The Last Jedi Director Rian Johnson Wants Back Into Star Wars — and He Isn’t Letting the Idea Go

Rian Johnson is not sprinting back to Star Wars, but he is absolutely not locking that door either. If you were hoping for a hard yes/no on his long-teased trilogy, the answer is: shrug for now, maybe later.

Where he left things with Star Wars

Back in 2017, before Star Wars: The Last Jedi (aka Episode 8) even hit theaters, Lucasfilm announced Johnson would develop a brand-new Star Wars trilogy he would kick off himself. The Last Jedi came out in December 2017, and years later, there has still been zero public movement on that trilogy.

"That cog will be turning the rest of my life. I love Star Wars. And if some day it makes sense to come back to it, for both of us, it would be the most wonderful thing in the world."

So what actually happened to that trilogy?

Earlier this year, Johnson basically said it never truly left the idea stage. He and Lucasfilm had a great working relationship, they talked about doing more, and he batted around concepts with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. Then Knives Out blew up, and he got busy making Benoit Blanc mysteries. Translation: development chats happened, a career hot streak took over, and the trilogy went into indefinite stasis.

What he is doing next

Johnson is deep in his third Benoit Blanc movie, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Daniel Craig is back in the white suit, and the cast is stacked: Josh O'Connor leads opposite Craig, with Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner, Glenn Close, and Andrew Scott along for the ride.

• Wake Up Dead Man dates: limited theatrical run starts November 26; streaming on Netflix December 12

Bottom line: Johnson is open to returning to that galaxy if and when schedules and sanity align. Until then, he is solving murders, not fixing the Jedi Order.