Rian Johnson has a lot on his plate right now, from the launch of Knives Out sequel Glass Onion to his Peacock mystery series Poker Face. So much so, it’s the reason we’ve not heard a peep out of his plans for a previously announced trilogy of Star Wars movies other than that he’d really like to keep doing them. But Johnson isn’t just down for some more movies.
It what feels like the seven million years since the release of The Last Jedi in 2017, a combination of the culture war harassment firestorm around its debut and Johnson’s ability to remain booked, busy, and unbothered has meant there’s been little time for talk around the director’s previously announced return to the franchise: a theatrical trilogy, revolving around new characters, in a previously untouched part of the Star Wars galaxy. But in those millions of years, Star Wars has evolved into more than a fully armed and operational movie franchise, through shows like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and now by far and away the best of them all, Andor. And Johnson wouldn’t mind getting in that way, either.
“I would do a Star Wars anything. And if I had an idea that I was excited about, that worked better as a show than a movie, I’d do it that way,” Johnson recently told the Hollywood Reporter about his future with Star Wars. Of course, whatever Johnson wanted to make, he’s just too busy for now. “At the moment, we’re in between making the next Benoit Blanc movie and thinking about Poker Face,” the director continued. “I keep getting together with Kathy [Kennedy] and having conversations. Who knows? Making The Last Jedi was the best experience in my life, so I should be so lucky.”
While it would be nice to eventually get three movies from Johnson to push Star Wars’ cinematic horizons as we thought we should expect when they were announced all those years ago, at this point? I wouldn’t say no to a TV show. Between his history with Breaking Bad and Poker Face he’s a dab hand in the medium, and perhaps what better way to have space to chew on meatier ideas The Last Jedi brushed on than over the course of a season of TV? Alas, all we can do, just like Johnson reminds us, is keep hoping.
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Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.