Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back writer hired to pen Episode VIII and IX

Lucasfilm and Disney hire two more writers to work on the new Star Wars trilogy, one of whom has a long history with the series. Lawrence Kasdan, writer of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, will pen one of the new films.

The billion-dollar behemoth that is the reborn Lucasfilm under Disney is letting no grass grow as it swiftly develops a new trilogy of Star Wars movies. While Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) was hired to write Star Wars Episode VII for release in 2015, Deadline reports that Lucasfilm and Disney have already hired writers to write scripts for Episode VIII and IX as well as produce those films.

The first of these writers is Simon Kinberg. Kinberg’s work as a screen writer won’t necessarily fill fans with confidence, as his resume ranges between tolerable but unexceptional films like Sherlock Holmes and Mr. & Mrs. Smith to outright stinkers like XXX: State of the Union and the Hayden Christensen vehicle Jumper.

The second hire is more promising. Lawrence Kasdan. Over the past thirty years, Kasdan has also written his fair share of duds, including the abysmal Stephen King adaptation Dreamcatcher and The Bodyguard. Three of the very first screenplays Kasdan ever wrote, though, were for The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Return of the Jedi. It’s nice to see one of the mind’s responsible for Star Wars’ best moments return to the series.