Lawrence Kasdan & Simon Kinberg May Be Writing ‘Star Wars’ Spinoffs, Rather Than Episodes VIII & IX

Here we go again. Not even a day after Colin Trevorrow put rumors about his involvement in the "Star Wars" sequels to an end with the revelation that the Disney project he's working on is a remake of "Flight Of The Navigator," it looks like there's even more to talk about when it comes to George Lucas' franchise.

About a week ago it was reported that series veteran Lawrence Kasdan ("The Empire Strikes Back") and Simon Kinberg ("Sherlock Holmes," "This Means War") had been hired to write "Stars Wars: Episode 8" and "Star Wars: Episode 9" respectively (Michael Arndt is writing "Star Wars: Episode 7"). But now it seems that might not quite be the case. THR reports that their sources are now saying that the pair aren't necessarily writing 'VIII' and 'IX,' but instead, "their scripts could turn into official 'Episodes' in the main Skywalker storyline, or they could form the basis for spinoffs focusing on side characters."

Wait, spinoffs already? Well, it's not that surprising given that Disney wants movies from this universe every two to three years. And this is actually particularly interesting given the recent retirement of longtime "Star Wars" steward Rick McCallum. As you might remember, he had been talking up a "Star Wars" TV series for a while, and over the summer revealed there were 50 completed scripts. Could Kasdan and Kinberg be overseeing those scripts and trying to shuffle and connect them into the new trilogy? It's a big, broad guess, but we can't imagine Disney or Lucasfilm are going to let three-and-a-half years of work wither away. And it's certainly one way a spinoff can go, emulating Marvel's developing "S.H.I.E.L.D." series.

So, yes: a new trilogy, possible spinoffs and continued silence from the official folks who won't be talking about anything until they feel like it. But with the first movie due in 2015, talk is only going to continue.