There are big plans for the "Star Wars" franchise even before "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" makes its debut on the big screen. Lucasfilm producer Kathleen Kennedy said that they are optimistic about the outcome of Episode VII that they've already laid out plans until Episode IX.
"We've thought this all through. The story group has put together a very carefully thought-through strategic plan for how we're developing the stories and what those stories are and targeting filmmakers. We've looked at it up through, I would say, 2019, Episode IX," she told The Hollywood Reporter.
And that is not all. They are also busy working on "Star Wars" spinoff films.
"Over the last almost five months now, I've been working on 'Rogue One,' and then Episode VIII will start up at the end of January. This will be the only time that it's really one right after the other because our whole slate got upended a little bit when J.J. and I needed to postpone (the release of) Episode VII from summer to Christmas," she explained.
As for director J.J. Abrams, he believes that "Selma" filmmaker Ava DuVernay would make a great replacement for him to helm Episode VIII, and he admitted that he is a huge fan of her work.
Going forward, Abrams will still be involved in the "Star Wars" franchise as a creative consultant, but the director believes his input isn't needed that much since the creative forces behind "Rogue One" are already more than capable.
"It will be really interesting as a fan of 'Star Wars' to see the off-shoot movies, which I'm sure will be fantastic, and I know that there are amazing people working on them. So it will be fun to see how it all comes together. My involvement is going to be as needed, but luckily with people like Rian Johnson working on these next movies, these are not filmmakers who need help so much as they just need to be given a chance to do their thing," he told Cinema Blend.
Abrams did admit though that he was mindful of the future of the franchise as he was creating Episode VII.
"Larry Kasdan and I, who wrote the script together, definitely were setting things up and were conscious of the fact... which is a really weird opportunity in features to know that this was going to be the beginning of a three picture story. So we were working on versions of what we knew we would have done or wanted to do," he revealed.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will be released on December 18, 2015.
