Will 'Empire Strikes Back' Scribe Lawrence Kasdan Return to Write 'Star Wars: Episode VIII'?

Everyone knows that Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back is the greatest Star Wars movie. This isn't even up for argument, so don't bother trying to tell me it's not. The success of Empire Strikes Back can be contributed to the fact that while George Lucas was behind the film's story, he wasn't the one who wrote or directed it. Lawrence Kasdan was behind the screenplay for Empire Strikes Back while Irvin Kershner was man who directed it.

It looks like Kasdan might be returning to that galaxy far, far away, according to a Deadline report. With Toy Story 3 screenwriter Michael Arndt on board to write Star Wars: Episode VII, Deadline is reporting that Kasdan is being courted to write Episode VIII and X-Men: First Class screenwriter Simon Kinberg is being courted to write Episode IX.

If Disney were to bring Kasdan on to write the middle film of the new Star Wars trilogy (just as he did with Lucas' original trilogy), it's a definite sign that the company is serious about returning Star Wars to the franchise's former glory. If there was ever a screenwriter who understood Star Wars, it's Kasdan.

Kinberg also wrote the screenplay for the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past, which is an interesting wrinkle in Sequel Trilogy news. Matthew Vaughn was originally going to direct that X-Men sequel, but after he dropped out, it's been rumored that he's a top choice to direct Episode VII. Could be just a coincidence, but it's something interesting to keep an eye on.