A steady hand on the ‘Star Wars’ saga
Atmosphere calms as Rian Johnson takes over steering
Rian Johnson’s first three feature films — the high school noir “Brick,” con-man movie “The Brothers Bloom” and time-travel crime film “Looper” — shared with each other modest budgets, a keen sense of style and a lack of any suggestion that the guy behind them would one day direct a “Star Wars” film.
Johnson’s childhood was a greater predictor. Johnson recalls every detail of seeing “Return of the Jedi” on a Denver big screen at age 9, and how he first told “Star Wars” stories through action figures.
And come to think of it, there was a sci-fi element to “Looper.”
So it makes a certain sense that Johnson was hired to direct “The Last Jedi,” a continuation of Rey’s (Daisy Ridley) Jedi journey from 2015’s “The Force Awakens” and the eighth episode in a story arc that began in 1977. Especially considering Johnson was not the only inspired “Star Wars” hire in recent years, with “The Lego Movie” filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller having been tapped to direct the 2018 Han Solo movie.
But Ron Howard replaced Lord and Miller on that project, with Lucasfilm citing creative differences. Lucasfilm also recently parted ways with Colin Trevorrow (“Jurassic World”), who had been brought in to direct Episode IX. “Force Awakens” director J.J. Abrams filled that slot.
“Last Jedi” was not screened for The Chronicle before Johnson’s recent visit to San Francisco to discuss the film, which opens Friday. Few details are known about its story lines. But this should inspire confidence about its quality: Johnson, 43, not only kept the job he started 3½ years ago on “Jedi,” but also will make a separate “Wars” trilogy.
Q: You wrote the “Last Jedi” screenplay. How much autonomy did you have? Is a road map for the series laid out for you?
A: No, and that was unexpected. Coming into it, one of the big questions I had was, “What is the process going to be?” The truth is, it was a really organic, open process. I was given the script to J.J.’s movie (“Force Awakens”), read it, and it was literally just sitting around a table, and “What happens next?”
Q: Who else was at the table? A: There’s Kathleen Kennedy, who runs Lucasfilm, and a small group of folks who call themselves the story group … wonderful, creative folks who know “Star Wars” inside and out.
Q: Mark Hamill made a very brief
appearance in “Force Awakens.” How prominent is Luke in this one? A: Very, very prominent. Similar to the way Han Solo was in the last one. This is kind of Mark’s movie.
Q: How did Carrie Fisher’s death affect this production, and the franchise going forward?
A: It didn’t really affect our film at all. We had a complete performance from her. (Fisher completed her scenes before she died in December 2016). After she passed away, we were dealing with personal loss, but we also had to start thinking, “What do we do?” We decided to not touch the performance. … The tougher job in that regard falls to J.J., and Chris Terrio, who are writing Episode IX, and figuring out how to carry on the story. Q: What do you mean, you didn’t touch the performance? A: Editing-wise. We didn’t try and manipulate it, to start thinking about it — “What is going to happen with her character in the next episode, and how do we fake something so it leads into that?” We left it alone. … She gives a really beautiful performance that we didn’t know was going to be her final performance as Princess Leia. Q: What will your trilogy be about? A: I don’t know. Do you have any ideas? (laughs) Q: What was your reaction to those other “Star Wars” directors parting ways with the franchise? A: It is not a pleasant thing that happens. But I guess you just always have to be careful of judging from the outside of any process, and thinking you know. … Film sets and the production of any movie is such a complicated thing. … And this is to all to say I wasn’t in any of those processes, so I don’t really know. Q: Your previous films leaned alternative — there was a funkiness to them. Were you able to bring any of that to this one? A: I think I was. … First and foremost, I just wanted to make a great “Star Wars” movie. But inevitably, because you are the one telling it, it is going to come through with your stuff. Q: Is it also just really cool to write recognizable “Star Wars” lines? A: Oh my God, the first time you type “Luke Skywalker” into your screenwriting program, and he comes up on your character list, it’s absurd. “Interior: Millennium Falcon.” It’s crazy.