Looper’s Rian Johnson Wants To Helm An Episode Of Doctor Who
Writer/director Rian Johnson’s time travel action film Looper finally opens this Friday, September 28th. It’s damn good, and you should go see it. As you can imagine, Johnson is waist deep in promoting his latest feature, and in doing so he has revealed himself to be a big ol’ nerd. One who maybe wants to direct an episode of BBC’s iconic sci-fi series, Doctor Who.
Johnson is best known for Brick, his 2005 take on the noir detective story, but he’s also helmed a few recent episodes for TV, including AMC’s Breaking Bad and FX’s short-lived Terriers. When he recently took to the web for an online question-and-answer session with fans, one asked if he has aims to do more TV work in the future. Here’s his response:
I’d love to do a Game of Thrones.
But what I’d really kill to try, although it would be terrifying because I’m such a big fan of it? Doctor Who.
How awesome would either of those possibilities be? Johnson’s action chops are solid, but so is his dramatic acumen. Both of those, along with his sharp uses of tension and atmosphere, would be a huge boon on a show like Game of Thrones. However, it would be a huge amount of fun to see him bring his aesthetic to the Time Lord’s universe, even if it happens to horrify him.
Doctor Who isn’t opposed to having big-name guest participants, and has attracted similar interest from others. Neil Gaiman has written a couple of episodes, and Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has even expressed his desire to helm an episode. Fingers crossed!
