Star Wars Episode 9 Just Got An Unexpected Shake-Up

It looks like a big change is being made behind the scenes of Star Wars Episode 9. The upcoming movie, which doesn't have a title yet (and likely won't until after Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi releases this winter), is getting a new writer. Previously, Episode 9 was being written by Derek Connolly and director Colin Trevorrow.

Though Trevorrow is still slated to direct the movie, unnamed sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that a "fresh set of eyes was needed" for the script. British screenwriter and playwright Jack Thorne is being brought on to rewrite the script for the movie. Folks in the US will have likely had limited exposure to Thorne's work, though a lot of people in the UK are probably quite familiar with him.

Thorne, for instance, has written for shows like Skins and the British version of Shameless, which paved the way for the popular Showtime series. Thorne has also written for shows like The Fades and The Cast-Offs, penning an adaptation of His Dark Materials for BBC One as well. There is one Jack Thorne project US audiences may be familiar with, though, as he's also written the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

So, Thorne certainly has a lot of writing credits to his name, and with a fair amount of fantasy sprinkled in throughout his career, he could be a good fit for Star Wars Episode 9. Little is known about the movie at this point, and details will obviously remain slim until The Last Jedi has had its premiere. The next episode in the Star Wars film saga, The Last Jedi will premiere on December 15 in the United States.

This isn't the first time a shake-up has hit an upcoming Star Wars movie. Back in June, the untitled Han Solo standalone movie lost directors Phil Lord and Christoper Miller over what the two said were creative differences. Disney and Lucasfilm brought in Ron Howard to finish the movie, which is slated to release on May 25, 2018.