Rian Johnson On Returning To ‘Star Wars’: “God I Hope So.”

Rian Johnson hasn’t given up on his Star Wars movie. Discussed ever since Johnson’s The Last Jedi in 2017, the project went from being a trilogy outside of The Skywalker Saga to, now, this thing that may or may not ever happen. But in a new conversation with Variety, Johnson expressed his desire to return to a galaxy far far away…

“I have talked to [Kathleen Kennedy] about it and we’re still talking about it,” Johnson said. “I had such an amazing experience making ‘The Last Jedi.’ It’s entirely a matter of scheduling. For me, putting this [‘Glass Onion’] out and making the next one of these…the answer is I don’t know.”

Johnson replied “God I hope so.” when asked if we would actually see more Star Wars from him.

I think if Johnson wants to do it, it will happen. Lucasfilm has stayed in conversation with Johnson long enough that they’re clearly interested. Despite a lot of negativity out there about it, The Last Jedi earned $1.3B worldwide, more than the $1B of JJ Abrams’ finale, The Rise of Skywalker. Those numbers can’t be denied, and Johnson’s popularity due to Knives Out and its sequel, Glass Onion, has skyrocketed.

That said, Lucasfilm doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing right now. We recently learned about a new Star Wars film from Damon Lindelof and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy that could arrive in 2025. Plus there are projects from Kevin Feige and Taika Waititi out there that could happen.

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.