Rian Johnson’s new Star Wars trilogy won’t be Knights of the Old Republic

Rian Johnson had so much fun crafting STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, and Lucasfilm is obviously quite pleased by the finished product, that he's set to create a brand-new STAR WARS trilogy which will be separate from the Skywalker saga, introducing "new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored." Johnson will write and direct the first film in the trilogy, but he told Collider that it's far too early to decide whether he'll direct all three. "Honestly I don’t know yet. I know I’m gonna come up with the whole thing, the idea is to come up with one big story, but I know I’m gonna write and direct at least the first one," Johnson said. "Then I’m gonna have to—even the first one at this point we’re still figuring it out, so I don’t know yet. But I know I want to come up with the whole thing and then we’ll see." We still don't know what type of story this new trilogy will tell, but Rian Johnson has already ruled out one popular choice – Knights of the Old Republic.

While speaking with Mashable, the STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI director addressed the fans who are hoping that his new trilogy would be set during the time-period of the 2003 role-playing video game, which takes place thousands of years before the prequels during a period of large-scale conflict between the Jedi and the Sith.

Oh, they love Knights of the Old Republic. I played that game when it first came out and it was like, god, I loved it. Yeah, that’s a fantastic game. And I understand it, the instinct to automatically go to something that you know and love, that you’ve already seen. I understand it, the instinct to automatically go to something that you know and love.

"To me," Johnson added, "what's really fun is the notion of what new stuff are we gonna see, what new stories can we tell?" Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. Although the Old Republic period is compelling, and I've no doubt that the movies will get there at some point, I'm desperate for STAR WARS to give me something new. I want to discover what STAR WARS can be about when it's stripped of familiar characters and locations. "The possibility in a new story told over three movies, go anywhere, do anything, sky’s the limit, in Star Wars? That’s so exciting." Indeed it is.

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI will hit theaters on December 15th.