Star Wars: The Last Jedi divided the franchise's fanbase, but it was still a critical and commercial hit ($1.3 billion at the box office and a 91% Rotten Tomatoes score). So, despite unhappy fans, Disney and Lucasfilm moved quickly to sign filmmaker Rian Johnson up to take the helm of a new Star Wars trilogy.
Plot details were never revealed, meaning we didn't find out which era of this Galaxy Far, Far Away Johnson intended to explore. Fans were mixed on the prospect of seeing more Star Wars from the writer/director, and the trilogy became yet another unmade project on Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy's watch.
Johnson's attentions eventually shifted to his Knives Out movies, and a lucrative deal with Netflix that means he's currently doing the rounds to promote Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the third instalment of the Daniel Craig-led murder mystery franchise.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter (via SFFGazette.com), Johnson looked back at making perhaps the most divisive Star Wars movie. "We made that movie in this beautiful, fearless little bubble, and the reality is, once you dive in and start doing the creative work, there isn’t a lot of room in your head for the notion of external pressure."
"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," the writer and director continued. "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."
According to the trade—and this likely won't come as a surprise—his trilogy is now "effectively dead." Still, Johnson remains a fan. "A part of my brain will always be in Star Wars. It’s so much a part of me and the way I think."
Johnson has repeatedly said that he's open to making his Star Wars trilogy, but it's obviously not a priority. As noted, we don't know what it would have been about, and it seems likely that Lucasfilm only announced plans for him to make more movies in an effort to drum up further interest in The Last Jedi.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is up next for the studio on May 22, 2026, with Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling's Star Wars: Starfighter heading our way on May 28, 2027.