Rian Johnson Directing Star Wars VIII!

[Sawyer]

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Rian Johnson on ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’

“I’m really excited about all the things I can’t tell you,” Rian Johnson, the writer/director of the upcoming “Star Wars: Episode VIII” and director of “Episode IX” said last night.

At Saturday’s 500th episode taping of the film podcast Filmspotting at the Music Box Theatre, Johnson revealed few details about his upcoming gig.

But he said all the right things, as far as “Star Wars” fans are concerned anyway.

Johnson Skyped into the Filmspotting taping from San Fransisco, where he is already working on “Episode VIII.” The director of indie faves such as “Looper” says he took the job because “The thought of it made me so completely joyfully happy.

“I wanted to to play in this world, of literally the first movie my dad put me in the car to see,” he said.

As for how he scored the gig, Johnson laughed, “I can only assume it was a clerical error, like in the movie ‘Brazil.’ There’s a Brian Johnson out there who is really mad.”

Further making the prospect of working at Lucasfilm seem like a dream job to every “Star Wars” fan, Johnson described it as “kind of like summer camp.” He said he and his crew are preparing by watching movies nightly; the last two they watched were “Twelve O’Clock High” and the Russian film “Letter Never Sent.” (Update those Netflix queues now for clues!)

As if he hadn’t won over the fans enough by that point he continued by making a diplomatic statement about the prequels. “There was something really beautiful about the prequels,” he said, as film snob crowd was momentarily stunned, having just booed at the mention of the “Star Wars” prequels.

http://voices.suntimes.com/arts-ent...izzle/rian-johnson-on-star-wars-episode-viii/

 

[Solidus]

Ya he probably knows more about Episode VII then most others outside of JJ's internal camp. I'm sure he's read the entire script, seen rough cuts of scenes, to get a feel for the characters, concept art etc. The man has to be in Candy Land. What an excitement/rush that would be.

 

[titansupes]

^ You're not wrong.

I always forget that he's supposedly the director of Episode IX as well. Is that confirmed? Shows a lot of faith in him if it is.

 

[Lobo]

He's directing VIII and IX?

 

[Rorschach2012]

Rian Johnson is ten times the filmmaker Abrams is.

Rian Johnson is one of my favorite directors EVER, and now he's on one of my favorite franchises ever? Dream come ****ing true

 

[titansupes]

He's directing VIII and IX?

Actually, maybe he's directing (and writing/co-writing VIII, but for IX he's re-writing he treatment. Something like that?

Anyway, finally saw Looper a couple of days ago. Loved it! Which makes me very happy.

 

[Rorschach2012]

Brick is way better than Looper but Looper gives a better idea of why they chose him to direct

 

[Marvolo]

Rian Johnson talks Star Wars Episode VIII with Terry Gilliam; Yoda's return?

RJ: "You know, I’m doing a new Star Wars movie, I’m doing the next Star Wars movie".

TG: "Wow!"

RJ: "Yeah, yeah, it’s crazy! I’m writing it and directing it — the next one after the one JJ is doing."

TG: "What does it feel like when you take over someone else’s world?"

RJ: "Well, I’m just starting into it so… but so far it’s been nothing but… honestly, it’s the most fun I’ve ever had writing. It’s just joyous. But also for me personally, I grew up, not just watching those movies but playing with those toys, so as a little kid the first movies I was making in my head were set in that world. So a big part of it is that sort of direct connection, it’s almost like an automatic jacking-in into childhood in a weird way I guess…. but I don’t know, ask me again in a few years, we’ll talk about it."

TG: Gilliam asks if George Lucas is "looking over his shoulder".

RJ: "He sold it to Disney, so he’s kind of stepped back and Kathy Kennedy is running LucasFilm".

TG: "Do you feel a different responsibility because it is Star Wars, or are you free?"

RJ: "You’ve got… its… again, I’m figuring it out as I go. I’m dancing on top of the avalanche a little bit. So I’ll have more perspective in a while but it’s a balance of remembering what inspires you about it [the original films], but you can probably go to the wrong place by feeling too responsible to it. You have to keep your head loose enough to tell a story you actually care about."

TG: Gilliam finds it interesting, the struggle between the responsibility of the franchise and the creative pull to make it your own.

RJ: "It’s a balance, yeah. … Well, that’s been the great thing about it — Kathleen and her whole creative team have been so insistent on all the filmmakers they’ve been hiring for these new movies: ‘We want you to take it and turn it into something that you really care about.’ And we’ll see how the process plays out, but so far, that’s a big part of the reason I’m in it. Because that just seems like their attitude towards it. It’s really exciting actually."

TG: Terry Gilliam has one request: "please bring Frank Oz back".

RJ: "You kidding? How could you not. How could you not!"

