Johnson made his Star Wars directorial debut in The Last Jedi. The director recently shared updates about the status of the new trilogy and his involvement in the project. In an interview with Empire Magazine, Johnson said “I’ve stayed close to Kathleen [Kennedy] and we get together often and talk about it.” Kathleen Kennedy, president at Lucasfilms has been heavily involved in the development of the previous trilogy. Johnson shared that “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.” Rian Johnson is currently committed to directing the sequel to Netflix’s Knives Out. The first movie was very successful and Netflix committed $462 million for two sequels.
A new entry into the Star Wars universe
Kennedy confirmed that the next trilogy is still in the works. However, everyone who is part of the new trilogy are still committed to other projects. “Now, everybody’s so busy – genuinely busy and working on things,” Kennedy shared when asked about the future of the announced Star Wars trilogy. Kennedy also confirms that Johnson will be involved in the project stating, “Rian had such a gigantic success with Knives Out that he’s very committed to try and get that done.” With this statement, it seems Star Wars fans have to wait for Johnson’s commitment to Netflix to be completed before he can begin work on Star Wars. Work on the next trilogy is underway as Kennedy mentions “we have to work three, five years in advance on what we’re doing. So that’s where that sits.” With the confirmation, it looks like we are looking at another half decade before we will be seeing the next mainline entry into the Star Wars universe.
Box office success and critical reception from fans
It has been three years since the last Star Wars film was released. While The Force Awakens, Last of the Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker were box office hits, collectively generating $4.5 billion in ticket sales, loyal fans of the franchise weren’t too impressed. The last three entries, known as the sequel trilogy, have been called divisive by fans. Critics also pointed out that the sequel trilogy broke off from the tradition of Star Wars films in terms of tone, humor, and story. Ratings for the sequel trilogy were the lowest amongst the nine that are included in the Skywalker Saga. The Last Jedi and Rise of the Skywalker were the ones that were targeted the most in reviews, with the latter receiving the lowest scores amongst the Skywalker Saga films. In contrast, Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker was a fan of the sequel trilogy and shared that he enjoyed the movies. While we wait for the next Star Wars film to come out, Lucasfilms is also doing a lot of expansion to the Star Wars Universe with its tv series on Disney+. There are rumors that Cal Kestis from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will be getting his own TV series. Liam Neeson is also set to return to Star Wars as the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn in the animated Tales of the Jedi. The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi are the current tv shows set in the Star Wars Universe. Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will be making its Netflix premiere on December 23, 2022.
