Rian Johnson is finally shedding some light on his long-rumored, ultimately abandoned “Star Wars” trilogy—a project that was announced by Lucasfilm but never materialized beyond the earliest conceptual stages.
In a recent conversation with Rolling Stone, Johnson revealed that while there was genuine excitement between him and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy following the release of 2017’s ‘The Last Jedi,’ the trilogy never progressed beyond the idea phase.
Nothing really happened with it. We had a great time working together, and they said, ‘Let’s keep doing it.’ I said, ‘Great!’ I would kick ideas around with Kathy. The short version is Knives Out happened. I went off and made Knives Out, and was off to the races, busy making murder mysteries.
At the time, Johnson was coming off ’The Last Jedi,’ arguably the most divisive Star Wars film ever made, but one that boldly broke with tradition. Lucasfilm announced in 2017 that Johnson would write and direct a brand-new Star Wars trilogy, set apart from the Skywalker saga. But after the breakout success of’ Knives Out’ in 2019, and its subsequent Netflix deal, Johnson’s priorities shifted. The trilogy quietly faded into development limbo.
It’s the sort of thing if, down the line, there’s an opportunity to do it, or do something else in Star Wars, I would be thrilled […] But right now I’m just doing my own stuff, and pretty happy.
Johnson clarified that the trilogy remained “very conceptual,” with no treatments or outlines ever produced. It was more a promising conversation than a project in active development. Johnson’s trilogy is essentially scrapped. It’s not officially canceled, but it’s also not in active development. Lucasfilm has shifted focus to other directors and projects (like those from James Mangold, Taika Waititi, and Dave Filoni).
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