“The thought of it made me so completely joyfully happy, ” Episode VIII writer/director Rian Johnson told podcast fans in Chicago Saturday night, “I wanted to to play in this world, of literally the first movie my dad put me in the car to see.” (via)
Johnson still hasn’t been officially confirmed by Lucasfilm – perhaps understandably, given where we are in the production of Episode VII – but there’s not much doubt at this point.