There are several Star Wars films on the horizon for the next few years, but some of the most intriguing of the bunch are the projects that remain a mystery. Chief among these projects are the three films in Rian Johnson's upcoming trilogy, which will see the director take the galaxy far, far away in a fresh direction. We still don't know much about the endeavor, but it looks like things have started to come together gradually. In a recent interview, Star Wars: The Last Jedi producer Ram Bergman revealed:
We've started. Slowly, slowly, but we've started. And, you know, hopefully soon we're going to get busier.
That does not tell us exactly where things are at right now, but it does tell us that the dial has started to move forward on Rian Johnson's next foray into the world of Star Wars. Johnson has described his work on Star Wars: The Last Jedi as good practice for his eventual journey into his own stories in this universe, so it stands to reason that he will be ready to go once he has fully cracked the story and figured out the arc that he wants to see play out in the galaxy far, far away. The process has begun, and now it's all a matter of picking up momentum along the way.
One thing not explicitly acknowledged by Ram Bergman's remarks to Empire is the fact that there's a specific reason for the slow and steady progress of Rian Johnson's new Star Wars trilogy. The announcement of the trilogy occurred late last year during the buildup to the debut of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Johnson himself admitted that he didn't actually pitch a fully-formed idea to the folks at Lucasfilm before they signed him. Instead, the Looper director merely suggested the possibility of telling a brand-new story utterly separate from the Skywalker (or any classic characters for that matter) corner of the Star Wars franchise, and that seed blossomed into him getting the job.
Of course, Rian Johnson isn't the only filmmaker currently hard at work developing new content for the Star Wars universe. In addition to the man behind The Last Jedi, Lucasfilm has also tapped Iron Man director Jon Favreau to develop a new Star Wars TV series, as well as Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to create their own new slate of Star Wars films. Johnson is one of many creatives currently working in the Star Wars landscape, but it looks like his vision for what's next has finally started to come together.
Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi is already available on Digital HD, and the Blu-ray and DVD versions of the film will hit shelves later this month on March 27. Looking ahead to the next installments in the Star Wars saga, Solo: A Star Wars Story will hit theaters later this year on May 25, and Star Wars: Episode IX will round out the current trilogy on December 20, 2019.
