Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Trilogy Will Step ‘Beyond the Legacy of the Characters’

Filmmaker Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) spoke with Observer about his upcoming Star Wars trilogy which will introduce a new narrative outside of the Skywalker saga.

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Johnson told the outlet that part of the fun and challenge of taking on a new story in the Star Wars universe outside of the Skywalker saga is “to dive in” and figure out what’s exciting.

“We’re doing something that steps beyond the legacy of the characters,” said Johnson. “What does it look like? To me, the blue sky element of it is what was most striking about it. I know that I’m coming at it and what’s fun about it for everyone in George Lucas’ films is figuring it 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.” 

When asked about how Johnson approaches projects outside of the Star Wars realm, such as his upcoming mystery comedy Knives Out, the writer and director said that the different approach to Star Wars partly comes down to logistics and “the type of film it is.”

Johnson mentioned that with a movie like Knives Out, you have to “shoot a lot faster,” and that one of his favorite parts about writing the original screenplay was how the narrative focused so much on dialogue.

“In a Star Wars movie, you’re usually trying to be as efficient with dialogue as possible, which is a good thing,” said Johnson. “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.” 

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Lionsgate is set to release Johnson’s Knives Out on November 27.