It was announced by Lucasfilm today that, as rumors suggested earlier this week, Toy Story 3 and Catching Fire screenwriter Michael Arndt will indeed pen Star Wars: Episode 7.

The following update was posted to the official Star Wars website today:

As pre-production of Star Wars: Episode VII begins, Lucasfilm has confirmed that award-winning writer Michael Arndt will write the screenplay for the new Star Wars film. As revealed in the ongoing video series posted here on StarWars.com, Kathleen Kennedy and George Lucas have begun story conferences with Arndt. Arndt won an Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay for writing Little Miss Sunshine (2006), and was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing Toy Story 3 (2010).

Vulture had learned yesterday a 40 to 50-page treatment was written by Arndt. The screenwriter’s other work includes Little Miss Sunshine (which he won an Oscar for) and the “Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside the Mind” (slated for a 2015 release).

Following Vulture’s, Deadline followed up with additional information. It learned that Arndt had planned out all three Star Wars films and was brought on board several months ago to help Disney.

During their October 30 conference call making their Lucasfilm acquisition announcement, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that they received a “pretty extensive treatment for what would be the next three [Star Wars] films.” Iger added they were pleased with the treatment and the films were in “early stages.”

Star Wars creator George Lucas added, “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come.”