There’s no movie franchise quite as beloved as Star Wars, thanks to generations of moviegoers growing up with the galaxy far, far away. One of the most divisive movies in the property has been Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi, which subverted fan expectations and was full of wild twists (shout out to floating Leia). He was signed on to bring another movie together outside of the Skywalker Saga, but there’s been no real news on its development. And here’s why Johnson might be tackling Knives Out 3 before he returns to Star Wars.
The Last Jedi arrived in theaters back in 2017, and got a huge reaction from moviegoers at the time. While some took umbrage with Rian Johnson’s bold choices, Lucasfilm was clearly impressed with this work. Fans have been wondering when this project might actually come to fruition, but we might have to continue waiting. Because as Johnson explained to Total Film (via SlashFilm), he’s really on a roll with the Knives Out movies. While promoting the upcoming release of Glass Onion (see the new trailer here), the filmmaker spoke about how focused he is on that burgeoning franchise saying:
I had for a while thought that maybe I should do something else first [...] But the God's honest truth is, I had so much fun making this one, and the creative challenge of figuring out a third movie that's completely different from both this one and the first one — right now, that's the most interesting creative challenge to me. So I might just dive in and see what we come up with.
Well, there you have it. While Star Wars fans are ready to see what Rian Johnson will do with another installment of the beloved space opera, they’re going to have to continue using Jedi-like patience. Mostly because Rian Johnson is having so much fun with Knives Out that he might just keep the ball rolling with the previously announced theequel. We’ll just have to see how it all shakes out.
The one two punch of The Last Jedi and the first Knives Out movie helped Rian Johnson become an even more mainstream movie success, with the very different projects using his signature sense of humor. The Star Wars franchise’s future on the big screen is largely a mystery at this point, with the franchise instead seemingly focused on TV projects for Disney+. But as more time goes by since the release of The Rise of Skywalker, the fandom is getting eager to see a full-fledged movie project.
As previously mentioned, moviegoers had quite a reaction when Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi first arrived in theaters. He purposefully subverted fan expectations and theories, especially regarding the fate of Snoke and the way he handled Rey’s parentage. Some folks out there (including Mark Hamill at first) also took umbrage with the jaded characterization of franchise hero Luke Skywalker. But as years went by, more love has been given to the Johnson, the cast, and the movie overall. Which has only increased anticipation for his next Star Wars flick.
Moviegoers continue to show concern over the movies side of the Star Wars franchise. A number of projects have been announced and scrapped, including projects from Game of Thrones’ DB Weiss and David Benioff and Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron. While both Rian Johnson and Taika Waititi are currently attached to movies, there hasn’t been a clear timeline of when they’ll actually start production. And as a result, fans are left to re-watch the Star Wars movies in order as they wait for news.
While Rian Johnson’s Star Wars future is a mystery, his next movie Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will have a limited theatrical release on November 23rd, before hitting Netflix on December 23rd. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates– just don’t expect to see anything Star Wars related.
