.K. Rowling without losing his mind (which is debatable from the looks of him), he can
totally bend the knee to Kathy Kennedy’s demands.
Interesting, because I feel like Kathy isn’t as bad as some people make her out to be. So, if that is a reason then it makes sense.
She’s not bad at all, but I’ll venture to guess that she has a singular vision with little patience (especially at this point) for creatives coloring outside the lines.
Uh…uh…something something…this thing…that, umm..yeah…um
Y’know uh…it’s that thing…umm…the script…writing uh uh uh uh uh uh uh….yeah yeah it’s totally great…the the the..well the script …the…umm yeah, i uh i i i…….
WHAT?
I read all the comments and I was like… no way it’ll be that bad. Starting cracking up pretty fast. Wowza!
He High.
not as high as the horse some people in this forum like to ride on
Wait!!! DOBBY THE HOUSE ELF IS WRITING STAR WARS? Oh, how far we have fallen!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d50d1d25b0ce0602980262d890e7b55a5477c5eb189bff39a4ef34ceafb6ec8d.jpg
Brace yourselves, here come the ever-optimistic, LFL-is-always-right-comments: “he’s a great addition”, “three heads are better than two”, “I love all his work and am a big fan”, “I have full confidence in LFL, I’d give them my kidney”. Anyway, at least they’re making the changes while still on paper, not halfway through filming…
I’ll do that with one hand while my other hand braces for the ever-pessimistic, Disney-ruined-Star-Wars comments
Clash of the Titans it is!
How about the more reasonable “rewrites happen all the time” approach? This isn’t abnormal.
There’s very little room for reasonable opinions and sober perspectives here. It’s all hyperbole and mental tribalism from folks that know precious little about the movie industry.
yes and no with abnormal in this situation, especially after some of the recent stuff with Trevorrow.
Yawn. Just fan handwringing drama.
maybe, but we sure didn’t hear nothing like this with TLJ and Rian…
Rian probably rewrote his own script, but we didn’t hear about a new writer, yes.
exactly, we didn’t hear a thing….hire that guy again!
Yeah, I sadly see that happen with most popular franchises. I cannot speak for everyone, but I am genuinely excited for TLJ due to the director. I have been a long time fan of his work since Brick and Looper is one of my favorite films of all time. It also helped that I met Rian Johnson a while back. And he was a gentlemen and such a smart guy. So, really; if he wasn’t involved, I wouldn’t have given TLJ another chance, much as I like the actors.
As for the over pessimists, I can see why they can be annoying. I will be honest; I actually like some parts of the NC. A lot of the recent books, like Thrawn, have been fantastic and good stories. And I enjoyed RO, flaws and all as a film as that is the SWs film I wanted from TFA.
But that is just me. I come to the franchise for its world, lore and thematic beats/ characters. If anything, I do agree it is smart that they got him during the pre-production and not during shooting. Because, I am sorry; I find it hard to defend Kennedy as they removed Lord and Miller with less than three weeks of shooting.
That is not a good sign for that movie.
HOORAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!
I’ve never heard of this guy and am not familiar with any of his work, but thank Gawd the script was not left solely to Trevorrow!
UM. Guys. How about LAWRENCE KASDAN as writer???
Kasdan said Han Solo would be his last Star Wars movie.
at this point, i think the mere mention of star wars triggers larry to twitch & make this face…
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a7ee80109ed653edd36c5739ff642d8cb9a8a129c34570d96138cf42345a8869.jpg
after TFA…personally I would pass. Let Rian finish the job. I say that without knowing anything about TLJ, But believe he is the best guy for it.
Agreed. Kasdan as far as I am concerned is way past his prime. Hence, why Han Solo also makes me nervous, as I can see it as Kasdan playing nepotism. Though, the fact that Trevorrow got episode nine because he was friends with Kennedy’s husband is also a palpable case of that horrid concept.
I wish they would go for more established talent just to calm my nerves.
Uhm. Okay!!!?
No idea who this is. Seems I have some research to do.
Doesn’t sound like much of you all like him very much.
The OT Is called that for a reason. Lucas may suck as a director but having a vision, style and consistent story, Star Wars please ask him back!! This is not a product to experiment with.
Ha
He retired. You should too.
Think you should if that’s your best comment
It’s not. But it was enough to take you down.
I am well aware of Lucas’s other movies!
Also Han Solo should not be a comedy, a few smirks maybe, that’s all it needs
I went looking through this guys IMDB… Trevorrow was enough to give me a bitter taste in this film.
