Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Trilogy Finally Canceled?
There’s been much chatter in recent months surrounding Rian Johnson’s possible involvement in a Star Wars trilogy. For those who (somehow) don’t recall, the director was the mind behind the second feature in the resurgence of films that told the “final” chapter in the Skywalker dynasty. And, if the Knives Out creator has anything to say about it, his much talked about trio of films is still something that’s entirely possible.
During a recent interview with Variety, Rian Johnson spoke about returning to the Star Wars universe and gave a resounding “God I hope so” when questioned about the chance that he may yet stand behind three films in the franchise. In what the filmmaker refers to as “a matter of scheduling,” he says that he and Kathleen Kennedy (the President of Lucasfilm) are “still talking about it,” giving us a new hope for the director’s trilogy takeover. Referring to his time on The Last Jedi as “such an amazing experience,” Johnson admits that with the success of the Knives Out franchise being his primary focus, he’s just not sure when he’d have the opportunity to shift things into lightspeed and travel to a galaxy far, far away.
Rian Johnson’s feature, The Last Jedi was the middle production in the newest release of Star Wars films. Landing in theaters in 2017, the movie came out following 2015’s The Force Awakens and 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. Between new characters and old, the films introduced fresh tales from the galaxy while tying up long running stories from the franchise.
Rian Johnson then stepped away from Star Wars filmmaking and took a brief hiatus from the craft altogether, only to return to the world of the big screen in 2019 with Knives Out. A star-studded affair, featuring the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Daniel Craig, Joseph-Gordon Levitt, and more, the production was a riff on a whodunnit with witty dialogue, a well formed plotline, and more twists and turns than audiences could count. Landing in theaters just in time for Thanksgiving, the project was an absolute smash, leaving Johnson no choice but to give fans more Knives Out content.
That decision led the Looper director to partner with Netflix and move forward with a sequel titled Glass Onion. Releasing to a limited theatrical engagement followed by a drop on the streaming platform, the production will take viewers on an entirely new case with a new cast of characters, save for the detective at the center of it all – Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc. But these aren’t the only projects keeping Rian Johnson too busy to helm another Star Wars feature.
Keeping up with his penchant for working with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, as he’s proven himself prone to do, the crafty director is in the middle of creating a semi-anthology series for Peacock titled Poker Face. With a new case and fresh faces each week, Natasha Lyonne will star in the production with guests including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Adrien Brody, Stephanie Hsu, and Chloë Sevigny set to join. While we’d love to see what Rian Johnson could come up with in a Star Wars trilogy of his own, it sounds like we’ll still have a while to wait until further updates are solidified.
