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Rian Johnson Doesn’t Seem Sure About His New Star Wars Trilogy
Rian Johnson doesn't seem so sure about his new Star Wars trilogy right now. In November 2017, one month before Johnson's The Last Jedi hit theaters, Lucasfilm officially announced the director would oversee an all-new film trilogy entirely separate from the Skywalker saga. Since that news broke, a lot has happened in the Star Wars universe, including The Last Jedi becoming one of the most divisive films of the decade (despite earning positive reviews and earning $1.3 billion at the box office). Multiple other Star Wars movie projects are in various stages of development, such as another trilogy from David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, and more recently, a Star Wars film from Kevin Feige.
All of these moving pieces cast some sort of doubt over Johnson's trilogy, though the filmmaker has always maintained he's still working on the project, trying to figure out what the story will be. That's more or less been his standard line for the last several months, though now the tune has changed somewhat. Based on his latest comments, Johnson's trilogy isn't set in stone just yet.
Speaking with BANG Showbiz, Johnson was asked about his future in the Star Wars franchise. He remarked that Lucasfilm is in the process of "figuring out what they're doing" and he'd "be thrilled if it happens." The operative word there is "if," which makes it sound like the trilogy isn't actually a go at this point in time. Watch the video in the space below:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1181878285342560256
What's interesting here is this is the first time Johnson's publicly expressed uncertainty over the new trilogy. Previously, it always sounded like the trilogy was indeed happening, it was just a matter of when. Over the spring at Celebration Chicago, Kathleen Kennedy went so far as to say Johnson was working closely with Benioff & Weiss to plan out the next decade of Star Wars content. Of course, that was months prior to the shocking report Feige was stepping into the galaxy far, far away, so it'll be fascinating to see how this all plays out. Disney has three untitled Star Wars movies scheduled for release in December 2022, 2024, and 2026 and, as it stands, three projects in development. The studio has a lot to sort out as they plot the next era for Star Wars. Ideally, by the time Celebration Anaheim rolls around next August, they'll have a slate in place to reveal.
It is also highly important to keep in mind this is by no means confirmation Johnson's trilogy is dead. As he says in the interview, he's still talking with Lucasfilm about it, so the studio has some level of interest in pursuing it. That being said, it seems relatively safe to assume Johnson isn't going to dive head-first back into Star Wars when his murder-mystery Knives Out is in the rearview mirror. If he was, he likely would have taken a more affirmative stance regarding his trilogy's timeline. But, since Lucasfilm has yet to formally unveil their post-Rise of Skywalker lineup, there's a chance Johnson is just playing coy until he can be more open about his next Star Wars movie.
Star Wars 9 / Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) release date: Dec 20, 2019
