The planned Star Wars trilogy from Rian Johnson, the helmer of The Last Jedi, is still alive according to the filmmaker himself.
You don’t need us to remind you that Disney’s Star Wars film slate is in something of a state of uncertainty. Lucasfilm hasn’t yet managed to achieve the same Marvel-style frequency and quality control as yet for its Star Wars films. Directors sign then leave, projects are rumoured, announced and cancelled and even when they do enter production, more than the odd problem occurs.
Since the saga’s relaunch in 2015, no film has been more divisive however than Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi. The 2017 film was critically lauded but it also managed to turn the saga’s fanbase against each other, creating toxic levels of debate which it could be argued has hurt the subsequent release of every Star Wars film since. At the time of the film’s release it was announced that Johnson was working on a new trilogy that was not connected to any existing Star Wars storylines, and would take place in a different corner of the Star Wars universe.
When The Last Jedi divided fans and was followed 2019’s by The Rise Of Skywalker rather uncharitably retconning elements of Johnson’s film out of existence (presumably with the backing of Disney’s top brass), it seemed that Johnson’s aspirations of returning to the Star Wars universe to make his planned trilogy had dimmed considerably. This was further compounded during 2020’s Disney Investor Day when new Star Wars projects were announced, including Patty Jenkins’ planned Rogue Squadron (now on hiatus), whilst Johnson’s planned trilogy wasn’t even referenced.
It seems though that the reason for the omission may have been nothing to do with the planned trilogy being quietly cancelled, but rather because it is so far off in the distance.
Around a year and a half ago Johnson popped up to say that it was still in the works and the filmmaker has popped up again this week to state that the planned films are still on the cards, telling Empire: “I’ve stayed close to Kathleen [Kennedy] and we get together often and talk about it. It’s just at this point a matter of schedule and when it can happen. It would break my heart if I were finished, if I couldn’t get back in that sandbox at some point.”
Perhaps it is simply Johnson’s commitment to Netflix to make two more Knives Out movies (one of which is with us before the year is out) that is pushing the filmmaker’s new Star Wars trilogy further and further away. Still perhaps by the time he finally gets around to it, all of the Star Wars fans will have healed their differences and will be singing happily together, holding hands like wookies on Life Day. We doubt it very much but you never know.
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