Speaking to Geek Le Mag (via IGN), Daisy Ridley revealed that J.J Abrams wrote early versions of episodes 8 and 9, but director Rian Johnson opted not to use them and instead go in a different direction.
“Here’s what I think I know. J. J. wrote Episode VII, as well as drafts for VIII & IX. Then Rian Johnson arrived and wrote TLJ entirely. I believe there was some sort of general consensus on the main lines of the trilogy, but apart from that, every director writes and realizes his film in his own way.
“Rian Johnson and J. J. Abrams met to discuss all of this, although Episode VIII is still his very own work. I believe Rian didn’t keep anything from the first draft of Episode VIII.”
It’s worth remembering that Colin Trevorrow would have been deep into his own draft for episode 9, and myth has it that George Lucas had notes and noodles for the ninth episode way, way back in the day so it will be beyond interesting to see what Abrams final screen-used version will give us. Will anything from the other drafts remain? Will he mine his own first pass at the story, or will the events of The Last Jedi mean he is steered towards a totally new conclusion to the trilogy? Only time will tell.
