Tag Archives: Ben Affleck

J.J. Abrams brought back to write and direct ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’

Posted on by Leave a comment

In a move that not many expected, but that seems as in line with Lucasfilm’s most recent decisions as any, J.J. Abrams, director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has been hired to direct the final installment of the new trilogy from a galaxy far, far away, announced via a press release on StarWars.com.

A week ago, Lucasfilm and previous director Colin Trevorrow parted ways. Trevorrow had been on the project for over two years and had written the screenplay with his writing partner Derek Connolly. But rumors began to surface, especially after the critical failure of Trevorrow’s The Book of Henry, that Trevorrow could be ousted. Last month, Jack Thorne, co-writer of the upcoming Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and Jacob Tremblay film Wonder, was brought on to rewrite.

It seems as though the script will be overhauled, as Abrams has been tasked to write Star Wars: Episode IX with Academy Award-winning writer Chris Terrio. Terrio won the Oscar for the Ben Affleck-directed Argo, and has written scripts for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the upcoming Justice League. Abrams co-wrote The Force Awakens with Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt.

In the days after Trevorrow departed the ninth episode, fans and critics offered up potential replacements. The internet seemed to come to a consensus that they wanted Ava DuVernay, director of Selma, 13th and the upcoming Disney film A Wrinkle in Time. Rian Johnson, director of eighth episode Star Wars: The Last Jedi, popped up in serious rumors, so much so that the director ended up explicitly saying that he had no plans to return.

But it was likely that Abrams was already hired, or at least just had to sign on the dotted line, by the time Lucasfilm came out to announce Trevorrow’s exit. This will be Abrams’ first film since The Force Awakens and he will produce through his production company Bad Robot.

In the press release, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy made this official statement:

“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.”

In an announcement on Twitter hours later, Lucasfilm has officially pushed back the release of the film from May 24, 2019, to December 20, 2019. The seemingly large script revision likely meant that production couldn’t start as early as Kennedy had hoped. Now, Abrams will have 27 months to complete the picture instead of 20 months, and the December release will fall in line with the releases of The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. The film will now compete with the second weekend of Wonder Woman 2, which is set to release on December 13, 2019.

Featured image via Gage Skidmore.

‘Suicide Squad 2’ finds writer-director in Gavin O’Connor

Posted on by Leave a comment

Gavin O’Connor has been tapped to write and direct Suicide Squad 2, as reported by Deadline.

While the David Ayer-directed first film was critically thrashed, with a 25% on RottenTomatoes and a score of 40 on Metacritic, it did end up becoming a box-office hit — making $745 million worldwide. It also won an Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

It was only a matter of time before a sequel would be announced with its director and writer. A rumored list of potential directors had been circulating for quite some while, with Mel Gibson and Jaume Collet-Serra (The Shallows) being the reported favorites to win the job.

However, O’Connor has won out both the pen and the directing chair. O’Connor comes from films such as Warrior, which garnered Nick Nolte an Oscar nomination, and The Accountant, which stars Ben Affleck and has had a sequel start development with both O’Connor and Affleck. And with Affleck appearing in a cameo role in the first Suicide Squad, many are speculating if he might return now that O’Connor is attached.

O’Connor’s scripting partner from Warrior, Anthony Tambakis, will co-write the script.

The gang of villains, specifically the Joker and Harley Quinn, have a lot in store for the future. David Ayer moved on from the sequel, prompting for the search that ended with O’Connor, to work on Gotham City Sirens, a film centering around Harley Quinn and the many other villainous women of DC. In addition, the Joker and Harley Quinn will appear together in a film from the Crazy, Stupid, Love. directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra. The character of the Joker will find another actor in a origin film separate from the DC Extended Universe, which will come from The Hangover’s Todd Phillips.

No official release date for Suicide Squad 2 has been announced. The principle cast members, including Jared Leto as The Joker, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Will Smith as Deadshot, will return. Warner Bros. and DC will release Justice League on November 17, 2017, which has undergone extensive reworking under the guidance of Joss Whedon, who now officially has a writing credit and may get a directing credit depending on the Directors Guild’s judgment.

Featured image via Warner Bros.