Rian Johnson on the excitement of crafting a brand-new Star Wars trilogy

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Over the course of the STAR WARS saga, we've dealt with familiar characters, places, and themes, but with the upcoming STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER said to serve as the culmination of the long-running saga, we'll soon be venturing into unexplored territory. Shortly before the release of STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, Lucasfilm decided to give Rian Johnson free rein to craft an entirely new STAR WARS trilogy which would be separate from the Skywalker saga and introduce "new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored."

The freedom to develop something entirely new in the STAR WARS sandbox is quite exciting, and Rian Johnson recently spoke with The Observer regarding the new trilogy.

I think that the fun and challenging part of it is to dive in, figure out what’s exciting and then figure out what it’s going to be. We’re doing something that steps beyond the legacy characters. What does that look like? To me, the blue sky element of it is what was most striking about it. I know the way that I’m coming at it and what’s fun about it for everyone in George Lucas’ films is figuring out, "what’s the next step?" It really makes you think and figure out what the essence of Star Wars is for me and what that will look like moving forward.

However, before Rian Johnson brings us this new exploration of STAR WARS, he'll be bringing us KNIVES OUT, a contemporary whodunit featuring a star-studded cast which includes Daniel Craig, Jamie Curtis, Chris Evans, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, and more. Compared to the big-budget which THE LAST JEDI enjoyed, KNIVES OUT is a bit of a different animal. "Well, you have to shoot a lot faster,” the director said with a laugh. "For me, one of the fun things about [Knives Out] was how dialogue-based it was. It was really fun to get a group of great actors together and give them a ton of words. In a Star Wars movie, you’re usually trying to be as efficient with dialogue as possible, which is a good thing. Of course, I worked with some of the best actors on the planet in Star Wars. You’re just chasing a very different rabbit. With Knives Out, you could write more words and just sit back with a huge smile on my face as they shoot them."

KNIVES OUT is set for a November 27, 2019 release, but we're still a number of years away before we see the first of Rian Johnson's new set of STAR WARS movies. Meanwhile, STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER will hit theaters on December 20, 2019.