Kasdan worked on the scripts of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi - the second and third instalments of the first Star Wars trilogy while Kinberg is best known for his work on X-Men: The Last Stand and Guy Ritchie's hit reboot of Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr.

BBC: New Star Wars film yearly from 2015

Kasdan has a long association with Lucasfilm, having worked on the scripts of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi - the second and third instalments of the first Star Wars trilogy.

BBC: 'Stand-alone' Star Wars films planned

Smith's retirement threatened to kill any chances of completing the Quik Stop trilogy -- a challenge you'd think might tempt the "Star Wars"-obsessed Smith.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The result would surely be a trilogy that feels like a live-action sort of anime adaptation of Star Wars comics, with ridiculously complicated and jaw-dropping action amid sweeping operatic storytelling.

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