The Last Jedi Rian Johnson to Write & Direct Star Wars Episode VIII

[DarknessOfDeath]

Good good. Probably in the week I'll watch Looper. I think I might have seen it because the plot that my coworker described it had something to do with time travel where a younger self of his older self is sent back in time to kill ...his older self...right?

 

[Brother Jack]

Good good. Probably in the week I'll watch Looper. I think I might have seen it because the plot that my coworker described it had something to do with time travel where a younger self of his older self is sent back in time to kill ...his older self...right?

Kind of. It's about time travel and multiple versions of the same man fighting each other. Also, telekinesis. It's a weird, ballsy film. And incredibly dark, more than you're expecting.

 

[DarknessOfDeath]

I actually caved in and watched it a bit ago. It was really good. Looking forward to seeing what Rian can bring to the Galaxy far far away

 

[Golgo-13]

There was an interesting question asked at the EP VII Comic Con panel on why no Asian characters were cast in the film, in which the Producers and Abrahms had a hard time answering. This may have prompted the producers to cast an Asian character ala Kelly Marie Tran.

 

[jokesonm3]

Star Wars: Episode VIII Director Rian Johnson Hit With Lawsuit by Former Agent

“Star Wars: Episode VIII” writer and director Rian Johnson has been sued by his former agent Brian Dreyfuss for a breach of contract. Dreyfuss is claiming that Johnson still owes him 10 percent commission for his “Star Wars” check.

The lawsuit states that Dreyfuss had arranged a meeting between Johnson and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy back in 2012. The suit also states that Johnson wasn’t interested in taking on any project with the company at the time. Although Dreyfuss was fired by Johnson in 2014, a full year before he was signed on to direct “Star Wars: Episode VIII,” his former agent claims that he was cut out of contracts and negotiations. Dreyfuss also claims that Johnson owes him commissions on some of his previous films, like “Looper.”

Producer Ram Bergman, who Dreyfuss says “orchestrated much of Johnson’s business life,” is also a defendant in the lawsuit.

Johnson’s reps could not be reached for comment.

“Star Wars: Episode VIII” only recently started production. The film stars Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Carrie Fisher as Leia and both Laura Dern and Benicio del Toro in yet-to-be-specified roles.

The film hits theaters in December 2017.

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/star-wars-rian-johnson-lawsuit-former-agent-1201734203/

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

I can’t believe we’re halfway through the shoot. (We’re halfway through the shoot!)

https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/725771935137824768

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Day one!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJJwbbLB7Uw/

 

[StarLord]

 

[scarlet-witch]

Absolutely. Brick is one of my all time favorite movies and Looper is great.

He has great attention to detail and it feels like he really champions his films. The episodes of Breaking Bad he directed were flawless. I can't wait to see what he does with Star Wars.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Rian Johnson (Twitter): “ tried not to think about [Episode VIII] that way [in terms of avoiding rehashing elements that appealed to fans], just focused on telling a story that I cared about.” (December 8, 2015) “[Episode VIII]’ll tie to 7 and lead to 9 and it’ll be an original story I care about. Promise. ” (December 10, 2015) “ was constantly evolving [Episode VIII] as 7 came together.” (August 13, 2016) "I don't really think about it that way [in terms of corporate or loyalty to my vision] - just concentrating on making a good movie." (September 17, 2016) "[Studio control] hasn't been my experience with this. We communicate plenty w/the studio but they've been supportive of the movie we're making" (September 17, 2016)

Rian Johnson: “I did [start Episode VIII while VII was in production], yeah. They were still shooting actually here in London. They were still shooting Episode VII and so, yeah, I was still thinking about that today because obviously Colin [Trevorrow] is doing the same thing while we were in production with Episode VIII. He was starting to think about IX. And I know it was kind of strange like because we – one of the first things I did was went up to San Francisco and spent about six weeks kind of figuring out the story and I would go in a few times a week and sit down with these guys [Kathleen Kennedy, Kiri Hart, and Pablo Hidalgo] and with the [Lucasfilm] Story Group and just hash it through. We would watch dailies that were coming in from VII and at that point it was just the script and kind of the dailies that we were seeing. I was thinking about that – it was probably really healthy that in thinking about where the story goes next, it was entirely just based on our reactions to it as opposed to based on the phenomenon that it would become or the cultural reaction to it. It was just a very personal, ‘what do we connect with about with these characters and where do they go next?'” (Star Wars Celebration 2016 London)

Rian Johnson: “When we started coming up with – when I started coming up with the story I realized that I wanted to – I immediately kind of – I didn’t even really think about it, the notion that we were gonna end up breaking kind of a longstanding Star Wars tradition and for the first time this movie is gonna start right where the last one left off. ‘Cause it was like I don’t want to skip ahead, that last moment with VII I want to see what happens next.” (Star Wars Celebration 2016 London)

Rian Johnson: “[The returning young actors] were wonderful and it was – you’re right – there was that kind of feeling of – there was a big explosion of the first one, and now the second, and but it ended up serving what I think this second film is in a very good way because the first film was this incredible explosion of adventure and excitement that sets up these characters. And then just out of necessity it’s very natural that the second film is where we start kind of zooming in on the characters and kind of taking them – seeing okay really, kind of getting to the heart of them and challenging them, pushing them deeper. So I think the actors were all very excited about that.” (Star Wars Celebration 2016 London)

Flicks And The City - STAR WARS EPISODE 8 Rian Johnson Interview - Star Wars Celebration 2016

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

USA Today - The most must-see films of 2017, from 'Beauty and the Beast' to 'Star Wars'

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/...view-star-wars-beauty-and-the-beast/95949150/ (January 8, 2017)

USA Today - 5 things we learned about the new 'Star Wars' from director Rian Johnson

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/...isode-viii-rian-johnson-mark-hamill/96351428/ (January 9, 2017)

 

[scarlet-witch]

Give us the title, Rian!

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Empire - Rian Johnson On The Last Jedi's Progress, Influences, And Surprises

http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/rian-johnson-last-jedi-interview/

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Meet Rian Johnson in Japan on September 11.

http://starwars.disney.co.jp/movie/lastjedi/fanmeeting-cp.html

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Yahoo! - 'The Last Jedi' director Rian Johnson on Carrie Fisher, his spoiler 'no-fly list,' and fear of a porg backlash (exclusive)

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment...t-rear-porg-backlash-exclusive-162527278.html

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Rian Johnson: "One of the first things that [Lucasfilm President] Kathleen Kennedy told me when she asked me if I'd be interested in doing this [eighth episode movie] was that the lead character was a girl named Rey." "I was instantly into that; it just felt right. Leia was the first female figure that girls and women could look up to, and seeing how much it meant to them, Carrie Fisher was very conscious of that and held that with her. She felt a responsibility to make Leia great." "In this movie, there are a lot of really interesting strong and powerful and weak and conflicted and good and bad female characters. I got to work with a lot of amazing actresses, like Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma. There are a lot of kick-ass women in this movie, which is pretty great." "I had had a couple of general meetings with Kathy Kennedy after she stepped in and started running Lucasfilm. But they were very general meetings, and I didn't think that I was actually in the running for anything. And then at some point, I came in for what I thought was another just how-you-been, what-are-you-working-on meeting, and she felt whether I would be interested in doing this." "I took some time to think about it. It was a big decision, actually. On one hand, it was something that I felt was a dream offer. On the other hand, it was a big life-changing deal. I wanted to make sure it was something that was going to be a good experience, and it really has been." (November 23, 2017) (archive)