During the production of The Last Jedi, director Rian Johnson was given a huge amount of creative freedom, in creating his widely-debated 2017 project. However, Daisy Ridley has confirmed that J.J. Abrams had some influence in the films production: “Here’s what I think I know. J.J. wrote Episode VII, as well as drafts for VIII & IX. Then Rian Johnson arrived and wrote The Last Jedi entirely. I believe there was some sort of general consensus on the main lines of the trilogy, but apart from that, every director writes and realizes his film in his own way. Rian Johnson and J. J. Abrams met to discuss all of this, although Episode VIII is still his very own work. I believe Rian didn’t keep anything from the first draft of Episode VIII.” Ridley said in a recent statement.
What Abrams had in mind we will never know. But, what we do know is that Abrams was impressed by Johnson's pitch of The Last Jedi and even had a zeal to direct the film himself after hearing what Johnson had in mind. Episode 9 was set to see General Leia Organa play a big role, but Carrie Fisher's unfortunate death in Winter 2016, forced the filmmakers to alter the course of Star Wars future.
Although the wait for Episode 9 may seem tiresome, fans can look forward to Ron Howard's, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and if it is as impressive as Rogue One, then fans should be in for a treat, when it releases in May this year. If you're interested in seeing the trailer, check out our recent article.