The rejuvenation of the Star Wars franchise has been getting many fans pumped for what promises to be an exciting next few years.

With J.J Abrams set to helm the upcoming Episode VII installment, Lucasfilm have managed to convince another visual filmmaker to direct one of the later films.

Rian Johnson, best known for his work on Brick (2006) and Looper (2012), will take on both writing AND directing duties with the eight outing of the sci-fi saga, Star Wars: Episode VIII.

He is also set to pen the script for the ninth sequel which won’t be released until sometime before 2020.

As well as his previous work in film, Johnson has also directed some of the best episodes from AMC’s acclaimed television series Breaking Bad which include ‘Fly’ and ‘Ozymandias’.

British director Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) and Chronicle’s Josh Trank are also involved with the later films of the series albeit they will be working on the spinoff editions.

In the meantime, filming has begun on Star Wars: Episode VII with original stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and a recently-injured Harrison Ford reprising their iconic roles alongside newcomers John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Andy Serkis, Max Von Sydow, Lupita Nyong’o and Gwendoline Christie.

The hugely-anticipated film will be released worldwide on December 18th 2015.