What would it take to get Rian Johnson back to Star Wars? Johnson seems more content with seeing others tackle that franchise for now. While at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Johnson commented on Kathleen Kennedy’s departure, saying he’s excited for her and interested to see what’s next for Lucasfilm. “As a Star Wars fan, the most exciting thing for me is always seeing when they bring in fresh voices and fresh filmmakers to come in and tell new stories in that world.” (Not sure if Shawn Levy or Taika Waititi count as fresh voices, but there’s still time to green-light more projects!) But the burning question is, would Johnson return? Johnson kept his response short and sweet, saying The Last Jedi was the “time of [his] life” and that he’s only become a bigger Star Wars fan since, so he “would feel blessed if that were to ever happen.”
So what gives? It’s now old hat for Lucasfilm to green-light projects that may never make it to the big screen, or even production — remember Patty Jenkins’s Rogue Squadron announcement? Ahead of The Last Jedi, it was announced that Johnson would tackle a new trilogy of films in the Star Wars universe, but while The Last Jedi performed well enough, the film itself was divisive among fans, leading to speculation that Johnson was done with that universe. Plus, you know, he shortly had another successful franchise in his Knives Out films. But not even his good friend Kennedy could coax him back to Star Wars, or seemingly even knows why he opted out of the trilogy, for some reason. During her exit interview with Deadline, Kennedy said of Johnson, “I do believe he got spooked by the online negativity.” Afterward, Johnson responded on the spookiest online platform, X, “Lol zero spooked, sorry.”
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