Simon-KinbergSince the announcement of Disney purchasing Lucasfilm last month, and the news that they would be putting into production a new Star Wars trilogy, we’ve heard some great news circling from the upcoming blockbusters.

Early rumours have put Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) and Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) on the list of potential directors – though for now, they are just rumours.

And earlier in the month, we heard that Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) has officially been confirmed to write Star Wars Episode VII.

THR are now reporting that Simon Kinberg (Sherlock Holmes) and Lawrence Kasdan (Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back) have closed deals to write and produce Star Wars Episodes VIII and IX.

Disney are yet to officially make the announcement, and it’s currently unknown which writer will be taking which of the two instalments.

We do know that the studio are expecting to have the first instalment in theatres in 2015, and are looking to release the next two films in the trilogy in two-year gaps, in 2017 and 2019. So naturally it makes sense to hire writers for those films as early as possible, to help keep everything on track for the years to come.

With Arndt officially in place to pen Episode VII, and it now looking like Disney and Lucasfilm have set writers for VIII and IX, here’s to hoping that we’ll soon be hearing something concrete on the director front. More as we get it.