Rian Johnson confirms he’s still working on his original Star Wars trilogy

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Depending on who you ask, Rian Johnson either crafted the most harrowing, thought-provoking Star Wars movie of all time with THE LAST JEDI, or he took the beloved series, threw it in a dumpster, lit it on fire and laughed gleefully as episodes of STAR TREK played in the background. No matter what, Johnson left his stamp on the saga, and will continue to do so with his planned trilogy of Star Wars movies – of which recent rumors claimed he was no longer working on. But Johnson, the social media savvy filmmaker he is, was quick to shut down this rumor mill and confirm he is still working on his new movies.

[SEE MORE]

Rumors began swirling yesterday that Johnson was no longer working on his Star Wars trilogy (a story originated by SuperBroMovies and reported on by ScreenRant), and when the word started to spread Johnson responded to the story in a perfect manner, one he’s no doubt refined over the last year and a half.

[SEE MORE]

Johnson was hired to craft a new trilogy of movies for Lucasfilm and Disney after writing and directing STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, with this new series focusing on a whole new cast of characters in an original story. Johnson will write and direct the first film in the series, and since the announcement, no new information has come to light about what the story will focus on, and what mythology in the Star Wars universe it will pull from. Johnson spoke about the project last April, saying he's starting to crack the story by asking the simple question of what Star Wars means to him.

We're just at the very beginning of figuring out what this new thing is going to be, but part of the excitement of it is really trying to hone in on 'what is Star Wars?' What was Star Wars for me the very first time I saw it when I was a little kid? What are the combination of elements that just made me want to jump into the screen, and made me want to go home and instantly start telling my own stories?

While the rumor was nothing more than that, it would be easy to think Johnson was stepping away from Star Wars after he began work on his new original movie, KNIVES OUT, a modern noir mystery starring Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana De Armas, Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Christopher Plummer and Don Johnson. His tweet confirms he’s still very much part of the Star Wars universe, and OUT was likely just the perfect palette cleanser before really digging into this new trilogy.

KNIVES OUT is set for November 27.