Star Wars: Does Production Office Photo Offer Hints at 'Episode IX'?

Star Wars fans are still awaiting an official look at Star Wars: Episode IX, instead having to settle for a number of grainy and out of focus leaked photos from the set. A Wrinkle in Time director Ava DuVernay has given us one of our best behind-the-scenes look at the film, sharing a photo of second unit director Victoria Mahoney's production office.

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I’m here in London checking on my friends, the bad-ass, epic architect and miracle worker JJ Abrams and the history-making, fierce and phenomenal @VictoriaMahoney. Here’s Victoria in her Star Wars IX offices at the famous Pinewood Studios. How she and our dear JJ look so spry and fresh after all these months shooting is incredible. That’s the sign of a happy set, led by good people. 👊🏾

A post shared by Ava DuVernay (@ava) on Nov 29, 2018 at 9:02am PST

DuVernay posted a series of images of Mahoney in the office, with images posted on the walls immediately catching our eye. It's unclear how an individual in a pink fur coat with a Darth Vader helmet could inspire the upcoming film, but we can cross our fingers that such a character makes a cameo.

Another image that jumps out at us is the iconic opening crawl. While we couldn't help but hope this was a tease of the official crawl from Episode IX, it's actually the crawl from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Other recognizable images include stills from Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as an image from the interior of the Millennium Falcon.

It would only make sense that DuVernay shared her enthusiasm for Mahoney's involvement in the project, as she was the one who originally confirmed the news of Mahoney's involvement as the second unit director.

While the position of second unit director might not be as recognizable as a first unit director, the filmmaker plays a pivotal role in productions as large as a Star Wars film. Typically, director Abrams would be working closely with the principal cast on the more personal, dialogue-driven scenes, while Mahoney will likely be focusing on the much larger, potentially more complex action and battle scenes. The role on the set might not get as much attention, but the second unit director is just as integral to accomplish a sci-fi spectacle as the film's first unit director.

With the film hitting theaters in just over a year, we could be learning official details about it imminently.

Star Wars: Episode IX lands in theaters in December of 2019.

Do you recognize any of the other images in the behind-the-scenes photos? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!