Posted in: Lucasfilm, Movies | Tagged: rian johnson, star wars

Star Wars: Rian Johnson's Trilogy is Reportedly "Effectively Dead"

Wake Up Dead Man writer and director Rian Johnson's Star Wars trilogy is, reportedly, "effectively dead," and says, "A part of my brain will always be in Star Wars."

Director and writer Rian Johnson has been on something of a meteoric rise since the mid-2010s, and it doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon. He's coming to the end of his two-picture deal with Netflix, but he sounds committed to making more Knives Out films if Netflix is willing to sign a new contract. Poker Face got canceled, but he's also shopping a new version of the show around as well. Johnson has been very busy, which is why he hasn't returned to a galaxy far, far away in nearly a decade. When Star Wars: The Last Jedi premiered in 2017, it proved to be divisive among fans, even if critics loved it. Lucasfilm must have enjoyed working with Johnson because they offered him his own trilogy a month before the film was released, and he was talking about outlining back in 2019.

Then the pandemic happened, and the reception to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker proved to be even more cohesive, and Star Wars left theaters to spend the pandemic years on streaming services. In that time, we have seen two more movies enter production, but Johnson's trilogy hasn't been spoken of in a concrete way for a while. The last we heard was in April 2023, Kathleen Kennedy confirmed that she spoke to Johnson frequently, but cited his busy schedule as the biggest hurdle. Well, it sounds like things are pretty much done, and we won't see Johnson making another Star Wars film. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the trade said the trilogy "was effectively dead." However, that doesn't mean Johnson loves the franchise any less, saying, "A part of my brain will always be in Star Wars. It's so much a part of me and the way I think."

There is a certain group of fanboys, and you know who you are, that are going to read this and fist pump so hard they're going to pull a muscle. We're all very aware of how you all feel about The Last Jedi, and this is your reminder that your words on the internet aren't being screamed into the void. The way you reacted to The Last Jedi fundamentally changed how Johnson interacts with people on social media.

"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," Johnson explained. "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."

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, directed and written by Johnson, will hit Netflix next month. We have two Star Wars movies in the pipeline for theatrical releases, including The Mandalorian and Grogu, which will be released on May 22, 2026, and Star Wars: Starfighter, which will be released in theaters on May 28, 2027.

Wake Up Dead Man: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) returns for his most dangerous case yet in the third and darkest chapter of Rian Johnson's murder mystery opus. When young priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor) is sent to assist charismatic firebrand Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), it's clear that all is not well in the pews. Wicks's modest-but-devoted flock includes devout church lady Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close), circumspect groundskeeper Samson Holt (Thomas Haden Church), tightly-wound lawyer Vera Draven, Esq. (Kerry Washington), aspiring politician Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack), town doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), best-selling author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), and concert cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny). After a sudden and seemingly impossible murder rocks the town, the lack of an obvious suspect prompts local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) to join forces with renowned detective Benoit Blanc to unravel a mystery that defies all logic. Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Rian Johnson writes and directs Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and assembles another all-star, award-winning cast.

Wake Up Dead Man is the newest Benoit Blanc whodunnit from writer and director Rian Johnson, starring Daniel Craig, Josh O'Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church. Wake Up Dead Man will stream on Netflix on December 12th, 2025.

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