New Star Wars Trilogy Updates Teased By Rian Johnson

Director Rian Johnson is on top of the world right now: his Star Wars: The Last Jedi is one of the best-reviewed films in the Star Wars franchise, and the film just had the second biggest opening weekend of all time. But Johnson isn't going to rest on his laurels. The filmmaker is already planning his new Star Wars trilogy, which will be set outside the on-going saga. Johnson is understandably tight-lipped about most details of his still-in-development trilogy, but he recently provided an update on the project.

If you thought Star Wars: The Last Jedi felt very different when compared to the rest of the Star Wars franchise, you haven't seen anything yet. Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is already in the planning stages for his new Star Wars trilogy, which will be far removed from the on-going Star Wars saga and take audiences to even more unexpected places. Obviously we're still a few years away from seeing Johnson's new trilogy, so it'll be some time before we have specific details. In fact, the trilogy itself was greenlit without a story.

But Johnson spoke with The Hollywood Reporter and gave a few interesting updates on the project. When THR asked the director when and where in the timeline his new trilogy will be set, Johnson said he hasn't quite nailed that aspect down yet, and revealed that it's one of the elements he's not entirely interested in:

"I'm at the very beginning of trying to come up with it, and honestly, timeline-wise, I'm not sure yet. In a way it's interesting, but in a way it's the least interesting part of it to me. I'm more thinking of what's the story going to be, who is it going to follow? What elements is it going to have? What kind of drama is in it? My head right now is more in that place. I haven't really, really gotten into it. Right now I'm mostly excited by the potential and just starting to form little clusters of ideas of what it might become."

One of the most appealing elements of this new franchise, to me at least, is the potential it has to take the Star Wars universe to new and exciting places, so if the films end up being far removed from the saga as we know it, I'll be fine with it.

While Johnson is in the process of wrapping-up a lengthy press tour for The Last Jedi, he shows no signs of slowing down. In the THR interview, the director says that rather than feel exhausted by the long process of making The Last Jedi, he's energized to get right back to work:

"We're going to figure out the timing of the next one. We haven't figured it out yet. I'll say, I don't feel like, 'Oh my God, I'm exhausted, I need to sit on a beach for a month.' I feel creatively energized right now. I feel like I want to jump right into work. This whole process has left me feeling ready to jump in and do it again right away. I don't know why. I don't know if that's a good sign."

As a big fan of The Last Jedi and Johnson's work in general, I can't wait to see what he comes up with for this new trilogy.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is now playing in theaters everywhere.