Normally we don’t do rumors, but this one appears to have some legs. Deadline is reporting that Rian Johnson will be writing and directing Episodes VIII and IX.

Johnson will take over the core film franchise, and he’ll get started quickly and this will be his preoccupation for quite awhile. Johnson made his directing debut on the respected indie Brick, and then jumped to mainstream science fiction by writing and directing Looper, an inventive time travel thriller that starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis. It would be hard to imagine him taking on a higher profile challenge than two consecutive Star Wars films. I’ll tell you more when I know it. Johnson is repped by CAA.

As mentioned in that snippet, Johnson headed Looper, a time traveling film met with mixed but mostly positive reviews. His indie film resume (as well as some of his work on Breaking Bad) have won him acclaim.

This isn’t confirmed yet, but multiple major outlets are jumping all over this one.