Screw Black Friday — pretty much all anyone’s talking about right now is that Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer. Love it, hate it, or fall somewhere in between, I haven’t met anybody yet who didn’t have a strong reaction to it one way or another, and celebrities are no exception. So naturally many folks have taken to the social mediasphere to share their thoughts on the Falcon, that lightsaber, and that ball-droid we all want for Christmas.

This past summer James Gunn gave us one of the best Star Wars movies that isn’t actually a Star Wars movie in the form of Guardians of the Galaxy. He posted his thoughts on Facebook:

You may be burnt out on all of the Star Wars: Episode VII news (read: rumors) that has dropped over the course of the last couple of days, but what about Star Wars: Episode VIII news? We know even less about Episode VIII, which will reportedly hit theaters in 2017, than we do about Episode VII. All we know is the supposed release date and that Looper’s Rian Johnson will both write and direct the film. And we’ve heard that Daisy Ridley’s character will also appear in that movie. Johnson hasn’t said much since getting the gig, but he recently opened up about it a bit, as well as expressing his feelings and thoughts on Episode VII.

Talking to the Girls in Hoodies podcast (starting at approximately the 35 minute mark, but it’s all worth a listen), the topic, naturally, shifts to Star Wars talk, as will, I imagine, damn near every conversation he’s destined to have over the course of the next few years.

One of the most exciting announcements of the post-Disney-buyout era of Star Wars was the news that Looper’s Rian Johnson would be writing and directing Episode VIII (and possibly Episode IX as well). Even if you’re one of the fans unhappy with the decision to let J.J. Abrams direct Episode VII, Johnson’s hiring is a compelling reason to get excited about a return to George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away. During a recent podcast appearance, Johnson was unsurprisingly tight-lipped about his plans for the franchise — he told the audience, “I’m really excited about all the things I can’t tell you.” He did, however, talk about why he took the job and what he’s doing to prepare for it. Hint: it involves the movie Twelve O’Clock High.

Well this is big news, not to mention exciting. As it turns out, the new Star Wars trilogy won’t all be directed by J.J. Abrams. Lucasfilm is reportedly working on a deal with Looper’s Rian Johnson that will see him write and direct both Star Wars: Episode XIII and Star Wars: Episode IX.

Deadline reports that Johnson, who first caught the public eye in 2005 with Brick, an inventive twist on the noir detective story, will take over the reigns for both the second and third movies in the upcoming trilogy. There is some contradictory information on this front, however, as The Wrap reports that while Johnson will write and direct Episode VIII, he will only write the treatment for Episode IX, though he will not necessarily direct.

Director David Fincher earned some major headlines earlier this year with the addictive political drama House of Cards, one of Netflix’s high-profile line of original content premiering this year. Starring Kevin Spacey and Kate Mara, the show was actually a remake of a 1990 British series. Now it looks like Fincher may be planning following that same model and producing a new HBO series based on the British series Utopia.

Unlike House of Cards, the origina Utopia is a much more recent arrival on the scene. It premiered this past January on the U.K.’s Channel 4. Utopia involves a cult graphic novel called The Utopia Experiments, which seems to have successfully predicted many horrible disasters of the previous century. A group of people gains possession of the manuscript for a sequel to the graphic novel, and in turn finds themselves being pursued by a dangerous group called “the Network.” The group tries to stay ahead of the Network while also attempting to decipher the manuscript and prevent the upcoming disasters it predicts. Sounds a bit like Alex Proyas’ 2009 flick Knowing.

Genre filmmaker Rian Johnson made the leap from cult favorite to mainstream director with last year’s sci-fi film Looper. The film grossed a reported $176.5 million global box office take, so it seems fitting that the 39-year-old director will be sticking with science fiction for his next movie.

While making an appearance on the /Filmcast 10-hour FilmAid marathon this past weekend (along with other fan favorites such as Jason Reitman and Edgar Wright), Rian Johnson spoke briefly about the new film he is currently writing. According to /Film’s Editor-In-Chief Peter Sciretta, the movie will be a sci-fi cyberpunk tale. There is not much else known about the project, but it’s good to see Johnson refining the sci-fi genre with his next film. Read Peter Sciretta’s Tweet below:

Rian Johnson’s next film, writing now, still sci-fi, very different than #Looper, more Cyberpunk #slashfilmaid slashfilm.com/bookmark-this-…

— Peter Sciretta (@slashfilm) March 30, 2013