Star Wars: The Last Jedi split the franchise's fanbase, but it was still a critical and commercial hit (the movie has a 91% Rotten Tomatoes score and grossed over $1.3 billion at the worldwide box office).
Shortly before The Force Awakens sequel's release, Lucasfilm announced that it had tapped filmmaker Rian Johnson to take the helm of a new Star Wars trilogy.
Plot details were never revealed, meaning we're still in the dark about which era of this Galaxy Far, Far Away Johnson intended to explore. After The Last Jedi, fans were mixed on the prospect of seeing more Star Wars from the writer and director, and the trilogy became yet another unmade project on Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy's watch.
Johnson has since been busy with his Knives Out movies. However, after the news broke that Kathleen Kennedy's time at Lucasfilm is over, the executive shared her take on why The Last Jedi director's Star Wars return failed to materialise.
"Once he made the Netflix deal and went off to start doing the Knives Out films, that has occupied a huge amount of his time. That’s the other thing that happens here. After Shawn and I started talking about Star Wars, Stranger Things kicks in and he was completely consumed for a while by that. That’s what happened with Rian. And then I do believe he got spooked by the online negativity."
"I think Rian made one of the best Star Wars movies. He’s a brilliant filmmaker and he got spooked. This is the rough part. When people come into this space, I have every filmmaker and actors say to me, 'What’s going to happen?' They’re a little scared."
Well, Johnson has responded on social media (via SFFGazette.com) with a simple, "lol zero spooked, sorry."
Was the filmmaker hitting back at Kennedy or reminding his detractors that they didn't have the power to stop him from making that trilogy, if he so chose? That's up for debate.
Kennedy's time as Lucasfilm President was defined by announcements that never went anywhere. It's hard to keep track of the sheer number of movies and TV shows that failed to materialise on her watch, and the hope now is that Dave Filoni can right the ship.
"Before I made the Star Wars movie, when I was very, very active on Twitter, if someone said anything mean about me, I felt like I had to fix that," Johnson previously said of his interactions with fans. "Having grown up as a Star Wars fan, I think the love and the hate are two sides of the same coin, and it’s all passion for what the thing is. That doesn’t mean it’s easy to deal with when it’s coming at you in a personal way."
Are you disappointed that this Star Wars trilogy didn't become a reality? Let us know in the comments section.