Rian Johnson's Latest Knives Out Mystery Is When His Star Wars Trilogy Will Get Made

"Star Wars" is in a strange identity crisis at the moment. Ever since Rian Johnsons's 2017 bold middle entry to the Skywalker Saga, "The Last Jedi," there's been an internal tension to every significant live-action "Star Wars" project since, the creatives behind the camera attempting to tread the fine line between paying tribute to the past and pushing the world beyond its nostalgic characters to greatly mixed results.

Though it was a critical and financial success, "The Last Jedi" divided the entire fandom, and that's exactly what makes it such a great film. Johnson used the imagery and cultural meaning of "Star Wars" to tell a story about hubris, myth-making, and forging a path for future generations. Right before the film opened in theaters, a trilogy of "Star Wars" films helmed by Johnson was announced, an exciting promise of a brand new, original era for the franchise.

It has now been five years since the trilogy of films have been announced, and judging from the radio silence from Lucasfilm at press events, as well as the passive-aggressive retconning of Johnson's film in "The Rise of Skywalker," we wouldn't blame anyone for assuming these films have been quietly shelved.

Luckily, Johnson has as much enthusiasm for this trilogy project as his fans do, and he has not given up. Recently, Johnson was featured on Variety's Awards Circuit Podcast for his latest film, "Glass Onion," a sequel to 2019's crowd-pleasing whodunnit "Knives Out." When asked about the status of his "Star Wars" trilogy, he answered that it is "only a matter of scheduling."

Kathleen Kennedy and Rian Johnson both have packed schedules

Tell us about it. Both Johnson and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy are on totally different production schedules at the moment. For those not in the loop, Johnson landed a lucrative deal back in 2021 with Netflix to produce two sequels to "Knives Out," which was previously a Lionsgate feature. "Glass Onion" is the first of those two sequels revisiting our gentleman sleuth, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), for another murder-mystery. Depending on the success of these two films, there could be even more Agatha Christie-style adventures down the line. Both Daniel Craig and Rian Johnson are game to keep working together.

Then there's Kennedy's new roadmap for the future of "Star Wars" and Lucasfilm as a whole. The Lucasfilm president is currently developing a wide array of TV series expanding our galaxy far, far away into new territory. While there are a few movies greenlit for the near future, including an original film directed by Taika Waititi and a delayed "Rogue Squadron" film by Patty Jenkins, we have heard very few updates about these films, if they are still happening at all.

While "Star Wars" slips into a Disney+ exclusive series niche for the next few years, "Indiana Jones" is set to return with a James Mangold-directed sequel in 2023. James Cameron's "Avatar" sequels are also taking over the usual December release slot "Star Wars" usually occupies, with "Avatar: The Way of the Water" set to release this year on December 16th, 2022.

Rian Johnson said it best: 'God I hope so'

"I have talked to Kathy [Kathleen Kennedy] about it and we're still talking about it," Johnson explained. "I had such an amazing experience making 'The Last Jedi.' It's entirely a matter of scheduling. For me, putting this ['Glass Onion'] out and making the next one of these ... the answer is I don't know."

If Kennedy and Johnson are still planning to produce a whole "Star Wars" trilogy together, realistically, it's just something we're not going to see in theaters for quite a while. These two creatives are working on an extraordinary amount of near-future projects, but in the meantime, it's nice to know they're still talking about it.

Variety pushed for a little bit more insight from Johnson, directly asking if we will "definitely" see Rian Johnson's "Star Wars" trilogy down the line. His hopeful sentiment echoes our own: "God I hope so."