Rian Johnson's entry into the Star Wars universe with The Last Jedi was, not to put too fine a point on it, divisive (we remain firmly in the "loved it camp"). But the negativity hasn't stopped Lucasfilm from entrusting him with a new trilogy outside of the stories that have been told so far. And, according to the writer/director, he's looking forward to it.
"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," he tells 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."
Johnson is still at a relatively early point with his plans – we wouldn't expect to see any of his Star Wars films much before the first entry from Game Of Thrones duo David Benioff and DB Weiss – but he's pinpointed his approach, even if he's not yet willing to share specifics. "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."
The director's next film is murder mystery Knives Out, which will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival next month and will be in UK cinemas on 29 November. You can find the trailer here.