Rian Johnson’s Star Wars journey might end with The Last Jedi, even though a new position with Episode IX just opened. And yes, he’s already been asked.
The only person to have ever directed more than one Star Wars movie is George Lucas. That’s it. He handled A New Hope, and then all three of the prequel films. Irvin Kershner directed The Empire Strikes Back, and Richard Marquand did Return of the Jedi. The Force Awakens summoned J.J. Abrams; The Clone Wars was Dave Filoni’s work; as we’ve talked about often here, Ron Howard is now doing the Han Solo movie, and Gareth Edwards was in the chair for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
We say all this because TheWrap is now reporting that Rian Johnson won’t become the second person to ever direct two Star Wars movies, even though Colin Trevorrow’s exit means there’s ample opportunity. More accurately, he doesn’t sound like he actually wants to.
According to TheWrap’s transcription of the footage below, he said the following: “Whoever does it, I’m going to be really excited to be an audience member again.”
Sounds like a pretty emphatic no to us, right? But can you blame him? Star Wars films take up a lot of time and energy. He also said, “I’m just thinking about putting [The Last Jedi] out there and seeing how audiences respond to it.”
Frankly, the fanbase is seriously demanding anyway. No matter what, there will be vocal people who don’t like the direction The Last Jedi goes in, and since Johnson also wrote the script, he’ll likely take the brunt of the criticism. If he did direct Episode IX, he’d then have to go through all of that pressure again within two years of having to deal with it the first time. That’s a big ask of any director, let alone Johnson.
In its statement when Trevorrow lost the gig, Lucasfilm said it wanted to “share more information about the film soon.”
With this statement in mind, it seems like that statement won’t include Rian Johnson’s name attached to the directorial gig. Dare we say he might step in to work on the script now that Trevorrow’s gone, though?
Next: 5 directors for Star Wars: Episode IX
There’s a lot that could happen with Episode IX. Stay tuned, Star Wars fans.