TG: Gilliam told a story about a conversation he had with George Lucas who insisted that the computer-generated Yoda was so much better than the puppet version: "I couldn’t get through to him, he couldn’t see how wrong he was!"

http://m.joblo.com/joblo/news/55954

 

[DA_Champion]

Anyone know if this is a case of JJ Abrams being pushed out?

 

[vinsanity]

I think it's more a matter of scheduling, by the time EPVII comes out RJ will probably be close to shooting EPVIII, if they want EPVIII to comeout in 2017

 

[Solidus]

Anyone know if this is a case of JJ Abrams being pushed out?

No it was never the case. Back when the deal was made, he was only doing one. He would have done more if they would have let him film in California, but they said long ago no. So he said he would do one. He said he does not want to put his family running all around the globe.

It had nothing to do with that. I don't get why some try to make drama where there was none.

That and Kathy said long ago they may go the route of the OT having a different director for each one.

 

[Octoberist]

Anyone know if this is a case of JJ Abrams being pushed out?

No, it's due to the back to back scheduling, plus him not wanting to be separated from his family for a decade. With Rian on board, his tenure on Episode 8 can overlap JJ's work.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Gilliam: When you start shooting do you have a plan yet?

Johnson: Oh there’s a plan! There’s a plan! They have release dates for the next, you know, however many movies. Yeah it’s, uh, we start shooting, um, yeah, it’s not for a while, it’s not like for another year or so. Um, but I need to write the script. I’m just starting right now writing. I feel I’m going to need all that time probably.

Gilliam: Will you be coming to London to shoot?

Johnson: Yeah we’ll be shooting at Pinewood.

1 year would be a Episode VIII principal photography start date of September/Fall 2015.

Johnson has been doing prep work already. There's just not much way Abrams could have been doing this (especially scripting it) while actively handling VII even if he wanted to... and judging by his comments about dragging his family around, he didn't. He also has Bad Robot and TV projects to take care of while producing Mission Impossible and Star Trek.

 

[Great Mind(s)]

It's good that Abrams is only doing the first one.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Star Wars To Shoot Again at Pinewood

The force is strong in Pinewood. The eight instalment of the Star Wars franchise will shoot at the UK’s Pinewood studios, confirmed Pinewood Shepperton chief exec Ivan Dunleavy in a far-reaching keynote address at the annual conference of the Confederation of British Industry.

The confab, which brings together employers from all sections of the British economy, had the added benefit of a guest appearance from R2-D2 on stage with Dunleavy for the news. Filming on the seventh film in the series, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, only recently finished at Pinewood.

http://deadline.com/2014/11/star-wars-to-shoot-again-at-pinewood-1201280325/

 

[drod1985]

While I feel TFA is in good hands with JJ I’m glad that VIII (and IX?) will see the reigns passed on to Rian. Both are great story tellers, but I’ve got this gut feeling that Rian is going to immerse himself so much in this universe and give us a pair of amazing films.

 

[Great Mind(s)]

I hope he only directs one and lets someone else do the finale.

 

[Lobo]

I loved Looper and Brick and am very happy with him as director for VIII which I'm still hoping will be called Ghosts of the Empire.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Sandra Marsh & Assoc. has booked production designers Rick Heinrichs (above left, “Captain America: The First Avenger&#8221 on Rian Johnson’s “Star Wars: Episode VIII” and Carol Spier (above right, “Pacific Rim&#8221 on Hulu’s “11/22/63”; and cinematographer George Steel (“The Honorable Woman&#8221 on BBC miniseries “War and Peace.” The agency has also booked production designer Joseph Garrity and costume designer Karyn Wagner, who both worked on “Cake,” on Bruce Beresford’s “Cook.”

http://variety.com/2014/artisans/news/below-the-line-bookings-9-1201364143/

http://www.superherohype.com/news/3...oduction-designer-of-star-wars-episode-viii#/

 

[Lord]

I hope there was no drama behind the scenes, i like the idea of each film being directed by a different person, would also have prefered if these films also had the 3 years between release that the previous trilogies had.

 

[Lobo]

I like two years between releases and as far as we've heard there has been no drama at all.

 

[titansupes]

I hope there was no drama behind the scenes, i like the idea of each film being directed by a different person, would also have prefered if these films also had the 3 years between release that the previous trilogies had.

Too long, bro. I ain't getting any younger.

 

[Sawyer]

https://***********/rianjohnson/status/538450237480632321

Rian Johnson
‏@rianjohnson
Today my excitement level exceeds the limits of polite tweetability.

DrewAtHitFix
‏@DrewAtHitFix
@rianjohnson You are in a truly unique position today. Must be fascinating.

Rian Johnson
‏@rianjohnson
@DrewAtHitFix My brain hurts.

Posted yesterday.

 

[Marvolo]

I like two years between releases and as far as we've heard there has been no drama at all.

The stand-alones are still coming out between each episode movie correct?

7-2015
SA-2016
8-2017
SA-2018
9-2019