Another week, another raft of news and rumours for Star Wars.
Let's start with the confirmed news. Alexandre Desplat, who recently picked up an Oscar just recently for his work on Grand Budapest Hotel, has been confirmed as the composer for the first Star Wars spin-off movie. Gareth Edwards, who's directing Rogue One, previously worked with Desplat on Godzilla so this seems like a logical choice. Desplat will be the first composer to work on a Star Wars film outside of John Williams. Not unless you count the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack by Joel McNeely. And we don't.
Next up, we've got some word on Episode IX. Yes, we're looking that far forward. The ninth Star Wars film, which is tentatively scheduled for 2019, is already getting a script treatment by Rian Johnson. Johnson, as we know, is directing / writing Episode VIII.
However, there's early word that Disney are keen to lock Abrams' schedule down for Episode IX. According to sources inside the studio, the job is Abrams - if he wants it. It may be a case that Abrams is simply burnt out from getting Episode VI out in time and wants to take a producer role for the coming films.
It's hard to say. We always got the feeling that he was strong-armed into making Into Darkness, the follow-up to Star Trek. The so-so reviews and fan reaction (we loved it, mind) bear this out as his heart may not have been in a sequel.
It also looks like that rumour about Abrams releasing the film ahead of schedule is total lies. John Williams, who's composing the soundtrack for Episode VI as we speak, is set to record the soundtrack over the summer months. This, we think, pours cold water over the prospect of seeing it before December.
That's all the news and rumours we've got for the moment. Our countdown continues!