I wish they’d hire the duo writers behind Rogue One
I know he can do good work, but Thorne’s handling of ‘Harry Potter’ honestly doesn’t inspire much confidence in me.
Kylo Ren and Luke Skywalker have had it bad enough. They do not need Palpatine having conceived a Hot Topic-clad emo daughter with Bellatrix Lestrange just before the second Death Star blew up.
*with Mara Jade 😉
what the hell is doing that witch k kennedy? the guy can barely speak
Mods, this isn’t ok.
Has he said any of the following about his appointment yet?:-
1/ Star Wars shaped his childhood
2/ He’s always been a massive fan of the saga, played with the toys, has a Stormtrooper figure on his desk etc?
3/ Seeing the OT films at age 1 had a lasting impact on his life
4/ Everything in his life has been leading to this moment
If not, then he is under qualified.
No reference to dressing up as a SW character for Halloween? I question the entire qualification process!
I think all the heavy lifting needs to be done in 8. 9 is just wrapping it all up… I really don’t want to be left with too many questions at the end of 8. I should just want to know how it’ll all resolve.
“Just wrapping it all up.”
That’s literally the hardest part.
This move concerns me…I think they should let Rian finish this.
Not at all… making a compelling story that basically has to end with a typical confrontation? I mean come on. 1 and 2 have to set everything up. 3 is just ending it. If you haven’t set the stage by then… 3 was already doomed to fail.
I don’t want to go down the list of examples where the third part didn’t live up to the others… but it didn’t ruin the franchise because the other two did the heavy lifting.
Honestly the OT is a perfect example. Most say RotJ was the weakest. Did it ruin the franchise? No because 1 and 2 did a lot of work so even though RotJ wasn’t quite as good as the rest it did it’s job.
If you want the final act of a trilogy to satisfyingly conclude interesting character arcs, then strong writing is absolutely required.
I don’t want Lucasfilm trying to hide a weak story behind copious amounts of CG explosions and strained OT references.
Yes, at all. Have you ever noticed no one is ever satisfied with the ending of a trilogy or a TV show? Because endings are hard!
It’s easy to set up a conflict. Much harder to do a satisfying resolution.
No one is talking about anything ruining a franchise (except you, for some reason), but endings are harder than beginnings. Anyone who knows storytelling knows this.
I dunno… I still contend making a story compelling enough to even warrant a third episode is a feat unto itself. Think about it. If the introduction movie doesn’t work there wont even be a second or third (typically). I guess there is something I’m just not seeing.
In a case like this, we know the third episode was coming all along. And look at ANH: not a whole lot in that seemed to lead directly into the next movie. They came up with a lot of that AFTER ANH was a hit.
Talk to actual writers: the ending is always the hardest and fans usually find it least satisfying.
I was satisfied with the ending of the Lord of the Rings. (I’m one of the weird people that was happy they actually wound down the ending in the Shire instead of just dropping it off in Gondor).
Also, I really liked how Battlestar Galactica Ended.
Those are the two that come to mine I was satisfied with.
But to your point, yeah lots I wasn’t.
A lot of people weren’t satisfied with Battlestar. Or Lost. Or The Sopranos. Etc etc
God, Lost. Don’t get me started. Sopranos was meh. I did like Battlestar though, thought it was pretty epic. But like I said, you were right. Dunno why I started to disagree.
“Just wrapping it up”? This is no easy task considering this was supposed to be Carrie’s movie and they won’t use another actress or CG. He has the most difficult job of any writer yet on this trilogy. I still can’t imagine how they are going to handle the mess Abrams left when he exiled Luke, killed Han and basically set the stage for little or no interaction between the big three during the entire freakin trilogy. We’ll probably get little more than a hug between Luke and Leia at the end of Episode 8. They squandered her character and her character’s potential.
See my other comment. If 1 and 2 haven’t done their job 3 was already doomed to fail. That’s why 2 has the biggest job ahead of it. It has to give us the meat of the story and set us up for a finale. You can’t expect the finale to do that much work.
Oh man, I’m freaking out. No matter how I bounce it around in my little head I can’t imagine how they are gonna pull this off without something sucking hard. How do they deal with Fisher’s absence? They said Episode 8 was not going to be changed after her death so it will indeed be up to the writers on 9 to deal with it. I need to see Leia kicking ass before this is over, she is a warrior as much as she is a diplomat. By destroying the New Jedi Order and not training her as a Jedi they made a huge mistake. What they do with 8 is so important, it’s their last chance to get her character right after relegating her to control rooms and hugs on the tarmac.
