Star Wars: Episode IX is on track and ahead of schedule confirms director JJ Abrams, with a script and storyline ready ahead of filming this summer.

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The Force Awakens director will return to the Star Wars universe to lead Episode IX after original pick Colin Trevorrow left the franchise last year.

This will be the final chapter in the current trilogy of Star Wars films, which began with The Force Awakens and continued with Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi.

The as-yet-untitled movie will begin shooting at the end of July, with JJ Abrams co-writing the film with Argo screenwriter Chris Terrio.

“We have a script, which is a big deal for me," he said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, adding that the experience of being back in the Star Wars universe is "surreal".

"Sometimes having the script in advance is something I haven’t always been lucky enough to have," he added. "But I’m writing this with Chris Terrio, who’s a genius, and I’m having a great time."

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Episode IX is far from the end of the Star Wars story however, with The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson leading a separate trilogy of movies, and Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss also working on a new series of Star Wars films.

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