By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --J.J. Abrams is returning to "Star Wars," and will replace Colin Trevorrow as writer and director of "Episode IX."
Disney announced Abrams return on Tuesday a week after news broke of Trevorrow's departure. After several high-profile exits by previous "Star Wars" directors, Lucasfilm is turning to the filmmaker who helped resurrect the franchise in the first place. Abrams will co-write the film with screenwriter Chris Terrio, who won an Oscar for adapting "Argo," and also co-wrote "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."
As the director of "The Force Awakens," Abrams rebooted "Star Wars" to largely glowing reviews from fans and more than $2 billion in box office. Abrams had said that would be his only film for the franchise, but he's now been pulled back in.
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said that Abrams "delivered everything we could have possibly hoped for" on "The Force Awakens" and added "I am so excited that he is coming back to close out this trilogy."
This move also means Abrams will be the only director aside from "Star Wars" creator George Lucas to direct more than one "Star Wars" film.
"Star Wars: Episode IX" is expected to hit theaters in May of 2019. It is the final installment in the new "main" Star Wars trilogy that began with Abrams' "The Force Awakens" in 2015 and will continue this December with director Rian Johnson's "The Last Jedi."
Production on "Episode IX" was supposed to begin early next year. It's unclear at this point whether or not the shift will impact that or the release date.
Lucasfilm has had a number of public fallouts with "Star Wars" directors over the past few years.
Earlier this year the young Han Solo spinoff film parted ways with director Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and swiftly replaced them with Ron Howard deep into production. In 2015, the company fired director Josh Trank from work on another Star Wars spinoff. And extensive reshoots on "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" led to widespread speculation that director Gareth Edwards had been unofficially sidelined by Tony Gilroy.
News of Abrams' return was greeted warmly by fans on social media Tuesday. He hasn't directed or committing to directing another project since "The Force Awakens," and instead had been focused on producing.
"I'm very much enjoying taking a moment. Since I've done the show 'Felicity,' I've gone from project to project. So it's been 20 years since I haven't been prepping, casting, shooting, editing something," Abrams told The Associated Press in March.
That moment, however brief, is over. For Abrams, it's time to go back to the Millennium Falcon and that galaxy far, far away.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTEยฎ,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
โSMPTEโs membership has spoken,โ said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann DโAmato. โThese officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!โ
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More