I did honestly forget the complications of Leia. That will be difficult no matter how you cut it.
I think there’s no way to make this work in a satisfying way. Yes, JJ set this whole trilogy up for failure in the way he handled the classic characters. I guess the “Leia saves Kylo” path (if that’s where they’re going) could become “Luke saves Kylo” but I have NO idea how they’ll write Leia out in any way that makes sense and doesn’t feel slapdash. At this point I’m just hoping for two things: at least one action sequence wherein we get to see Luke wielding his green saber (doubtful but possible) and a meaningful scene with Luke and Leia together (possible).
Yeah, I need to see Leia blast some First Order scumbags bad. I’ve got a bad feeling that we may see her in one action sequence if we are lucky. She choked out Jabba, never missed a shot, is force sensitive and we only see her in meetings.
I’ve thought about Luke and the green saber I just don’t know who he is gonna fight with it if it’s not Snoke? There’s no way Kylo can handle Luke if he can’t even handle Rey so who is there to give Luke a challenge or wield a saber against him? Rey/Luke vs Knights of Ren then Rey vs Kylo rematch then Luke vs Snoke force duel with Snoke escaping leaving Rey to face him herself in Ep. 9?
They have to be holding out on another agent of the darkside, there’s just not enough meanie to go around. What’s wrong with Luke? Who could possibly challenge him at this point? Why would he even need Rey to hand an ass whipping to that man-baby Kylo and his thugs?
I’d really like to see Leia be the wildcard and be the one to turn the tables in the battle by revealing her force training. She shows up just in time to save Rey then proceeds to stomp somebody’s ass, no front flips or silly jumping around just super efficient bad-assery. We see hints of her force sensitivity in Ep 7 when she feels things at a distance, she HAS to be holding out on some skills.
I really hope that Abrams didn’t screw over the other directors and that LF actually had a solid plan. Because, the idea of the story group is a good concept. For granted, a part of me wished that Zahn, Luceno and Stover could have been a part of that group. Luceno, the way he managed to tie Legends canon into all of his book is positively wonderful.
TFA and the leadup to TLJ very much feels like LOST in that there is a lot of buildup and mystery. And while I cannot stand mystery boxes, the true demonstration of whether or not Abrams succeeded will be how the payoff is delivered.
If Rian Johnson is smart(which I know he is), he will immediately start unraveling as many mystery boxes as he can. Obviously, not all of them as there is one more movie. But by the end, my hope is that a majority of TFA’s questions are at the very least addressed.
Because, if SWs turns out like what happened to LOST, I will be very disappointed and sad.
So you write appalling bad fan fiction (Harry Potter Cursed Child) and they give you Episode 9. Wow.
Failing up at its finest.
He is author of only book i stop reading after six chapters, to see on wiki if it’s get better.
It did not.
Honestly i am scared.
well, isn’t this just giving everyone the warm and fuzzies…
Peace. They haven’t even started filming it yet. Rogue One was reshot to death and it ended up being a solid Star Wars romp.
I honestly trust Lucasfilm and their decisions so far.
can’t disagree about Rogue One. But, I think leaving Rian in place for 9 would be a better choice. Just personal opinion.
I will make that decision once 8 come out, I’m not a huge Rian Johnson fan so I’m ambivalent about whether it will be good or not, but I won’t complain until after I see it 😛
My hopes are high!
I thought IX was being written by Rian Johnson, when did that change?
no, colin trevorrow is writing the movie and this new guy its gonna polish the script
Rian Johnson was originally going to write the screenplay treatment and not the actual screenplay, if I am correct.
Hmm, interesting. Now it looks like this is trevorrow’s baby and I’m decidedly less confident in it.
Interesting. No doubt episode nine was going to need some massive overhauls, given that Carrie passed away. That said, I hate to sound speculative, but I kind of see this choice as almost a response to Trevorrow and his latest film. Because, correct me if I am wrong, but Trevorrow is still writing the screenplay?
So, I can see LF as essentially extending a helping hand and giving Trevorrow some needed help. And that isn’t a bad thing. Some directors do lack in terms of tightening/ writing screenplays. It is why a film, like Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, is fantastic in my view. Snyder clearly lacked storytelling abilities, but James Gunn on the other hand, is a solid screenwriter.
So really, if anything, I do wish the best for this guy and Colin. Because, if episode eight, TLJ, is amazing(which I have a strong hunch it will, as cynical as I am about TFA), then episode nine will have a lot to live up to.