Yes, Rian Johnson is still around. Yes, he has not completely forgotten about Star Wars. In fact, in a recent Rolling Stone interview they flat out asked him, after all these years, what the deal was or is with his fabled trilogy.
And yes, water is still wet and blue milk is still blue… so you will read exactly what you expect to read… but let’s see what the ruinator of Luke Skywalker et al has to actually say … shall we? So click through! You know you want to!
Luke molesting the local wildlife
To get the pressing question out of the way first… yes, the trilogy is dead. Of course Rian Johnson would not flat out say so, but I guess he hopes someone, someday, may call him back for something, anything. So you do not burn any bridges you may want to cross again in the future.
When asked by the Rolling Stone what happened with his trilogy, Johnson had this to say:
Nothing really happened with it. We had a great time working together, and they said, “Let’s keep doing it.” I said, “Great!” I would kick ideas around with Kathy. The short version is Knives Out happened. I went off and made Knives Out, and was off to the races, busy making murder mysteries. It’s the sort of thing if, down the line, there’s an opportunity to do it, or do something else in Star Wars, I would be thrilled. But right now I’m just doing my own stuff, and pretty happy.
Then Rolling Stone followed up with a question about how far along the project was:
It was all very conceptual. I made Knives Out fairly quickly after. There was never any outline or treatment or anything.
So nothing at all happened, it was all just “yeah, let’s do a trilogy”… and then Johnson never even worked on it. People like Johnson or Kennedy, or anyone really, will rarely tell the full truth about what is truly going on behind the scenes in Hollywood. So Johnson would never reveal what the real talks between him and Lucasfilm / Disney were like after fan reaction to The Last Jedi became a non trivial matter. And the fact Lucasfilm and Disney went out of their way to course correct with The Rise of Skywalker that undid any and all developments in The Last Jedi tells you all you need to know about what those actual talks were.
What else: Rian Johnson reveals in the interview that he was a massive prequel hater back in the day. He has this to say about fan backlash or hate:
It’s more that this push and pull, and this hatred to stuff that seems new, this is all part of being a Star Wars fan. Culture-war garbage aside, I think that essential part of it is a healthy part.
This statement is pretty reasonable. Critical discourse, even passionate discourse, is a vital part of any fan community. When that stops your franchise is basically dead already. Of course none of that means it should devolve into toxic hatespeech, personal attacks or even outright murder threats.
Rian Johnson has a lot more to say about his Star Wars movie, the Rolling Stone interviewer is a huge fan of The Last Jedi (of course he is…), so he asks about several other things, like the Holdo Maneuver, and what the inspiration for that was. Johnson also says he did not feel resentful when The Rise of Skywalker undid basically everything that happened in The Last Jedi.
If you want to know more about Johnson’s inspirations and thought processes and if you are one of those who want to know more about The Last Jedi read the lengthy Rian Johnson interview with the Rolling Stone!
What do you think? Are you one of those who lament the fact Rian Johnson will never work on Star Wars again or are you in the “good riddance” camp?
In hindsight my own personal opinion is that Johnson is a much better director than JJ Abrams. And while I do not agree with Johnson’s take on Star Wars at all, his movie at least tried something and was not entirely a braindead rehash (The Force Awakens) or a complete mess (The Rise of Skywalker), also, the performances by the actors in The Last Jedi were a lot better than in the other two movies. But truth be told the sequels should probably just best be forgotten about. Now let’s see if Lucasfilm will eventually get the memo. At least we’ll be spared a Rian Johson trilogy. That counts for something. Now if only we will be spared a Rey movie as well… but that movie is in development hell and, if reports are to be believed, even on “indefinite” hold.
Rian Johnson Rolling Stone Interview