We like to do things a little differently here at the BMD Star Wars News Beat, so instead of reporting on a (possibly) shady rumor about Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan movie, we’re instead gonna treat our readers with a (possibly) more reliable confirmation: Rian Johnson is indeed still working on his original Star Wars trilogy.
“I think that the fun and challenging part of it is to dive in, figure out what’s exciting and then figure out what it’s going to be,” Johnson recently told The Observer. “We’re doing something that steps beyond the legacy characters. What does that look like? To me, the blue sky element of it is what was most striking about it. I know the way that I’m coming at it and what’s fun about it for everyone in George Lucas’ films is figuring out, ‘what’s the next step?’ It really makes you think and figure out what the essence of Star Wars is for me and what that will look like moving forward.”
So there’s an update from the man himself! New Rian Johnson Star Wars films are coming. But are they coming soon? Probably not. After The Rise of Skywalker wraps up the sequel trilogy later this year, we have three untitled Star Wars films to look forward to (according to Disney’s schedule). The first of which comes out December 2022, and is being written by Game of Thrones’ David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. The latter two are set for 2024 and 2026, but we don’t know much else about them. So if I were being optimistic, I’d peg Johnson’s Star Wars entries to begin with that 2024 release date at earliest. (Anyone who’s impatient for Johnson’s The Last Jedi follow-up should remember that he has a new film, Knives Out, coming out this November.)
As for the Benioff and Weiss trilogy, anyone who’s worried (or hoping) that the Game of Thrones duo’s new Netflix deal will distract them from their Star Wars obligations should think again. Sources from The Hollywood Reporter say they’re still “writing a treatment for a Star Wars trilogy” and are “committed to penning at least one of the films” (presumably the untitled 2022 film). So we should expect at least one Star Wars film written by Benioff and Weiss, and maybe two sequels with their “Story by” credits in the very least. Your guess is as good as mine on what the timetable for these films looks like.
I hope that’s a hearty Star Wars update for you all: we still have two separate Star Wars trilogies are on the way from both Rian Johnson and the minds behind Game of Thrones. Not really the newest, most exciting scoop but what do you expect this close to D23? Besides, with massive projects like these, it’s nice to have the occasional reconfirmation.
Stay tuned to Birth.Movies.Death. for our D23 Expo coverage next week.