With just over six months left untilStar Wars: The Last Jedihits theaters, fans have been eager for any new details about thisStar Warsadventure, no matter how trivial they may be. Over the holiday weekend, directorRian Johnsontook to social media to engage with a fan, who was curious about how much of the overall story for this new trilogy had been worked out by Kathleen Kennedy and her LucasFilm team, before he came aboard to both write and directStar Wars: The Last Jedi. As it turns out, the filmmaker had to essentially start from scratch, since they had nothing worked out ahead of time, aside from what happens inStar Wars: The Force Awakens.
The director took to Twitter yesterday, after he revealed in his Vanity Fair interview from last week that he was given a great deal of creative freedom in craftingThe Last Jedi story. This fan was wondering how much of the story had been mapped out, before the filmmaker had signed on to direct, back in June 2014, pointing to an interview with Kathleen Kennedy, where she teased that they were plotting out the structure to the whole trilogy in advance. As it turns out, there was nothing concrete for eitherStar Wars: The Last JediorStar Wars IXwhen Rian Johnson came aboard. Here’s what the filmmaker had to say on Twitter below.
“I’m sure they talked about where it might go early on, but when they came to me there was no mapped story presented beyond TFA.”
You may recall that the first report of Rian Johnson coming aboard in June 2014 was to write and direct bothStar Wars 8 and 9, but it was eventually confirmed that he was only writing and directingStar Wars 8. Colin Trevorrow was later confirmed to write and directStar Wars: Episode IX, which will be released on July 10, 2025. AfterStar Wars 8, LucasFilm will releaseHan Solo: A Star Wars Storyon July 28, 2025, which brings back the LucasFilm tradition of releasingStar Warsmovies in May, followed byStar Wars 9and a thirdStar Warsspin-off reportedly coming in 2020, which has been rumored to focus on Obi-Wan Kenobi or Boba Fett.
While the story may not have been mapped out in advance, there is still very little we know about what happens inStar Wars: The Last Jedi. The firstStar Wars 8 trailerreleased atStar WarsCelebration in April teased that Rey has started her Jedi training with Luke Skywalker, after find the Jedi knight on Ahch-To at the very end ofStar Wars: The Force Awakens. There have been rumors that Rey’s story will mirror Luke’s fromEmpire Strikes Back, with Rey abandoning her training to save her friends Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), who have been rumored to be captured by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) as part of a trap to lure Rey out of hiding.
Star Wars: The Last Jediwill hit theaters on December 15, going up against 20th Century Fox’s animated comedyFerdinand. We finally learned more about a few of the new cast members last week, withBenicio del Toroportraying a character known as DJ, described as a “shady character” whose allegiances are unclear. Director Rian Johnson teased there is a good reason he is known as DJ, which fans will discover in the movie. That report also revealed that another new cast member, Laura Dern, will be playing Vice Admiral Holdo, who is said to be a prominent member of The Resistance. Take a look at director Rian Johnson’s tweet aboutStar Wars: The Last Jedibelow.
