Rian Johnson and J. J. Abrams met to discuss all of this, although Episode VIII is still his very own work.
During the build-up to last year’s The Last Jedi, much was made about the creative freedom director Rian Johnson had on the project.
Daisy Ridley reveals that in the early stages of development on the Star Wars sequel trilogy, J.J. Abrams had written drafts for Episode VIII and Episode IX, in addition to co-writing the script for The Force Awakens.
That said, Abrams did like Johnson’s pitch and wanted to direct The Last Jedi himself after reading the final script.