By Creative Media Times

“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,” said Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy.

JJ Abrams’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a dynamite at the boxoffice, $2.06 billion worldwide making it the third highest-grossing film of all time, including unadjusted $936 million domestically, above Titanic and Avatar.

As such, the director responsible for reintroducing the beloved characters of the franchise to a new generation of fans is arguably a perfect choice to close the trilogy. Abrams will co-write the film with Chris Terrio.

Last week, Lucasfilm announced that Colin Trevorrow will no longer be directing Star Wars: Episode IX. According to the statement, the split was a mutual decision.

Abrams is currently not attached to direct any film, which makes one wonder why he was not initially pursued. Though its possible his involvement with Mission: Impossible 6 and HBO’s Westworld as producer might have something to do with that.

Principal photography for Star Wars: Episode IX is expected to start early 2018 with the film’s release scheduled to be May 24, 2019.