Rian Johnson has explained that he will not let the criticisms of Star Wars: The Last Jedi affect his decisions regarding the new Star Wars trilogy he’s working on, and nor should he!
Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi proved to be a very divisive movie. Before it hit cinemas, critics were raving about the film, giving it four and five-star reviews. But then the movie came out to the general public and let’s just say that some people weren’t best pleased with the film. There are a multitude of reasons behind The Last Jedi’s backlash (the main one being that certain people need to grow up and let go when it comes to Star Wars), however, you can’t deny that Johnson tried to do something different and bold with the franchise, and it seems like he wants to do the same thing again with the new Star Wars trilogy he’s working on.
We know now that J.J. Abrams is currently working on Star Wars: Episode IX (let me put my idea of a name forward: Star Wars: The First Order), and Johnson won’t be involved in that film. But he will be involved in the following Star Wars trilogy. In fact, he’s going to be in charge of the whole thing. It seems as if Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy enjoyed working with the writer/director so much that they don’t want the relationship to end with The Last Jedi.
From #SXSW 👉 Here’s director @rianjohnson on whether fan reaction to #TheLastJedi is influencing the way he’s approaching those new #StarWars movies he’s working on, via @Fandango
Full interview 👉 https://t.co/Qyrl85LAMn pic.twitter.com/LaUqWLvPEg— ErikDavis (@ErikDavis) March 22, 2018
So, when Fandango’s Erik Davis asked the director at SXSW whether the film’s negative criticisms will affect his Star Wars trilogy, Johnson’s response was pretty clear. “No, not really,” he replied. “I mean, I feel like every Star Wars thing that ever gets made has a big, loud response because Star Wars fans are passionate and that’s what makes them awesome.”
He continued: “I don’t think it’s possible when, if you’re really telling a story you care about and having it come from your heart, it’s just not possible to be intellectually processing what everyone else wants and nor would it be a good thing, a healthy thing. I don’t think that’s a good way to tell a story.”
Johnson is of course right. You can’t let public perception get in the way of your storytelling, especially when the public never knows what it wants. The truth is that no matter what Johnson gave us, people will still end up being disappointed. Just look at the reaction to Abrams’ The Force Awakens which is a love letter to the original saga movies. People still weren’t happy. The bottom line is that both films performed ridiculously well at the box office and did well critically, and it doesn’t look like that trend is going to end anytime soon, certainly not if they keep exciting and inventive storytellers and filmmakers around like Johnson and Abrams.
I for one cannot wait to see what Johnson delivers with his upcoming Star Wars trilogy.
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