Rian Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy, despite years in development hell, is still Star Wars’ most promising project, and that’s a problem. Announced on November 17, before the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy was never given a release date, nor was it ever revealed what the films were going to be about. The only solid information regarding Rian Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy is that it would deal with new characters and that it would have no ties to the Skywalker Saga, and that is what makes it sound so interesting.
At a time when Star Wars struggles to find a future beyond Luke Skywalker, an all-original story crafted by the filmmaker behind one of the most creative Star Wars movies since The Empire Strikes Back is exactly what the franchise needs. Star Wars: The Last Jedi may have been divisive, but even those who did not like the movie can agree that Rian Johnson was not afraid of innovating and taking the story to unexpected places. The Last Jedi was a much-needed breath of fresh air following a most uninventive Star Wars: The Force Awakens, something Star Wars once again needs. Unfortunately, after almost five years in which there were no updates on Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy, Star Wars’ most exciting project will likely never happen.
Why Star Wars Needs Rian Johnson's Movies
While the Star Wars shows on Disney+ have proven that Star Wars has a future beyond the movie trilogies, they have also shown how limited and small in scale Star Wars has become. Shows like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi have overly relied on cameos and connections to the Star Wars universe, which makes the galaxy feel small and reduces how creative and out of the box Star Wars can be. Andor is trying to break that formula by offering a self-contained Star Wars adventure, yet its familiar setting and the fact that it is a prequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story means that it can only be so innovative.
With Star Wars struggling to get creative and with no Star Wars movie currently scheduled, Rian Johnson’s Star Wars movies are what the franchise needs. Given that Johnson was willing to flip audiences' expectations regarding iconic Star Wars characters like Luke Skywalker, plus how The Last Jedi was not afraid of proving two years of popular theories regarding Rey and Snoke wrong, the filmmaker is the best candidate to reinvigorate Star Wars.
The premise of Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy also sounds exactly like what the Star Wars movies need. Instead of a prequel to an established Star Wars story or a continuation of the Skywalker legacy, Rian Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy was set to “introduce new characters” and take place in a “corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.” After The Book of Boba Fett saw some of Star Wars' most famous characters all running into each other in the same episode and Obi-Wan Kenobi showed that Leia had known Obi-Wan for years, nothing could be more exciting for Star Wars than a truly original story.
Will Rian Johnson's Star Wars Movies Happen? It's Unlikely
Considering that Rian Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy was announced a month before the release of The Last Jedi, Lucasfilm could not have anticipated how divisive Episode VIII was going to be. The Last Jedi’s reception was one of the most turbulent moments in the history of the franchise, and it sparked a level of online criticism that still affects how blockbuster movies are received. While The Last Jedi’s critical reception was solid, with some even ranking Episode VIII as the best Star Wars movie since The Empire Strikes Back, the discourse surrounding the movie online made it so that a Rian Johnson Star Wars trilogy could not happen right away.
That said, Rian Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy was never officially canceled, with Rian Johnson’s busy schedule of original films like Knives Out and its sequel being pointed out by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy as the reason why the films haven't happened yet. Johnson himself has also never ruled out his Star Wars movie trilogy, though neither the filmmaker nor Lucasfilm ever offered a solid estimate as to when those movies could be released.
Five years after its announcement, Rian Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy has never come close to entering production. It is likely that Johnson also doesn’t have a script yet, as the filmmaker will have released two movies since 2017’s The Last Jedi. Other Star Wars movie projects have also been announced since then, and while there are currently no Star Wars movies slated, projects like Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron and Taika Waititi’s untitled Star Wars movie are closer to becoming reality than Johnson’s Star Wars movies. At this point, it seems unlikely that Rian Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy will ever happen.